N.Y. Closing More Than a Third of its Hearings Offices

The New York State Workers' Compensation Board has sparked opposition from claimants' lawyers and some state lawmakers with plans to shut down 11 of its 30 customer service centers in response to a demand by Gov. David Paterson that all state agencies trim their budgets by 3.35%.SWCB Executive Director Joseph Pennisi issued a memo Wednesday detailing plans to begin closing the centers – known to attorneys as "hearing points" – beginning with the Schenectady Customer Service Center on Sept. 15.The schedule calls for the 11 centers to be shut down between then and Nov. 2009. ...