Powell v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review

At issue in this appeal is principally a question of statutory construction: in allowing representation in unemployment compensation hearings to be performed by “an attorney or other representative,” 43 P.S. § 774, did the legislature intend to exclude suspended attorneys? The majority never fully addresses this question; rather, in my view, it conflates this Court’s undisputed authority over attorneys with a putative obligation of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (the “Board”) to enforce our disciplinary pronouncements. In so doing, the majority allows the Board to overlook its…