Overview
Margaret A. O'Bryon is an Ohio State Bar Association Certified Attorney Specialist in the area of Workers Compensation Law. She concentrates her practice in employer workers' compensation law, public law, and employment law. In her workers' compensation practice, Margaret represents self-insured and state-funded clients in matters from the administrative level at the Ohio Industrial Commission through the court system, from Common Pleas Court to the Supreme Court of Ohio, providing aggressive, efficient, cost-effective defense. Margaret’s clients represent an array of public and private industry including health care, manufacturing, construction, and school districts.
She is knowledgeable in the legal interplay between workers' compensation, the Family Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and unemployment benefits, defends discrimination claims before the OCRC and EEOC, and prepares employee handbooks, drafts workplace policies, severance agreements. In Pubic Law, Margaret also has twenty-six years of experience as a prosecutor for six different municipalities
Margaret began her legal career in the Erie County Prosecutor's Office and has since served as prosecutor in the cities of Lorain, Elyria, Amherst, Vermilion and the villages of Wellington and Kipton. She is currently the law director for the village of Kipton and an assistant law director for the city of Elyria. Margaret is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Lorain County Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, Leadership Lorain County, 100+ Women of Lorain County, and a former member of the Giving Circle for the Community Foundation of Lorain County.
Margaret received her Bachelor of Liberal Studies from Bowling Green State University and her law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where she obtained the highest individual score on her Jessup Moot Court team. She was an adjunct criminal law professor for four years at Lorain County Community College.
Representative Cases & Matters
Workers' Compensation
- Represented a municipal client before the Ninth District Court of Appeals in a workers’ compensation matter involving the death of a police officer.
- Successfully represented a client before the Ohio Supreme Court on the issue of workers’ compensation retaliation.
- Defense of specific violations of safety requirements (VSSR).
- Representation of employers before the Industrial Commission of Ohio.
Public Law
- Successfully defended a mayor, council president and council members at trial before the Ohio Elections Commission on the issue of a campaign violation.
- Successfully represented municipality before the Sixth District Court of Appeals on the issue of zoning for commercial fishing.
- Successfully represented a municipality in common pleas court regarding firefighter occupational disease, resulting in dismissal of the case.
Credentials
Education
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Bowling Green State University
Admissions – Court
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Federal Court for the Northern District
Admissions – State
- Ohio
Professional & Civic
Professional Activities
Ohio State Bar Association
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Lorain County Bar Association (Co-Chair Public Law Committee; former member Certified Ethics Committee and Judicial Committee)
Leadership Lorain County
100+ Women of Lorain County
Community Involvement
Road to Hope, Board Member
Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ADAS) Board of Lorain County, Board Member
Model United Nations Program- Vermillion Middle School, Legal Supervisor
Giving Circle for the Community Foundation of Lorain County, former member
Accreditation
OSBA Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
News & Insights
Events
Speaking Engagements
Workers’ Compensation: Attorney Employer Point of View, Lorain County Chamber of Commerce 2016/2017 Safety Council meeting, Lorain County Community College, August 24, 2016
Workers' Compensation, a Death Claim, and a Union Contract: A Case Study, Educational Service Center (ESC) of Cuyahoga County, July 30, 2015
Pregnancy Discrimination and the New EEOC Ruling, Greater Lorain County Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), January 15, 2015
Workers’ Compensation Defense, W | H Public Law Seminar, October 18, 2014
The Ins and Outs of Workers’ Compensation Awards, Greater Lorain County SHRM, July 19, 2012
Pay Now or Pay Way More Later: Proactive Aggressive Workers’ Compensation Defense, Greater Lorain County SHRM, June 21, 2012