Virginia’s Go To Lawyers – Workers’ Comp Law: Lynn McHale Fitzpatrick

Lynn McHale Fitzpatrick
Principal
Franklin & Prokopik PC
Herndon

Education

BA, Villanova University
JD, College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law

Best known for:

Representation of employers and insurers in state workers’ compensation claims.

Signature case:

Thorpe v. Ted Bowling Construction, 283 Va. 808 (2012), was my first reported Virginia Supreme Court case, dealing with the issue of proper calculation of an individual’s average weekly wage.

Most satisfying:

I am grateful that I have developed a practice in which I am able to strike a work/life balance that suits both my professional aspirations and my family’s needs. The workers’ compensation bar in Virginia is a relatively small group of attorneys and I enjoy the comraderie as well as the high caliber legal minds of the colleagues I engage with on a daily basis.

Working with clients:

Creativity is key in advising clients. I always try to craft resolutions or approaches to cases that take into account the particulars of a client’s industry or business needs.

Best career advice:

Pay it forward. Take the advice you’ve collected over the years and work on helping the next generation of lawyers.

Looking forward:

With remote work becoming more prevalent, I expect to see more litigation involving compensability of injuries occurring at home.