DWC Hearings is relaunching its statewide Brown Bag Series this fall — an informal, lunchtime opportunity for workers’ compensation system participants to meet with the Hearings leadership team. These sessions are designed to give attendees a firsthand look at ongoing improvements in dispute resolution, share updates on Hearings’ operations, and invite open dialogue about how we can better serve the system. Join our Hearings team, including:
- Gerri Thomas, Chief Administrative Law Judge.
- Tiffany Duarte, Director of Dispute Processing.
- Monica Zahn, Director of Northern and Western Regions.
- Jeff Carothers, Director of Southern and Eastern Regions.
Bring your lunch and join us from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.:
- October 15 – El Paso Field Office.
- October 21 – Dallas Field Office.
- October 22 – Fort Worth Field Office.
- October 28 – San Antonio Field Office.
- October 29 – Houston East Field Office.
- October 30 – Zoom.
Topics may include:
- Hearings' new leadership structure and efforts to provide greater consistency and support across the state.
- Expanded remote interpreter services to provide greater flexibility and access to qualified interpreters.
- A new approach to offering earlier hearing dates when continued cases are ready to proceed.
- Virtual contested case hearings and how parties can choose a virtual hearing as a convenient alternative to appearing in person.
- Ideas to make the dispute resolution process easier to navigate and more efficient for everyone involved.
- Your feedback about what is working, what could work better, and where Hearings should focus its efforts next.
There will be time for questions and discussion about the dispute resolution process. To protect the integrity and confidentiality of individual proceedings, Hearings will not discuss specific cases.