Lawrence & Associates Accident and Injury Lawyers, LLC Help Cincinnati Firefighter Get Workers’ Compensation Benefits

The following post is part of our Law Student Blog Writing Project, and is authored by Joseph Lowe. Lowe is a law clerk here at Lawrence and Associates, and is pursuing his Juris Doctorate at NKU Salmon P. Chase College of Law.

Lawrence & Associates Accident and Injury Lawyers, LLC pays attention to the law. You probably read that and thought, “Well, I hope an experienced group of attorneys pays attention to the law!” But what you may not know is that over time the law changes. What separates the great attorneys from the rest is the amount of attention they pay to the ever changing law. Recently, Attorney Marisa A. Dyson exemplified what it means to pay attention to the new laws and the benefits they can provide injured workers.

Marisa has been practicing law since 2014. She desires to represent her clients to the best of her ability and that means keeping tabs on how the law may be changing. Marisa represents many clients with Workers’ Compensation claims. Recently, Marisa won a case for her client largely because she was paying attention to new changes in the law. Before April of 2016 a firefighter could not get Workers’ Compensation benefits if he could not prove that his cancer was caused by exposure to all of the various carcinogens that come with fighting fires. Obviously, as pinpointing the cause of cancer is nearly impossible, this was a very difficult burden for injured workers to satisfy.

This past year Marisa represented a client who may not have been able to get the benefits he desperately needed if this new law were not enacted. Marisa followed Ohio S.B. 27 and the corresponding new legislation which became effective in April of 2016 and used this brand new statute to gain Workers’ Compensation coverage for a firefighter. This law was specifically enacted for the protection of firefighters who are denied Workers’ Compensation when they are suffering from cancer that they have acquired from the risks of their job.

Marisa’s client had been a firefighter for almost 30 years and had developed cancer as a result of his service to his community. This new law lays out a rebuttable presumption that if a fire fighter contracts cancer before the age of 70, has completed 6 years of hazardous duty within the past 15 years, and develops cancer, such cancer is caused by and a result of his or her employment. Marisa argued the facts of her client’s case and fought to get him the benefits he deserves. Specifically, Marisa won the firefighter the benefits he is entitled under the new law by proving:

1. Her client served as a firefighter in hazardous duty for the required 6 years,
2. Her client was under 70,
3. Her client was actively working for the fire department within the past 15 years,
4. Her client was disabled because of his cancer, and
5. Her client was exposed to a 1 or 2A carcinogen as a result of employment.

It is important to have an attorney who not only advocates for your cause, but is equipped with the proper knowledge of what the law is when it matters to you. Marisa and the attorneys at Lawrence and Associates pay attention to the law and how it is changing. They are experienced at representing a variety of clients and will provide expert legal representation to every client they serve. If you need help with a Workers’ Compensation claim, don’t go it alone. Call Lawrence & Associates Accident and Injury Lawyers, LLC for a 100% free consultation. We’re Working Hard for the Working Class, and we want to help you!