Ohio Workers' Compensation Attorneys
You showed up for your employer's shift. Now the Bureau is deciding how much your shoulder, your back, or your paycheck is worth. We take that decision out of their hands — we've spent decades getting Ohio workers the benefits they were owed and the recovery the Bureau cannot pay.
- Denied claims and 14-day appeals filed fast
- Allowed-condition fights — added before treatment stalls
- TTD, PPD, and permanent total disability pursued separately
- Third-party lawsuits on top of your comp claim
- Bilingual staff — Servicio de intérprete en español
- Home and hospital visits anywhere in Ohio
How Do I Keep Income Coming In During an Ohio Workers' Comp Claim?
Ohio workers' compensation keeps money coming in while you are off work — temporary total disability, living maintenance during vocational rehabilitation, and wage-loss benefits that pay two-thirds of the difference for up to 200 weeks if you return to a lower-paying job. Attorney Kyle B. McKenzie explains.
Read The Full AnswerOhio Workers' Comp Client Testimonial: David Shepard's Story
David Shepard was T-boned while driving a work truck and spent 14 months off work. McKenzie & Snyder handled every problem with his Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation claim and got him a nice settlement — "couldn't be happier."
Read The Full AnswerHow An Ohio Workers' Comp Claim Actually Gets Paid
Most claims do not fail because the injury was small. They fail because a deadline slipped, a condition went unlisted, or nobody was watching the Bureau's paperwork. Here is the order we work in.
- 01
Report It In Writing
Tell your supervisor on day one, then send an email or text so there is a record. Your employer owes the Bureau a First Report of Injury within one business day. Most claims get lost here, not in court.
- 02
Get Treated And Documented
See a Bureau-authorized provider and describe the accident the way it happened. Say every body part that hurts — even the ones that feel minor today. The chart note becomes the blueprint of your claim.
- 03
File The Application For Benefits
The Application for Benefits is what actually opens your claim with the Bureau. If your employer dragged its feet, we file for you. One year is the outer limit; we do not let a deadline take your case.
- 04
Guard The Allowed Conditions
The Bureau approves specific injuries, not 'whatever happened to you.' Every missed condition is a denied surgery or an unpaid bill. We read the order, spot what is missing, and file to add it before treatment stalls.
- 05
Collect Every Dollar You're Owed
Lost-wage compensation while you are out, impairment awards for lasting damage, permanent total disability if you can never work again, and retraining when the old job is gone. We chase each one separately.
- 06
Break Past The Ceiling
Workers' comp replaces part of a paycheck; it does not pay for a life rearranged. When someone besides your employer caused the injury, we pursue that claim too — the recovery the Bureau cannot touch.
Our home since 1999. Fighting for workers in all 88 Ohio counties.
Hurt On The Job — Or Off It — We Have Your Back
We help thousands of Ohioans just like you fight for the workers' compensation they deserve to recover. Learn where your case stands with a free consultation.
Hurt On The Job
Reported it, got treated, and now the Bureau is slow-walking your claim? Ohio workers' comp covers medical care, lost wages, and lasting damage — if the claim is built right from day one.
Can I Collect Ohio Workers' Comp?Injured Off The Job
Your employer says it didn't happen at work — or a car crash, a fall, or a dog bite off the clock has you out of a paycheck. Different claim, same fight: we take both.
When The Employer Disputes ItEvery Injury Has A Playbook. We Wrote Ours Over 25 Years.
From disc herniations to carpal tunnel to the loss of a limb — each kind of claim has its own evidence, its own deadlines, and its own fight. Start with yours.
First Steps In A Workers' Comp Claim
The FROI report, the deadlines, and the order to do things in — before a paperwork mistake costs you the claim.
Read The PlaybookDisc Herniation & Back Injuries
We won an appellate court fight over a BWC radiculopathy claim. Back cases are where insurers dig in hardest.
Read The PlaybookCervical (Neck) Injuries
When the Bureau rejects a neck condition for lack of a causal opinion, the right doctor's statement changes everything.
Read The PlaybookLifting & Repetitive Trauma
Lifting and twisting all day adds up. Cumulative and repetitive-motion injuries are real claims in Ohio.
Read The PlaybookCarpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)
Repetitive-motion nerve damage from years on the line, the keyboard, or the tools — compensable when documented right.
Read The PlaybookPersonal Injury
Hurt by someone else's negligence — on the road or off the job? That's a separate claim with a separate recovery.
Read The PlaybookHurt On The Job
Injured at work in Ohio? Here's when you can collect workers' comp and what the claim actually pays.
Read The PlaybookInjured Off The Job
Employer says you weren't on the clock? Hearings before the Industrial Commission decide — and we try them.
Read The PlaybookKnee & Shoulder Injuries
The joints that carry your work are the ones insurers love to call 'pre-existing.' We prove otherwise.
Read The PlaybookLoss Of Hand Or Limb
Ohio pays scheduled PPD awards for loss of use — on top of everything already paid. Most workers never claim it.
Read The PlaybookWrongful Death
When a work injury takes a parent or partner, families are owed funeral costs and monthly support.
Read The PlaybookSurgery Claims
Denied surgery is the Bureau's favorite delay. We get authorized treatment approved and paid.
