Biography
Based in the Quatrini Law Group’s Altoona Office, Michael P. Routch is dedicated to serving injured workers in Blair, Bedford, Huntingdon, and Cambria Counties. While he concentrates his practice on representing clients applying for Workers’ Compensation benefits, he also practices employment law, general civil litigation, and commercial transactions. He joined the firm in 2018 and has been an attorney in Blair County, Pennsylvania for over 20 years.
During his decades of litigating workers’ compensation cases, Michael has litigated cases involving surveillance evidence, hearing loss, psychiatric injury, occupational disease, earning power, death claims, heart attacks, and pulmonary injury. He is certified by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as a Workers’ Compensation Specialist.
Michael is a frequent presenter at workers’ compensation continuing legal education events and at Chamber of Commerce workers’ compensation and safety programs. In 2016, he presented at Healthforce’s Occupational Medicine Series on “Key Issues in Workers’ Compensation.” Since 2017, he has served as an adjunct lecturer of trial advocacy at Penn State Law School.
Michael received his B.A., magna cum laude, in Economics and Political Science from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1998, and his law degree from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991.
Michael is a former Chairman of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Law Section, where he has been at the forefront of shaping workers’ compensation administration and advocacy on behalf of his peers throughout the Commonwealth. He is also chair of the statewide subcommittee that recommends publication of significant cases on workers’ compensation decided by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. He is a member of the committee responsible for providing certification for members of the Pennsylvania Bar as Specialists in Workers’ Compensation law. Michael is also a member of the Blair County Bar and the Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group.
Michael was born and raised in Blair County, Pennsylvania and resides in Duncansville with his wife, Shari. They have two daughters: Kendall and Sydney.
Certified Legal Specialties
- Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialist
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania, 1991
Education
- J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1991
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- Law Review: Virginia Tax Review, Notes Editor
- B.A., Economics and Political Science, magna cum laude, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, 1988
Representative Cases
- State Univ. v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd.
- Scalise Industries PMA v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board Centra (2002)
Classes/Seminars
- Adjunct Lecturer of Trial Advocacy, Penn State Law School, 2017 – Present
- Key Issues in Workers’ Compensation, Healthforce Occupational Medicine Series
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Workers’ Compensation Law Section Chair, 2017-18
- Blair County Bar Association
- Court of Common Pleas, Blair County, Arbitrator
- Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group
Pro Bono and Community Activities
- Hollidaysburg Public Library, Past President
- Hollidaysburg Area School District Foundation, Past Board Member