Page 14 - Ohio Vol 4 No 5
P. 14

AALM: How would you describe your practice?
Callen: My main area of practice is workers’ compensation, both at the administrative level and litigation in Ohio’s courts. I also have extensive experience with unemployment and social security disability. It is common for these three areas of law to intersect, and my knowledge in all three areas allows me to best advise my clients. My desire to help people who get lost in the system drew me to practice in these areas.
AALM: When did you  rst know you wanted to become an attorney? What drew you to this career?
Callen: I have always been problem solver. If there is a problem, I strive to  gure out the best solution. This led me to become an attorney, I wanted to use my problem-solving skills to help everyday people. In the workers’ compensation arena, this usually involves listening to the client, reviewing their medical records, and then explaining all options available to them so that they are well-informed. Ultimately, any  nal decision is the client’s, but I get them to that point by educating and advising them.
AALM: What experiences have taught you the most?
Callen: I seem to learn the most when I have an unusual set of facts and have to be creative. Having unusual facts makes me leave the normal framework of a workers’ compensation claim and take a closer look at the situation, the law, and how to come out on the winning side for my clients. Also, I try to always learn something from adversity and setbacks in the process of litigating a case. I try to use what I have learned from past experiences in dealing with unique situations and to build my skills for the future.
STACY M. CALLEN
Beyond the Normal Framework
AALM: What do you  nd particularly rewarding about being an attorney?
Callen: As an attorney, I meet people at one of the most dif cult times in their lives. My clients are injured, some cannot work and some are not sure of their future. As would be expected, most workers who are injured have no knowledge of the administrative system and they  nd it confusing and frustrating. I navigate my clients through the intricate workers’ compensation process with my understanding and experience, which is rewarding. I see a large part of my role as an attorney as translating a dif cult system into plain language for the everyday worker. It is a shame when injured workers miss opportunities or bene ts available to them because they do not understand the system or do not have quality representation.
AALM: What case most de ned or rede ned your practice?
Callen: There is not one case that has de ned my practice, but a few speci c cases have changed my outlook about my practice. These cases involved investing a lot of time and energy and ending with a positive outcome. From these cases, I saw  rsthand that hard work and persistence can change the course of a case that may otherwise get lost in the system.
I have some interesting cases going on now that challenge me to work harder. Two of the cases involve workers who are not U.S. citizens but who have suffered life-changing injuries; a  reman who fought a two-year battle to win his Ohio Police & Fire Disability pension and now is  ghting for workers’ compensation bene ts; a death claim with an employer who was not paying its workers’
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