Richard L. Magill

When Richard L. "Pete" Magill was working in a local mill during the summers of his college and law school years, he was struck by how workers lacked adequate representation when they were injured. That realization is what made him decide to become a lawyer who would help working people.

He worked in the mills to help finance his education at The Ohio State University, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1984, and at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, where he was a member of the Law Journal and got his J.D., cum laude, in 1987. He knew then that he wanted to focus on helping injured workers and has concentrated in that area ever since.

"At the end of the day, it's simply about helping people," Magill says. "I make sure they're paid if they're not able to work. I make sure their treatment is authorized. I make sure that they receive all the benefits that they're entitled to."

Over the years, workers' compensation has grown increasingly complex, making it even more important for injured workers to obtain experienced counsel who knows how to navigate it.

"Workers' comp. is absolutely a maze and it's our job to get you through it," Magill says. "If you try to do it yourself, you more than likely will never get the benefits you're entitled to."

"I tell my clients: ‘Your job is to listen to your doctor. My job is to handle everything else. My job is to make sure that what your doctor wants gets approved. My job is if you're not able to work, is there a benefit that you're entitled to and can we help you get it?'"

Attorney Magill's work has improved the lives of thousands of workers and their families. He has also helped to change Ohio law in ways that benefit the state's workers as a whole. He has argued cases before several different Courts of Appeal and has won four such precedential cases at the Ohio Supreme Court. One of the most noteworthy, Fisher v. Mayfield, resulted in a ruling that allows Workers Compensation benefits for workers who are injured outside of work hours if their presence at the workplace can be shown to be "in the course of employment."

He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Committee and also the liaison committee between the Bar Association and the Industrial Commission. He is also a member of the Trumbull County Bar Association's Executive Committee, a member of the Portage County Bar Association and a member of the Mahoning-Trumbull County Academy of Trial Lawyers.

He is married with two children and resides in McDonald, within a mile of his childhood home in Girard. He is involved with his children's school sports activities and has coached several softball and baseball teams.