(a) The Insurance Commissioner shall adopt reasonable and proper rules of procedure, regulate and provide for the kind and character of notices, and the service of the notices, in cases of accident and injury to employees, the nature and extent of the proofs and evidence, the method of taking and furnishing of evidence to establish the rights to benefits or compensation from the fund hereinafter provided for, or directly from employers as hereinafter provided, as the case may require, and the method of making investigations, physical examinations and inspections and prescribe the time within which adjudications and awards shall be made.
(b) At hearings and other proceedings before the Insurance Commissioner or before the duly authorized representative of the Insurance Commissioner, an employer who is a natural person may appear, and a claimant may appear, only as follows:
(1) By an attorney duly licensed and admitted to the practice of law in this state;