Finnegan

Claimant Michael Finnegan petitions this court for review of a decision by the Benefits Review Board, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. Finnegan maintains that the Board reduced the hourly rate to be paid to the attorneys representing him in his disability claim under the Longshoremen’s and Harborworker’s Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. § 901 et seq., without adequately justifying the reduction. We hold that we have jurisdiction to hear the appeal, and we affirm.

I. APPEALABILITY OF THE BOARD’S ORDER

In Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546-47 , 69 S.Ct. 1221, 1225-26 , 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949), the Supreme Court held that a limited number of non-final orders might be appealable if they “finally determine claims of right separable from, and collateral to, rights asserted in the action, too important to be denied review and too independent of the cause itself to require that appellate consideration be deferred until the whole case is adjudicated.” 337 U.S. at 546 , 69 S.Ct. at 1225-26 . Cargill concedes that the fee order in this matter satisfies the first two requirements: it conclusively determines the question of whether fees are…