Larrimer & Larrimer, LLC
One of central Ohio's oldest workers'-comp-focused practices, handling BWC claims, appeals, and occupational-disease cases.
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Workers' CompBWC Appeals
Updated May 7, 2026
Ohio runs its own workers' comp system. Instead of buying insurance from a private company, most Columbus employers pay into the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC), the state fund — one of only a handful of "monopolistic" states in the country. That means your claim, your benefits, and your appeals all run through state agencies, and the deadline to file is short. Below are vetted Columbus firms that handle work-injury claims, plus plain answers on how BWC works, what it pays, and how lawyers get paid.
If you are hurt on the job in Columbus, your claim goes to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, not to a private insurer. You start by filing a First Report of Injury (the FROI-1) with the BWC. Since October 2017, the deadline to file a standard injury claim is one year from the date of injury under Ohio Revised Code section 4123.84 — cut down from the old two-year window. Occupational disease and death claims still have two years. Miss the deadline and your claim is generally barred for good, so the single most important step is filing on time.
The BWC (or a self-insured employer) reviews your claim and either allows or denies it, usually within about a month. If it is denied — or if your employer disputes it — the fight moves to the Industrial Commission of Ohio. You first get a hearing before a District Hearing Officer, and you have just 14 days to appeal an order to the next level. If you lose there, you appeal to a Staff Hearing Officer, then the Industrial Commission itself, and finally the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County. Each step has its own short deadline, which is the main reason injured workers bring in a lawyer.
Temporary total disability pays 72% of your full weekly wage for the first 12 weeks, then drops to 66.6% (both subject to a statewide cap). Approved medical treatment is paid in full by the BWC or the self-insured employer. Permanent partial and permanent total awards are calculated separately based on the injury. Columbus workers' comp lawyers work on contingency with fees capped by Ohio law and the Industrial Commission, and the initial consultation is free — so choose on experience, not price.
These firms are profiled in full, with practice focus and recognition, in our Top 10 Workers' Compensation Lawyers in Columbus guide. Each is a real, independently listed OH firm.
One of central Ohio's oldest workers'-comp-focused practices, handling BWC claims, appeals, and occupational-disease cases.
A long-running Columbus firm that handles workers' comp alongside the personal-injury crossover that often comes with a work accident.
A workers'-comp-dedicated office whose principal literally wrote a treatise on Ohio workers' compensation law — a fit for denied and complex claims.
A workers'-comp specialist offering sole-practitioner attention for injured workers who want one lawyer on the file start to finish.
A family practice handling workers' comp together with Social Security disability, useful when a work injury keeps you out of work long-term.
A well-resourced Ohio firm handling the full workers' comp and work-injury process, including BWC appeals and occupational disease.
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