Attorney Matt Trollinger Talks Practicing Law During COVID-19 in Maryland Bar Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges worldwide. The virus touched every American somehow, either through direct infection, losing a loved one, turning their homes into schoolhouses overnight, or trying to determine how to work in a nation whose many industries were brought to a sudden standstill.

In a recent issue of the Maryland Bar Journal, Trollinger Law LLC founder Matt Trollinger discussed how the pandemic impacted his law practice and its commitment to its personal injury clients in Waldorf and the surrounding Maryland communities. Here are excerpts from the interview, published in the digital Vol. 2, Issue 3 edition of the Bar Journal:

Tell us about your biggest project or passion project related to your professional career right now.

Community involvement is an ever-evolving, high priority for our firm. Youth sports, veteran assistance, and groups that focus on homelessness in Charles County are always areas of focus. However, during the 2020 pandemic, Trollinger Law connected local urgent care and hospital workers, police, and firefighters throughout southern Maryland with local restaurants by providing meals to encourage their service to our community. We have a heart for our public safety and community heroes. Trollinger Law honors three first responders nominated by their community and sponsors “First Responder’s Night” with our local baseball team in Waldorf, the “Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.”

What do you love about your current role?

I love being able to chart a path of impact for my firm. If I want the law firm to focus on a particular community effort, we can. If I want to give our employees a special bonus for keeping their heads up and staying productive during COVID, I can. Every minute I spend working on cases is for my clients. Every minute I spend on the business is an investment in future success.

What is your fondest memory of your legal career so far?

Winning a verdict for two clients in a jurisdiction not known for high personal injury verdicts. It was a hotly contested case, with multiple depositions of different parties with the defense calling into question the lasting impact of injuries suffered by the plaintiffs. In this case, it was a thrill to help the clients tell their story through their coworkers, family, and treating surgeon. We achieved a verdict over 10 times what the offer was pre-trial.

What are your professional goals?

To grow a practice that focuses on helping those who are hurt while re-investing in the community where we serve. I want my associates and firm employees to enjoy the journey and have a healthy, happy home life as well.

Need Legal Help? Talk to a Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer at Trollinger Law

Trollinger Law LLC is a personal injury firm representing clients in Waldorf, Charles County, Frederick, and Washington, D.C. We work aggressively to secure top settlements and verdicts for people injured in a wide range of accidents, including motor vehicle crashes, truck accidents, slip and falls, workers’ compensation, and more. If you have been hurt, call or contact us today for a free consultation.

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Waldorf Attorney Matt Trollinger Published in MD Association for Justice Magazine

Questions about how COVID-19 will impact workers’ compensation settlements are being raised nationwide. Recently, Waldorf attorney Matt Trollinger co-authored an article about the potential legal ramifications of the 2020 pandemic on injured workers.

“We spend one-third of our lives working, so it’s not a stretch to understand that many, many workers acquired COVID-19 at work,” says the article, published in the Maryland Association for Justice’s Trial Reporter. It goes on to explain the challenge of pursuing a coronavirus claim as insurers try to avoid making payments to people with valid on-the-job COVID claims.

The Maryland workers’ compensation system was developed so that employees would have medical, wage, and disability assistance if they suffered a work injury or were diagnosed with an occupational disease. The challenge with COVID is determining whether claims should be filed as accidental injuries or occupational illnesses, according to Trollinger and Byron Warnken, the article’s other author.

“On its face, ‘occupational disease’ would seem the logical choice for a COVID-19 claim. But filing COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims as accidental injury claims may bring better success,” it says.

That’s because a part of the legal definition of an occupational disease states that a job-related illness must be “consistent with those known from exposure to a biological, chemical, or physical agent” that is associated to the type of job held (MD Code, Labor and Employment, § 9-502).

A widely publicized example of an occupational disease is mesothelioma, an incurable form of cancer that is cause solely by exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is exclusively found in employees (or family members of employees) who worked in industries where asbestos was heavily used as insulation. Carpenters, plumbers, shipbuilders, shipyard workers, and even hairdressers may have come into contact with the deadly asbestos fibers, which can go on to cause the fatal cancer in some people. In those cases, exposure to the hazardous agent is clear.

By contrast, COVID-19 is everywhere. Filing a coronavirus claim as an occupational disease could mean running up against arguments that the nature of the job did not put the employee at a greater risk than he or she would have had by picking up groceries at the supermarket.

With the accidental injury approach, lawyers might stand a better chance of success, according to Trollinger and Warnken. These types of claims must arise out of and during the course of regular employment.

“This type of injury is one in which a worker can point to a specific event or moment when he or she was injured,” the article says. That doesn’t mean the employee has to remember the precise date of exposure in order to be compensated. (Applied Indus. Techs. V. Ludemann, 148 Md. App. 272, 811 A.2d 845 (2002). If an attorney can prove that exposure to COVID-19 was more likely than not to have resulted in the illness while working, the claim may be more successful if filed an accidental injury.

All of that remains to be seen, as relatively few cases have been filed with the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission so far. Trollinger Law will continue to follow the developments closely.

About the Authors

Matt Trollinger is the lead litigation attorney representing clients in workers’ compensation and personal injury matters throughout Maryland and Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Trollinger Law, LLC, with locations in Waldorf and Frederick.

Byron B. Warnken, managing attorney of Warnken, LLC, is a workers’ compensation and personal injury attorney in the Baltimore area. He has argued cases throughout Maryland, including in Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals and Maryland’s Court of Appeals. He has also had success before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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