Qualifications and Experience Wins Cases!

Scott Stewart the principal of Stewart & DeChant has the following qualifications and experience:

• Certified Civil Trial Advocate, National Board of Trial Advocacy since 1993 recertified every 5 years in 1998, 2003 and 2008. ( approx 155 in Ohio)
• Listed Best Lawyers in America, plaintiff’s personal injury for the last 10 years (top 5%)
• Best Law Firms U.S. News & World Reports.  Listed there for the last 10 years.
• Martindale Hubbell AV rating (top 10%) for the last 15 years.
• Ohio Super Lawyer last 8 years specialty practice listing legal malpractice for the plaintiff in the 2012 edition ( you can only be listed in one category).
• Cleveland’s Best Lawyers 2012 Edition.  One of two lawyers listed in plaintiffs and defendants personal injury (plaintiff’s injury is my primary area but also listed for insurance bad faith representing defendants who were not properly represented by their insurance carriers)
• Cleveland’s Best Lawyers 2012 Edition one of four lawyers in plaintiff’s product liability.
• 35 years of representing injured victims in legal malpractice, personal injury, nursing home abuse, Social Security disability and plaintiff’s trial practice.
• Member in the Million Dollar Advocates and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum (limited to attorneys with verdicts in a single case of over 2 million in damages awarded).
• Registered by Martindale Hubbell as a Cleveland pre-eminent law firm in Plaintiffs Trial practice. 
• Leland G. Vincent II representing persons in their Ohio Workers’ Compensation claims.

One of the most important ingredients in handling a client’s case is the reputation of the plaintiff’s attorney.  Defense attorneys and insurance companies will consider the plaintiff’s lawyer’s reputation for truth, diligence and success in evaluating the injured party’s claim.  The law firm of Stewart & DeChant, LLC prides itself on having those attributes.

Mr. Stewart would be honored to handle your claim.  The following is an example of some of the specialty areas that the firm have handled in the last 35 years:

• Legal malpractice
• Catastrophic injuries
• Defective products
• Auto and truck collisions
• Motorcycle collisions
• Spine injury
• Brain injury
• Insurance bad faith
• Social Security disability
• Workers’ compensation
• Wrongful death
• Nursing home neglect

If you or someone you know in Ohio needs experienced personal injury or Workers' Compensation representation, call Cleveland Accident Lawyer Scott Stewart today at 866-284-9380 , or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free consultation.

Practice Areas and Legal Definitions

Workers' Compensation:
Workers' compensation is insurance that an employer is required by law to carry in case an employee is injured on the job or becomes ill, temporarily or permanently disabled or fatally injured due to circumstances surrounding his or her job.

Although workers' compensation laws vary from state to state, covered medical care generally includes: medical, surgical and hospital services, dental services, crutches, hearing aids, chiropractic treatment, physical therapy, nursing care and prescribed medications. Additional monetary compensation may be provided if an injured employee is temporarily unable to work for more than a certain number of calendar days set by state law, hospitalized as an in-patient, or becomes permanently disabled due to a job-related injury or illness. The right to receive medical treatment at the employer's expense typically continues as long as treatment is reasonable and necessary to treat the injury.

Orthopedic Injuries:
Orthopedic injuries can include injuries involving the spine, bones, joints, muscles, nerves and other parts of the skeletal system. The most common orthopedic injuries are bone fractures and sprains and strains. Sprains describe an injury to a ligament and strains describe an injury to muscle. Treatment for orthopedic injuries include medical counseling, medications, casts, splints and therapies, such as exercise or surgery.

Repetitive Stress Injury:
If an individual develops a repetitive stress injury (i.e., carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, tennis elbow, etc.) from duties performed while on the job, he or she may receive workers' compensation benefits including their choice of doctor(s), full medical care compensation, lost wage benefits, a lump-sum cash settlement, vocational retraining or re-schooling and permanent wage loss benefits.

Construction/Industrial Accidents:
Construction labor makes up one of the three most dangerous occupations in the United States today; each year producing thousands of debilitating injuries and wrongful deaths. Factors that contribute to construction accidents include workers lifting loads with worn and weathered cables, working on elevated platforms without fall protection or wearing defective safety harnesses and lanyards, and/or working in trenches with improper benching and using outdated tools and equipment.

Construction site personal injury law is not practiced nor understood by many personal injury attorneys. As a result, many personal injury construction claims are often subject to mediocre representation and minimal financial compensation due to improper legal counsel.  Injured construction workers are urged to seek a workers' compensation attorney who is knowledgeable in a variety of construction techniques and has successfully litigated numerous construction site personal injury cases.

Burn Injuries:
People who have suffered and survived the agony of second, third and even fourth degree burns describe the pain they experienced as among the most severe of all traumatic injuries. Personal injuries involving severe burns commonly result from explosions, premises fires, defective products, motor vehicle collisions or electric shock, as well as accidental exposure to harmful chemicals and radiation.

Toxic Exposure:
Due to the tremendous growth of corporate industry in the United States over the past fifty years, the number of dangerous, toxic substances in the environment has grown significantly. Some toxic substances are shown to cause substantial injury to people, such as lead-based paint (linked to brain damage, especially in children), asbestos (linked to lung cancer and restrictive lung disease), dry cleaning and other solvents (linked to brain damage and major organ damage), pesticides such as dioxin and DDT (linked to birth injuries) and toxic landfill waste (linked to leukemia).

