Hurt At Work? Our Ohio Workers Compensation Attorneys Can Help
9
Ohio locations
6
attorneys
Millions
recovered for our clients
40+
years in business
100%
success rate at trial for the last decade
We Know Our Clients
We learn more about our clients than just their claim, because there may be other benefits, like Social Security or veterans benefits, that people didn’t know they could pursue.
We Handle What Others Can’t
We can handle claims other firms have been unsuccessful with. We often see wages calculated incorrectly, conditions that were never recognized, and other gaps.
Fair Fees, Always
We use a contingency fee agreement, so no fees are due until a benefit is secured. We never take a percentage of ongoing permanent total or temporary total biweekly payments.
YOUR WORKERS COMPENSATION ATTORNEY
Meet Kara Dolan-West
Kara Dolan-West started at The Bainbridge Firm as a law clerk 13 years ago and has been handling the firm’s most complex workers comp litigation ever since. She describes her approach simply: her legal arguments are only as strong as the medical behind them, so that’s always where the work starts. She pulls the file, reads the medical, and figures out what’s there and what’s missing before anything else happens.
“My legal arguments are only as strong as your medical. So the rst thing I do is pull your medical and say—what’s the doctor saying? And then we gure out what we need to do.”
Kara Dolan-West
Workers Compensation Attorney, The Bainbridge Firm
OUR LOCATIONS
Nine Offices Throughout Ohio
Each of our nine Ohio offices is staffed with an experienced legal assistant who can help you get started. Our attorneys travel to all locations, so wherever you are in the state, we can meet you there. Every office is accessible and designed with our clients in mind.
- Columbus
- Portsmouth
- Cambridge
- Marion
- Marietta
- Springfield
- New Philly
- Ironton
- Chillicothe
HOW WE WORK
What It Looks Like to Work With a Workers Comp Attorney in Ohio
People contact us at every stage of a claim. Whether you’ve just been hurt or you’re a year into your claim, we encourage you to contact us. Our team can step in at any point, but we’re also honest about what it means when someone waits. The sooner you contact us, the better.
The First Question Is Always When You Were Hurt
That determines almost everything else about how the work starts. If it was yesterday, the claim can be built correctly from the beginning. If it's been a year, or longer, we figure out what's missing and whether it can be recovered.
We Pull The File And Read Your Medical
Our legal arguments are only as strong as the medical behind them. So that's where the work starts. We review what’s been documented, what hasn't, and what the claim currently recognizes. Getting the right conditions added, fast, is usually step one.
We Make Sure Nothing Gets Lost in the Medical Paperwork
Sometimes things that seem obvious in plain language don't meet the legal standard the system requires. A doctor can write that someone has a fracture following a workplace accident and never explicitly connect the two, and that missing connection can cost someone their case. If we're involved early, we help close that gap before it costs anything.
We Check the Math on Your Wages
Your average weekly wage from the 52 weeks before your injury is the number that determines the size of several other benefits you're entitled to. And what's on file is sometimes wrong. Getting that number as accurate as possible, from every employer over that period, is something our team treats as a priority, because the difference compounds.
We Honor Your Goals
Some clients need surgery and want to get back to work as fast as possible. Others can't return to what they were doing and need lifelong benefits. Some want to settle and move forward. Every case calls for a different approach based on what the person actually needs, and we honor each person’s goals from the start.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Things We Hear From People Who Contact An Ohio Workers Compensation Attorney for the First Time
These are the concerns we hear most often when someone calls for the first time. Most of them are based on misunderstandings about how the system actually works.
“I don’t want to sue my employer.”
You’re not suing anyone. Workers comp is an insurance claim, and your employer has been paying into that coverage on your behalf. Think of it like calling State Farm after a car accident. You wouldn’t tell your insurer you’ve been loyal for 20 years and don’t want to use the coverage. You’d file. That’s what the insurance is for, and filing a workers comp claim is no different.
“Filing means I’ll be labeled as disabled forever.”
It doesn’t, and it’s one of the biggest things people get wrong. Benefits can be temporary. People go on Social Security disability while they’re recovering, return to work, and come off it. Workers comp has programs specifically designed to get people back into the workforce, including vocational rehabilitation that can cover job training or placement. The goal, in most cases, is to get you back to where you were before the injury.
“I can’t afford an attorney.”
The math usually works in your favor, even though it doesn’t feel that way at first. After the first 12 weeks, temporary total disability benefits drop to 66 and 2/3 percent of your average weekly wage. Without representation, a lot of the benefits that make up the rest of the picture go unclaimed entirely. Most clients net more in the end, even with attorney fees, because they access benefits they wouldn’t have known to pursue.
“I can figure this out on my own.”
Some people do, for a while. But the insurance companies and the BWC aren’t going to tell you what you’re entitled to, and if you ask for something incorrectly, or miss a deadline, the opportunity can be gone. The system was designed for injured workers to navigate alone, but that’s become genuinely difficult for most people. Working with a workers compensation lawyer in Ohio gives you the best chance of securing every benefit you’re entitled to.
CASE STUDY
Real Case: $60,000 Overpayment Demand. We Fought and Won
- Previous attorney dropped the case after already collecting fees
- Workers comp pursuing a $60,000 overpayment against a 70-year-old veteran
- Permanent total disability benefits at risk of being cut off entirely
- Client had nowhere else to turn
- Result: we took the case, worked it for months, and won
READY TO GET STARTED?
Find Out Where Your Claim Stands
There’s no cost to have a conversation with one of our Ohio workers compensation attorneys. Call, walk into any of our nine locations, or fill out a form online. We’re here to help.
- 614-916-8025
- Nine Ohio Locations