Law Office of Alan Tysinger

New Public Counsel Appointed for Texas Office of Injured Employee Counsel

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... Read more →

Do you need a lawyer for a workers' comp settlement?


In Texas, an employee is not eligible for a true “settlement” of a workers’ compensation case. All cases are required to have medical coverage for life for the compensable injury. However, disputes frequently come into play over the extent and duration of the injury, including entitlement to income benefits and... Read more →

What is OIEC?

OIEC stands for Office of Injured Employee Counsel. The legislature created OIEC as a supposedly independent agency from the Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation, which administers the workers' compensation hearings and compliance system. But they share offices and most staff at OIEC have come from the TDI-DWC. The... Read more →

My adjuster is unreasonable, won't return my calls, and denies everything. What can I do?

Insurance adjusters believe they are reasonable people just doing their jobs. I am sure that in many cases, this is true. However, you must remember that their entire job is to put up with people (individuals, state regulators, healthcare providers, and attorneys) all day long who are asking them for... Read more →