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

Commissioner of Insurance Cassie Brown retired after more than four years overseeing the Texas Department of Insurance. Governor Greg Abbott appointed Amanda Crawford in her stead to oversee the department, for a term set to expire on 2/1/27. Ms. Crawford was serving as the executive director of the Department of Information Resources and is Texas’ chief information officer. It remains to be seen if and how the change in leadership at TDI will impact DWC since it is technically a division within the Department of Insurance.
 
In ALJ news, Barham Richard has joined the DWC as a traveling Administrative Law Judge based out of Austin. Mr. Richard has an extensive background serving as legal counsel for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Lone Star Legal Aid, and the Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel. He most recently served as a Senior Staff Attorney for the Texas Medical Board. We are glad to have him join us in the wonderful world of workers’ compensation!
 
Congratulations are also in order to Christina Figueroa, Sarah Hart, and Avery Fortenberry, all of whom have been recently promoted from PROs to BROs. We look forward to working with them all during our Benefit Review Conferences.

Change is also afoot in Lubbock, where the DWC is searching for a new home for its offices and seems set on giving up its lovely quarters at 22 Briercroft Office Park.  For those who have never made the attempt, trying to locate the Lubbock Field Office for the first time is something of a right-of-passage hazing ritual among system participants, obscured as it is behind trees and secreted away along the side of the building.  Hopefully the new location is a bit more conspicuous!


 
Copyright 2026, Stone Loughlin & Swanson, LLP