Read The PlaybookVocational Rehabilitation
Retraining, tuition, and job placement when your body won't let you go back to the work you built your life around.
Read The PlaybookChiropractic Care
Chiropractic treatment for chronic work conditions can be covered — when the claim is built correctly.
Read The PlaybookMedical Treatments & Payments
Med-pay coverage, authorized providers, and getting every allowed condition treated and paid by the Bureau.
Read The PlaybookHurt At Work
What to do in the first days after a workplace injury — and the mistakes that quietly shrink your claim.
Read The PlaybookInsurance Claims & Payouts
The insurance company's offer is too low? Here's what going to trial after a lowball offer actually looks like.
Read The PlaybookBack On Your Feet. Benefits Paid.
Injured Ohio workers call us when the Bureau stalls. We handle the fight so you can heal.
Call NowSix Kinds Of Benefits, Six Separate Fights
The Bureau rarely volunteers everything you qualify for. Each of these has its own standard, its own evidence, and its own appeal — and we run them in parallel.
Temporary Total Disability
Roughly 72% of your average weekly wage for the first 12 weeks, then about two-thirds, up to the state maximum — taxable-free and back-dated when the claim is allowed late.
Permanent Partial Disability
A scheduled award for lasting loss of use — shoulder, back, knee, hand, hearing — on top of everything already paid.
Permanent Total Disability
If you cannot hold any steady work, benefits can continue for life, with cost-of-living increases. This is the fight worth having a team for.
Medical, Surgery & Pharmacy
Every allowed condition treated and paid by the Bureau — including the second opinion and the referral your doctor keeps trying to order.
Vocational Rehabilitation
Retraining, tuition, and job placement when your body will not let you go back to the work you built your life around.
Death & Dependency Benefits
Funeral costs and monthly support for a spouse and children when a work injury takes a parent or partner. No family should absorb that alone.
Workers' Comp Is Rarely The Whole Recovery
Compensation replaces part of a paycheck. It does not pay for a marriage under strain, a career over at 41, or the pain you live with at 2 a.m. When someone other than your employer caused the injury, a second claim exists — and it is worth far more than the Bureau will ever write.
- A trucking company or loader whose negligence caused a work driving crash
- A machine or tool maker whose equipment mangled a hand or crushed a back
- A property owner, contractor, or landlord who left a hazard in your path
- Another driver in a work-related collision — including delivery and route runs
- An employer that operated outside the Bureau's coverage protections
Ohio law limits what the Bureau can take back out of a third-party recovery — which is exactly the negotiation that decides how much of your own settlement you keep. We run the comp claim and the liability claim together so neither one quietly undercuts the other.
Is Your Claim Being Held Back?
Send us the denial letter, the allowed-conditions order, or just the date you got hurt. A paralegal reads it the same day and tells you — straight — whether you are being paid what the law requires.
Workers' Compensation Is Who We Started As
Kyle B. McKenzie
Partner · Founding Attorney
27 years of workers' compensation and injury trial work out of Hamilton, Ohio.
Full ProfileAndrew Tobergte
Partner · Attorney
Trial-tested in workers' comp, car and truck accidents. Practicing in Ohio since 2007.
Full ProfileJoe Paley
Attorney
Workers' comp and personal injury litigator focused on maximizing recovery for working families.
Full ProfileMatt Hammer
Attorney
Handles catastrophic injury and commercial-vehicle cases where comp and third-party claims collide.
Full ProfileOhio Workers' Comp Questions, Answered
How long do I have to file a workers' compensation claim in Ohio?
You generally have one year from the date of the injury — or from the date you learned an illness was work-related — to file an Application for Benefits with the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Your employer is supposed to report the injury within one business day, but it often does not. Do not wait for your employer to act: every day you wait, wages and medical coverage you are owed stop being protected.
Do I have to see my employer's doctor?
If your employer runs an approved managed-care program, it can direct your medical care for the first 30 days after the injury. After that you may choose any Bureau-authorized provider. Keep every record, and tell each doctor exactly how the injury happened at work — the words in that first chart note often decide which conditions the Bureau allows.
Can I be fired for filing a workers' compensation claim?
No. Ohio law prohibits an employer from discharging you for filing a claim or testifying in a claim proceeding. If you were let go because you filed, that is a separate wrongful discharge claim, and the timing of the firing is powerful evidence. Preserve your texts, write-ups, and schedule changes the day they happen.
What if my claim is denied, or the Bureau leaves out one of my injuries?
A denial is not the end — it is the start of an appeal you must file within 14 days, so call immediately. The more common fight is over allowed conditions: the Bureau approves the knee but not the back, or the shoulder but not the neck, and every unallowed condition means unpaid bills and denied treatment. We order the records, line up the treating physician's statement, and file to add each condition.
How much does it cost to hire a workers' compensation attorney in Ohio?
Nothing up front. In a workers' compensation case the Bureau sets and approves the attorney fee — typically a share of the additional benefits we recover for you — so you are not paying out of pocket or from your own paycheck. If we recover nothing extra, there is no fee for that work.
Every claim turns on its own facts, and Ohio deadlines are short. If the deadline on a denial is running, call us today — a claim can be lost in fourteen days.
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