Litigants before the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review can hire just about anyone they want to represent them before the board, as long as that person is not an attorney whose license has been suspended, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled.
A divided Supreme Court ruled March 28 that, despite language in the Unemployment Compensation Law saying litigants can be represented by either an attorney or “other representative,” those with suspended law licenses cannot represent people before the board. The decision in Powell v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review reverses a ruling from the Commonwealth Court, which had said that the board did not have the authority to bar suspended attorneys from representing litigants.