Retaliatory Discharge:
If an individual is terminated from their place of employment after reporting a workers' compensation claim, he or she could be entitled to substantial damages in a retaliatory discharge lawsuit against their former employer.

Federal laws prohibit an employer from discharging or discriminating against an employee because of a workers' compensation injury.  If an employer fires or forces the resignation of an injured employee in retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim, the employee can file a civil lawsuit against the employer seeking damages in court, provided the employee has evidence of such an allegation. Also, if an employer denies permission for immediate medical attention following a work-related injury, or does not permit an employee to seek out the services of other medical professionals in conjunction with assigned company doctors, the employee can seek legal retribution under workers' compensation laws.

Social Security Disability (SSD):
Social Security provides disability insurance benefits to those who have worked and paid Social Security taxes and have become disabled. In order to receive benefits, the claimant must establish 1) that the disabling condition makes it impossible to perform any substantial work, and 2) that the disability is expected to last at least a year or until death.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI):
Social Security provides SSI benefits for those who are severely disabled but not eligible to receive Social Security disability insurance benefits. This is usually because the claimant did not work long enough in Social Security covered employment to establish eligibility. SSI differs substantially from Social Security disability. The benefits are lower, there is no provision for dependent or survivors benefits, and the disabled person cannot own substantial assets or have substantial income from any source.

Cessation:
Cessation involves the involuntary termination of Social Security disability or SSI benefits. This is usually based on a determination that the disabling condition does not exist or no longer exists and/or, in the case of SSI, that the disabled person’s income and/or assets are too substantial to warrant benefits.

If you or someone you know in Ohio needs experienced personal injury or Workers' Compensation representation, call Cleveland Accident Lawyer Scott Stewart today at 866-284-9380 , or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free consultation.
 

Attorney Profile

Scott E. Stewart
Scott E. Stewart heads the firm's personal injury, legal malpractice and products liability section. He specializes in personal injury, vehicle and truck accidents, maritime law, intentional tort, social security disability, drug recall litigation and other areas of personal injury practice.

Scott graduated from Bethany College in 1973 and from the Case Western Reserve School of Law with his Juris Doctorate in 1976. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar the same year. He is admitted to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and other Federal Courts.

Scott was honored by gaining membership as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in May of 1993. He was recertified in 1998, 2003 and 2008. He is one of 153 in Ohio. It is the only group that can certify a civil trial advocate. He is an Ohio Super Lawyer for at least the last four years, received for the top 5% in the State as voted by his peers and a Best Lawyer in America for the last 10 years also reserved for the top 5% of the nation's lawyer as voted by his peers. He is a member of the Million Dollar and Multiple Million Dollar Advocates Forum received to persons in his case who have the verdicts exceeding $2,000,000 or more or settlements over $2,000,000. Scott has had four verdicts and settlements exceeding that criterion. He is AV rated by Martindale & Hubbell. The highest rating given.

Scott is a member and past president of the Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys as well as a member of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association where he is currently a district representative. As a member of the Cleveland Bar Association, Scott is the past chairman of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and was a former director on the Young Lawyers' Section. Currently, he is a past chairman of the Common Pleas Committee of the Litigation Section.

He is a Diplomat in the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys and a member of the American Judicature Society, the National Organization of Social Security Claimant's Representatives, the Ohio State Bar Foundation and one of fewer than a hundred and thirty associates of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

In addition to lecturing to other practicing lawyers in Ohio, Scott has published on the topics of intentional tort law and experts.

Scott has been a partner since 1983

Areas of Practice

• Personal Injury
• Insurance Law Bad Faith Claims
• Products Liability
• Vehicle and Truck Accidents
• Maritime Law
• Intentional Tort
• Social Security Disability
• Drug Recall Litigation

Litigation Percentage

• 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions

• Ohio, 1976
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 1978
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1989
• U.S. Federal Courts, 1978

Education

• Case Western Reserve University Law School, Cleveland, Ohio
  • J.D. - 1976
• Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia
  • B.A. (Cum Laude) - 1973
  • Honors: Senior High Honors

Published Works

• Insurance Coverage for Arguably Intentional Torts Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys Journal, May, 1988

Honors and Awards

• Ohio Super Lawyer
• Best Lawyer in America
• AV rated by Martindale & Hubbell
• Diplomat in the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Member, 1993
• Million Dollar and Multiple Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Member
• Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys, Member and Past President
• Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, Member
• American Association for Justice, Member
• American Bar Association, Member
• Ohio State Bar Association, Member
• Cleveland Bar Association, Member
• Cleveland Bar Association, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Past Chairman
• Cleveland Bar Association, Young Lawyers’ Section, Former Director
• Cleveland Bar Association, Litigation Section, Past Chairman, Common Pleas Committee
• American Judicature Society, Member
• National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives, Member
• Ohio State Bar Foundation, Member
• American Board of Trial Advocates, Associate

Fraternities/Sororities

• Phi Delta Kappa