What happens at the unemployment hearing?
If your employer has contested your right to unemployment benefits, you have the right to a hearing before an Unemployment Compensation Referee. You have the right to have an attorney represent you at this hearing. This is very important, since the hearing is adversarial in nature and the crucial question of whether you will receive benefits comes down to whether or not you can create a record that fits the proper legal standards and convinces the Referee. The Referee is well-trained in the law. Your employer has the right to bring an attorney and frequently will do so.A skilled attorney working for you can review your circumstances and come up with a strategy for the hearing that will let you make your best possible case. He will represent YOU at the hearing. He will devote his legal knowledge and skills as a trial attorney to present evidence on your behalf, and can often use his legal knowledge to exclude unfavorable employer evidence. He will challenge your employer's factual and legal position, including cross-examining employer witnesses to weaken and poke holes in their presentation under the applicable legal standard. He will prepare you and ask you questions so that it becomes much easier for you to give clear and credible testimony, one simple question and answer at a time, sparing you from having to make a speach to the referee to explain yourself -- which can quickly put a claimant in hot water when they are not represented by an attorney. Your attorney will handle the hearing in a way that is carefully designed to secure your right to benefits. Your attorney will also often be permitted to make a closing argument, to torpedo the employer's evidence and summarize your legal position, how it fits with the evidence presented at the hearing and why you should collect.
Your benefits are hugely important to you and to your family, especially in an uncertain economy. You owe it to yourself to have a thoughtful and aggressive Pennsylvania unemployment attorney present to fight for your rights and to assist you in preparing the best possible case to secure the benefits you may desperately need in the coming months.
If you seek an attorney to fight for your unemployment benefits in Philadelphia, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Chester County, Bucks County, Lehigh County, Lancaster County, or Berks County Pennsylvania, call the Pennsylvania unemployment attorneys at the Law Offices of Timothy Kennedy right now for a free telephone consultation.
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