WHAT I DO: I am a Columbus-area Workers' Compensation Attorney helping Injured Workers and their health-providers across Ohio navigate through the workers' compensation maze by providing legal counsel throughout the claims process.WHY I'M DIFFERENT: I began working as a staff attorney at the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation soon after graduating law school and passing the bar exam. After 3 years on the inside, I went into private practice representing only injured workers, not employers. After more than 30 years experience handling such cases, I've seen the dirty underbelly of self-insured and state-funded employers and their go-for-broke strategy designed to minimize (and avoid) payment of legitimate claims. These "deny at all costs" experiences with employers and their representatives fueled my ambition to do one thing: protect and defend the rights of those injured on the job in Ohio.I started working at age 13, sweeping floors and cleaning toilets at Kingsdale Pharmacy in Upper Arlington, OH. My dad was in traveling automotive after-market sales. My mother was a sales clerk who didn't finish high school but was self-educated through reading. I have brothers and sisters who've worked as soldiers, truck drivers, elementary school librarians and line workers. I've worked janitorial, driven forklifts and delivery trucks and spent 4 years slinging cow manure and peat moss at a local nursery. I even caused an industrial injury when a co-worker and I violated work rules by using a forklift to hoist him on a pallet to retrieve a box—on the way down, his fingers got caught in the forks!I am an Eagle Scout who grew up playing Boys' Club and YMCA football and basketball. I was taught to play fair and treat others with respect. I've seen employers fight loyal employees and their doctors over a $13 medical bill. I don't think that's right.