What to expect at your hearing ...

Appeals Branch or Unemployment Insurance Commission hearings are almost always conducted by telephone.  The process is very similar to a trial, although less formal and the hearing officer (or "referee") is both judge and jury.  These hearings are subject to their own rules of procedure. 

If you are an individual client (as opposed to a business) and your case involves an "eligibility" issue--circumstances separate from your job-separation, such as whether you earned enough money to qualify, etc.--it may just be us trying to convince the hearing officer that you do meet the eligibility requirements of the program.  Usually, though, cases involve "qualification" issues--the circumstances of the job separation; was the worker fired for "cause," did they have "good reason" to quit, etc.--and in these cases, the other side (either the former employee if you are a business client, or your former employer if you are an individual client) will be a party to the hearing, and they may be represented by their own counsel, or if they are a business, a manager or HR professional.  Both sides will have an opportunity to introduce evidence, and call and cross-examine witnesses in an attempt to convince the hearing officer they are correct.

When you retain Maxson Firm, PLLC to represent you or your busniss, we will conduct your hearing from our conference room using our digital conference VoIP phone system.  We will work with you to collect and review pertinent documents beforehand, and then pre-file them as exhibits as appropriate before the hearing.  We will also reach out to potential witnesses, screen them for value, and try to coordinate their appearance to testify on your behalf as warranted.  

These hearings can take as little as a few hours, to several days.  While the duration of your hearing is largely outside our control, we should be able to give you an idea of how much time your hearing is likely to take after we have a chance to review the case with you at your initial hearing.  

It can take days or weeks to get a decision back after the hearing.  If the hearing is conducted by the Appeals Branch, it is possible for the resulting Referee Decision to be appealed to the Unemployment Insurance Commission, so even if you prevail at the hearing stage, you may still need to fight before the three-person Unemployment Insurance Commission.  Our services generally include any action necessary before the Commission.