This CLE program offers a practitioner-focused examination of unemployment insurance appeals, explaining how adjudicators analyze claims and why factually similar cases can produce divergent results. The course introduces foundational concepts of the unemployment insurance system, including eligibility standards, disqualifying conduct, governing authority, and the statutory right to appeal adverse determinations.

Attendees will gain insight into the procedural framework of unemployment appeal hearings, with attention to jurisdictional issues, allocation of the burden of proof, admissibility and weight of evidence, and effective presentation of witness testimony in an administrative forum. The program provides a detailed analysis of misconduct determinations, distinguishing disqualifying behavior from non-disqualifying workplace issues.

The course concludes with a practical discussion of decision-making dynamics in unemployment cases, highlighting recurring mistakes, advocacy techniques, and the factual and credibility-based considerations that most often influence whether benefits are granted or denied.