Building on a Diverse Legal Background to Win Cases for Injured Workers
Leah Michael is an Associate Attorney at NRS Injury Law, focusing on workers’ compensation. Since joining the firm in 2022, Leah has demonstrated a unique talent for getting to know clients and using care, creativity, communication, and profound legal strategy to loop clients in, make them a part of the team, and collaboratively build cases that win.
Lived Experience in Workers’ Compensation
Leah grew up in a working-class family in the manufacturing corridor of northwest Ohio. Her father worked in industrial hazardous waste management, and when Leah was still young, he suffered a bad workplace accident. After more than 30 surgeries, Leah’s father became permanently and totally disabled.
Leah spent much of her youth working at a locally owned restaurant to help make ends meet. Her father’s experience, plus the mentorship of a restaurant regular (a retired federal judge) led Leah to pursue a career in law. “I knew I wanted to help people,” Leah says. “And having known so many within our family and community who had been injured in the line of work, it just seemed natural to enter a field where I could give a voice to people who are often made to feel like they don’t have one.”
Leah attended undergrad and law school at the University of Toledo, wasting no time and jumping into the legal profession as a law firm’s paralegal while still completing courses towards her undergrad. Then Leah went to night school for her law degree, continuing to work full-time for law firms. The years of employment in the legal field before even completing law school and her excellent academic marks led Leah to successfully practice bankruptcy law, personal injury law, elder law, estate planning, asset protection, probate, social security law, and workers’ compensation law.
A Relentless Commitment to Working Ohioans
Leah’s strengths lie in her ability to get to know clients, understand their cases, empathize with them, and strategize how to tell their stories. “Attorneys are, at their core, storytellers,” Leah says. “Our job is to utilize the legal codes at our disposal and construct a compelling, strategic story around our client’s case, a story so powerful that we come out winners not by a hair, but by a mile.”
To accomplish this, Leah relies on her exceptional team-building skills and the immense resources available to her. “NRS Injury Law is the largest workers’ compensation firm in Ohio,” she said. “There are dozens of nuanced yet critical factors that go into building a strong workers’ compensation case, and the attorneys here are supported by the firm’s staff assistants, case managers, paralegals, research capacities, information sharing, and colleague assistance.”
Work/Life Balance
To Leah, hard work is best rewarded by taking a few moments here and there to tune out, relax, and recharge. Leah enjoys regular walks and snuggle sessions with her beloved French bulldog, Biscuit. On the weekend, Leah can be found playing tennis, golfing, and getting together with her friends to perform improv acting and comedy skits. During the holidays, Leah takes great pride in donning the “Favorite Aunt” title when visiting her nephews in Kansas.
Don't Wait to Seek Legal Help from Leah Michael
Both on the clock and off it, Leah’s core commitments and values align perfectly with NRS Injury Law’s mission to: “Provide empathetic and patient service to every person who calls the firm, and to relentlessly pursue the best possible outcome on behalf of every client by putting collective experience, knowledge, and passion to work every day.” To retain an effective legal team with a proven track record and to speak with Leah and the firm about your case, call 855.468.4878 or fill out a convenient online contact form.
Community Impact
Leah Michael comes from an upbringing where helping one’s community is as natural as going to school or working a job. On a national level, Leah is active in the Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), a national organization of attorneys dedicated to improving worker protections. Leah is also deeply involved in her community at the local level. She is a member of the Charter Review Committee for her hometown of Toledo, where she reviews legislation brought before the City Council. Leah is also involved in voter protection efforts led by attorneys, and she volunteers for union shops in the Toledo area by helping them organize community events.
Practice Areas
- Workers' Compensation Law
Education
- University of Toledo College of Law, Toledo, Ohio
- J.D. - 2014
- Honors: Dean’s List, Two Semesters
- Honors: Activities: Student Bar Association
- Honors: Member: Night Student Representative
- Honors: Member: Chair of the Pro Bono Committee
- The University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio
- B.A. - 2011
- Honors: Dean’s List, Every Semester in Undergrad
- Major: Paralegal Studies
Bar Admissions
- Ohio, 2015
- U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio
Professional Associations
- Toledo Bar Association
- Ohio State Bar Association
- Ohio Association for Justice
- Worker Injury Lawyers Group
- American Association for Justice
- Veterans Associations Accreditation
- Charter Review Committee, City of Toledo
Honors
- Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Star (2019-Present)
Current and Past Positions
- NRS Injury Law, 2022-Present (Associate Attorney representing claimants in workers’ compensation cases).
- Haelstrom, Ltd., 2019-Present (Self-employed business owner helping small-to-medium law offices grow their practices with systems and processes that create seamless operations).
- Gallon Takacs & Boissoneault, 2019-2022 (Attorney focusing on workers’ compensation law and social security law).
- iLink Real Estate Co., 2019-2022 (Licensed realtor helping clients achieve their real estate goals).
- AlerStallings, 2019 (Associate Attorney focusing on elder law, estate planning, asset protection, and probate).
- Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, LLC., 2012-2019 (Receptionist [2012-2015] and Associate Attorney [2015-2019] focusing on personal injury).
- Kovacs & Associates, 2011-2012 (Paralegal focusing on bankruptcy law).