Typically, in Pennsylvania, workers’ compensation hearings are held in the County in which the injured worker lives. Many Counties in PA have a single hearing location (Allentown for Lehigh County, Reading for Berks County, Easton for Northampton County), while others have multiple locations. For instance, in Montgomery County, hearings are divided between hearing offices in Malvern and Dresher. Similarly, in Bucks County, there are hearing offices in Bristol and Doylestown.
Another County with multiple locations is Philadelphia County, where there is an office in Northeast Philadelphia and one in Center City Philadelphia. The Center City hearing office has been in the State Office Building at Broad and Spring Garden Streets for as long as I can remember (and I have been handling workers’ compensation cases in PA for over 15 years). As you may have heard, however, the State Office Building has been sold and the Philadelphia workers’ compensation hearing office will be moving.
Though details are hard to come by, we believe the new Philadelphia workers comp office will be located at 8th and Arch Streets in Center City Philadelphia. The move is expected to take place by the end of 2008. We will certainly be updating this information as we learn more!