Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Dirk Johnson as Public Counsel, heading the Office of Injured Employee Counsel for the state of Texas. The Office of Injured Employee Counsel (OIEC) primarily operates the Ombudsman program, which offers free assistance by trained non lawyers for injured workers who choose to represent themselves in their workers' compensation claims.
Dirk Johnson has a long history with the agency before switching to a different state agency a few years back and then retiring into a corporate legal position. The current OIEC Public Counsel, Jessica Barta, worked diligently to modernize and staff up the agency to keep up with increasing demand and the technological changes affecting the workers' compensation system.
The appointment is still subject to Senate approval but given the composition of the Senate and Johnson's history with the agency, it seems likely there will be little resistance.
This at least represents a shift from some prior appointments to other roles connected to the workers' compensation system, which involved individuals who had no experience with the system.
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