Can  Non- Attorneys Represent Unemployed People at Hearings,  Or Do you Need to Find Unemployment Lawyers  When You Want to Improve the Odd You'll Win?

The states on the left .. it's the list of states I was once concerned with finding unemployment lawyers to represent your employers at hearings, while I worked for third party administrators (TPAs are also called, UI cost control, or claim management companies).

The longer list on the right became a concern, when in 2009, I decided I would offer my coaching services, or a referral to hearing representation, but this time to unemployed people.

A big part of the job I used to do for a TPA was finding professional non-attorney hearing reps, not attorneys, to represent an employer at each unemployment hearing landing on my desk.

One landed there about eighty times a week before the recession and about three hundred by the time 2009 rolled around. That was also the year I quit that job .. with good cause and decided I needed to do something more with the growing number of visitors to Unemployment Tips.. other than just answering more free unemployment questions for a non-living.

Over the course of a decade, I myself, avoided unemployment lawyers except for the exception list and .. then there was that time I asked the lawyer in charge of coordinators if we shouldn't be looking for NJ unemployment, he said no .. but come to find out while doing the research to build the list on the right .. I really did need to find attorneys for NJ examiner hearings ..

Funny .. but only because NJ unemployment hearing examiners aren't required to be attorneys .. last time I checked anyway.

• Arizona (Exception for Non-attorney rep with attorney supervisory letter)
  
• Indiana  (Exception for non-attorney CPAs and  Union Reps)
  
• Kansas  (Original Five)
• Maryland (I'll just let the Maryland employment lawyer explain the problem claimants run into there).
• Minnesota  (Exception -   Anyone you choose, may represent you in MN  If you're the claimant, your choices are limited.   You can pay for representation, but that means it must be an attorney.  You can hope for the best and go the free legal route, or you can ask a friend, even the one who may of told you it's easy to get benefits.  Just make sure they don't try to charge a fee afterwards .. for their unemployment law expertise.
  
• Missouri (Original Five)
• New Jersey  (Ditto MN -  Unless you're a cost control company, such as the one I worked for that let me keep breaking the fee rule often even after I raised my concerns.
  
• North Carolina (Ditto AZ)
  
• South Carolina (Original Five)
• South Dakota  (Original Five)
• West Virginia  (Original Five)
  

I will say, I knew about Arizona and North Carolina's requirement for non-attorneys to present a supervisory letter with their notice of appearance.  It was from the same licensed attorney the claim mgmt. company contracted with to pay for each submission of the letter .. with nary the mention of any supervision to actually be going on.

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