Gary D. Plunkett

Location: Dayton, Ohio

Phone: 937-684-4607
937-688-2551
937-524-0115
877-623-6863 (Toll free)

Fax: 937-228-0508

Gary Plunkett was born and raised in New York, a lieutenant in the US Army, and has written many publications. He certainly has a lot of great stories and life experiences. Gary works at Hochman & Plunkett representing Workers' Compensation and Personal Injury Department. He has been practicing for 17 years. He is a member of the Dayton, Ohio State and American Bar Associations as well as the Ohio Association for Justice.

In 2009, Gary Plunkett was named an Ohio Super Lawyer by Cincinnati Magazine. He enjoys golfing, reading, traveling, and spending time with his wife and children.

Gary says that he was "put on this earth to be a lawyer. People need honest help and we give it to them."

In 2024, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve recognized Gary as a Patriotic Employer. The award is given to an employer for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America's National Guard and Reserve Force.

Gary speaks about the law firm:

I am proud to say that my entire legal career has been spent at one firm: Hochman & Plunkett Co., L.P.A. Hochman & Plunkett has had a presence in Dayton, Ohio, for over thirty years. We also have had offices in Springfield and Troy for more than 20 years. Our areas of expertise are in Workers' Compensation and Social Security Disability claims, and we have an active Personal Injury practice.

Hochman & Plunkett has a long track record of success, particularly in Workers' Compensation matters. We have obtained benefits for thousands of injured workers in Southwest Ohio over the years. We have an extensive history of representing injured workers before the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, the Industrial Commission of Ohio, the Courts of Common Pleas, Courts of Appeals, and the Ohio Supreme Court.
Among our successes include the monumental Ohio Supreme Court decision in State ex. rel. Gross v. Indus. Comm.(2007) 115 Ohio St.3d 249, 874 N.E.2d 1162, in which we successfully challenged the reach of the "voluntary abandonment" doctrine exception to the injured workers' right to receive temporary total disability compensation.

We were successful in moving the Supreme Court to grant reconsideration in the Gross case for the first time in nearly seven years. The reconsideration granted by the Supreme Court in Gross was also one of the very few times in the history of the Supreme Court that reconsideration was granted in a Workers' Compensation case.

The case attracted national attention, with articles in every Ohio newspaper, the New York Times, and segments on National Public Radio. We have also been successful before the Ohio Supreme Court in several other notable cases, including Gibson v. Meadow Gold Dairy (2000), 88 Ohio St.3d 201, 724 N.E.2d 787 (finding that a claimant's oral agreement to settle a self-insured workers' compensation claim is ineffectual), State ex. rel. Nickell v. Indus. Comm., 83 Ohio St.3d 185, 699 N.E.2d 69, State ex. rel. Clark v. Indus. Comm., 78 Ohio St.3d 509, 678 N.E.2d 1380, and State ex. rel. Haddix, 70 Ohio St.3d 59, 636 N.E.2d 323, 1994-Ohio-443 (obtaining permanent and total disability benefits for injured worker), and State ex. rel. Vanover v. Emery Worldwide, 80 Ohio St.3d 367, 686 N.E.2d 518, 1997-Ohio-109 (obtaining wage loss benefits for injured worker). April 5, 2010

In addition, we have successfully litigated cases of first impression before the various Courts of Appeals in Ohio, including Hirschle v. Mabe, 2009-Ohio-1949 (workers' compensation claim allowed to an employee injured while picking up her paycheck on her day off), Griffith v. City of Miamisburg, 2008-Ohio-6611 (workers' compensation allowed to police officer injured while playing a pickup basketball game after training hours at the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy), Masden v. CCI Supply, Inc., 2008-Ohio-4396 (workers' compensation allowed to a construction worker injured in a knife fight at a motel paid for by the employer), and Klopfenstein v. NK Parts Industries, Inc., 171 Ohio App.3d 286, 870 N.E.2d 741, 2007-Ohio-1916 (holding that the statute of limitations found in R.C. 4123.90 does not apply to a wrongful termination tort claim based upon R.C. 4123.90).

In Ohio, a workers' compensation claim can stay open for more than 10 years before it expires. We are experts in deriving money for clients from these old workers' compensation claims. We will be more than happy to assist you in putting together ethical and appropriate letters to these clients, which may be extremely helpful for your clients in need of money. We have profitably and successfully resolved workers' compensation claims which have been more than 20 years old.

Areas of Practice

• Litigation
• Personal Injury Law
• Worker's Compensation Law

Bar Admissions

• Ohio, 1990
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1991

Education

• University of Dayton School of Law, Dayton, Ohio

• • J.D. cum laude - 1990
  • Law Review: University of Dayton Law Review, Executive Editor

• Siena College, Loudonville, New York

• • B.S. - 1986
  • Major: Marketing & Management

Published Works

• Crime and Punishment - Punitive Damages, Bad Faith Breach of an Insurance Contract, and the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment. University of Dayton Law Review, Vol. 14, No. 3, 1989
• Unknown Effects of Wood v. Shephard on Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Ohio. Cleveland State Law Review, Vol. 39, No. 1, 1991

Honors and Awards

• Executive Editor of the University of Dayton Law Review, 1989 - 1990
• Ohio Super Lawyer by Cincinnati Magazine, 2009 - Present
• Patriotic Employer Award from Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, 2024

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 1990 - Present
• American Judicature Society, 1989 - Present
• Dayton, Ohio State and American Bar Associations, Member
• Ohio Association for Justice, Member