Rick Hernandez Perez Morris Headshot

Contact

[email protected]

D | (614) 540-2230

O | (614) 431-1500

445 Hutchinson Ave.

Suite 600

Columbus, Ohio 43235

 

Practice

Workers’ Compensation

 

Education

Capital University Law School, Juris Doctor, 1986

Ohio State University, Bachelor of Arts, 1983

Rick Hernandez

Partner

Rick Hernandez joined Perez Morris in 2017. He is a proactive, strategic and dedicated workers’ compensation defense attorney with more than 30 years’ experience. Rick has represented self-insured and state-funded private employers, state agencies, and public and private universities in proceedings before the Industrial Commission of Ohio and at all levels of court within the state of Ohio.

He has represented national trucking companies, major hospital organizations, nursing home consortiums, national utilities and industry-leading retailers and restaurants. He routinely advises on workers’ compensation program administration, company policy drafting, including return-to-work and workplace safety policy, and effective risk management strategy. His goal is to lower workers’ compensation costs for his clients.

Rick has conducted as many as 18 jury trials in workers’ compensation-related litigation, and for the majority he served as lead trial counsel. He also represented employers in mandamus actions in the Tenth District Court of Appeals and in the Supreme Court of Ohio. He successfully argued before the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Adjudicating Committee and Self-Insured Review Board.

Rick is a certified workers’ compensation specialist through the Ohio State Bar Association and has been since its inception.

Prior to joining Perez Morris, he worked in the Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Executive Agencies Section, representing state agencies and universities across Ohio. Prior to that, Rick was a partner in the workers’ compensation practice areas of two large law firms in Central Ohio for more than 15 years, cumulatively.

Rick resides in New Albany, Ohio, with his wife, Gigi, and their three children.

 

Admissions

Ohio

United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 1986

 

Memberships & Affiliations

 

Presentations

  • Objective v. Subjective Complaints in Defending Workers’ Compensation Claims, Ohio Self Insured Education Day, 2020
  • How to Defend Traumatic Brain Injuries, AutoZone and Gallagher Bassett Partnership Meeting, 2019
  • How to Prepare for a Workers’ Compensation Hearing, BWC Safety Congress, 2019
  • The Use of Medical Records in Defending Workers’ Compensation Claims, Central Ohio Self Insured Dinner Meeting, 2019
  • Head Injury Claims in Workers’ Compensation, Central Ohio Self Insured Education Day, 2018
  • Is the Ohio Employer an Absolute Insurer for All On-Premises Injuries, Perez Morris Client Appreciation Seminar, 2017

 

Awards & Recognition

  • Ohio Super Lawyers Magazine, Ohio Super Lawyer, 2004 – 2013, 2023 – present
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers, 2007 – present