Overview

Practice Areas

For over 30 years, Maris has focused her practice on the representation of employers, both self-insured and state-funded, in workers’ compensation matters before the Industrial Commission of Ohio, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Eighth and Tenth District Court of Appeals, various Common Pleas Courts, and the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Maris brings three decades of experience in Workers’ Compensation law. Maris has focused her administrative and trial practice on the representation of employers, both self-insured and state-funded, in workers’ compensation matters before the Industrial Commission of Ohio, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Eighth and Tenth District Court of Appeals, various Common Pleas Courts, and the Supreme Court of Ohio. She routinely counsels and represents corporate clients in state fund risk, merger, and self-insurance matters before the Bureau of Workers’ compensation. Maris has represented clients in thousands of hearings before the Industrial Commission of Ohio and has obtained dismissals, summary judgments, and defense verdicts for corporate clients in connection with workers’ compensation and asbestos/mesothelioma litigation matters before the various courts in Ohio.

Maris has represented corporate clients in all types of industries including, but not limited to aerospace, nonprofit, automotive, health administration, hospitals, hospice, retail, steel, temporary agencies, higher education, construction, transportation and government.

Shortly after graduating from law school and prior to entering private practice, Maris presided over thousands of workers’ compensation hearings as a Hearing Officer with the Industrial Commission of Ohio.

Practice Areas

Representative Experience

  • Obtained jury verdicts in favor of employers in numerous cases before the state courts including a recent case in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas wherein the employee filed a workers’ compensation claim alleging that her claim should be allowed for a traumatic knee injury. The jury found in favor of the employer following a three-day jury trial.
  • Obtained dismissals of court matters as the result of dispositive briefing, including a recent case in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, wherein the employee alleged to have suffered a psychological condition as the result of an alleged work-related injury.
  • Successfully represented employers in hundreds of asbestos and mesothelioma claims resulting in denials by the Industrial Commission and the Court in all cases, including a recent mesothelioma case where the court granted the employer’s motion for summary judgment due to lack of showing of exposure to asbestos containing products.
  • Successfully represented employers in thousands of hearings before the Industrial Commission of Ohio, including a recent hearing where video evidence was filed in support of the denial of the claim.
  • Successfully represented employers before the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation on various risk issues, including a recent case where the BWC determined that the employer was not a successor, under the law, for workers’ compensation purposes.

Education & Admissions

Education

  • The University of Akron School of Law, J.D., 1992
  • Canisius College, B.A., Dean’s List, 1989

Bar and Court Admissions

  • State of Ohio
  • State of New York

Involvement

Professional Affiliations

  • American Bar Association, Member (1993 – Present)
  • Ohio State Bar Association, Member (1993 – Present)
  • Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Member (1993 – Present)
  • Ohio Women’s Bar Association, Member (1993 – Present)
  • New York Bar Association, Member (2008 – Present)

Community Involvement

  • The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Pro Bono Program (2003 – Present)

Awards & Honors

  • Inducted into Time Well Spent Honor Society—The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland (2024)
  • Recognized by Expertise.com on their Best Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Cleveland list (2018 – Present)
  • Recognized on the Ohio Super Lawyers list (2005 – 2007)

Publications

Presentations & Lectures

  • “A Herd of Changes in Workers’ Compensation Law,” Frantz Ward Labor and Employment Law Seminar, Cleveland, OH (May 2018)
  • “Workers’ Compensation-Top Strategies for Managing Claims,” St. Louis, MO (May 2017)
  • Maris regularly presents on Workers’ Compensation topics in various engagements including for the James J. Nance College of Administration, Cleveland State University’s Continuation of Laws Series, and Lorman Education Services.

Representative Experience

  • Obtained jury verdicts in favor of employers in numerous cases before the state courts including a recent case in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas wherein the employee filed a workers’ compensation claim alleging that her claim should be allowed for a traumatic knee injury. The jury found in favor of the employer following a three-day jury trial.
  • Obtained dismissals of court matters as the result of dispositive briefing, including a recent case in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, wherein the employee alleged to have suffered a psychological condition as the result of an alleged work-related injury.
  • Successfully represented employers in hundreds of asbestos and mesothelioma claims resulting in denials by the Industrial Commission and the Court in all cases, including a recent mesothelioma case where the court granted the employer’s motion for summary judgment due to lack of showing of exposure to asbestos containing products.
  • Successfully represented employers in thousands of hearings before the Industrial Commission of Ohio, including a recent hearing where video evidence was filed in support of the denial of the claim.
  • Successfully represented employers before the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation on various risk issues, including a recent case where the BWC determined that the employer was not a successor, under the law, for workers’ compensation purposes.

Education & Admissions

Education

  • The University of Akron School of Law, J.D., 1992
  • Canisius College, B.A., Dean’s List, 1989

Bar and Court Admissions

  • State of Ohio
  • State of New York

Involvement

Professional Affiliations

  • American Bar Association, Member (1993 – Present)
  • Ohio State Bar Association, Member (1993 – Present)
  • Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Member (1993 – Present)
  • Ohio Women’s Bar Association, Member (1993 – Present)
  • New York Bar Association, Member (2008 – Present)

Community Involvement

  • The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Pro Bono Program (2003 – Present)

Awards & Honors

  • Inducted into Time Well Spent Honor Society—The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland (2024)
  • Recognized by Expertise.com on their Best Workers’ Compensation Lawyers in Cleveland list (2018 – Present)
  • Recognized on the Ohio Super Lawyers list (2005 – 2007)

Publications

Presentations & Lectures

  • “A Herd of Changes in Workers’ Compensation Law,” Frantz Ward Labor and Employment Law Seminar, Cleveland, OH (May 2018)
  • “Workers’ Compensation-Top Strategies for Managing Claims,” St. Louis, MO (May 2017)
  • Maris regularly presents on Workers’ Compensation topics in various engagements including for the James J. Nance College of Administration, Cleveland State University’s Continuation of Laws Series, and Lorman Education Services.

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