State News : Texas

NWCDN is a network of law firms dedicated to protecting employers in workers’ compensation claims.


NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.  


Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.


Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.


Texas

STONE LOUGHLIN & SWANSON, LLP

  512-343-1385

A Judgment Disorder


“He who represents himself has a fool for a client.” That morsel of legal wisdom, well-known among those in the profession, is generally attributed, perhaps apocryphally, to Abraham Lincoln. Well, if the gentleman from Springfield ever did say it, no one bothered to tell Phyllis Lee.  

Ms. Lee, was a Grand Prairie ISD employee. Without legal counsel, she filed a petition for judicial review of a Decision and Order and Appeals Panel affirmance that her injury does not extend to or include “adjudgment disorder” (whatever that is) along with “depressed mood, psychological factors adversely affecting medical conditions, or major depression.” She further accused the School District of “due process violations, fraud, and conspiracies” committed against her.  

The school district scored a victory at the trial court level, where Ms. Lee’s suit was dismissed summarily for not having been filed within the thirty days allotted under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). But the Austin Court of Appeals sided with the still-unrepresented Ms. Lee, reversing the decision and remanding the case back to the trial court. The Court of Appeals confirmed that Ms. Lee’s deadline to file her petition was forty-five days under Texas Labor Code Section 410.252, which is the statute that applies to all Appeals Panel decisions, and not thirty days per Section 2001.176 of the APA.  

So, this time, anyway, it seems Lee got the better of Lincoln.  

Copyright 2024, Stone Loughlin & Swanson, LLP