Ohio Personal Injury Legal Questions

Airbags are supposed to employ only when sufficient force is applied to the front of the vehicle. Hitting a deer normally causes such damage. If the airbag went off when it should not have, then you certainly can sue for that defect. If the "fire" you refer to is black smoke, that is normal to be emitted by the airbag [I just was in an accident and suffered some slight burning on my wrist].... Read More

Your son may have a claim for medical malpractice, depending on the specific facts of your case. If the failure to reach a correct diagnosis is the result of negligence falling below the accepted standard of care in your area, the care giver may be responsible for certain types of resulting damages. On the other hand, medical science often involves the application of judgment and art and it may sometimes be difficult or impossible to determine a medical condition with complete certainty. Furthermore, qualified doctors applying reasonable medical skill may sometimes disagree among themselves on the appropriate diagnosis. Your son's right to recover will depend on (1)The nature of his damages; and (2)Whether his damages were caused by care falling below the reasonable standard in your area.... Read More

Once you have reached a tentative settlement agreement with the insurance company, you need to file an application to approve minor settlement with the probate court in the county in which the child lives.  The Court will then hold a hearing (either formal or informal) to review the application and decide whether the settlement is in the child's best interest or not (they almost always approve the application).  After the hearing, if the settlement is approved, the court will require that the net proceeds to the child are deposited in a restricted bank account that cannot have funds withdrawn without court approval until the child turns 18 years old.  There will be paperwork that the bank needs to be filled out upon deposit and that will have to be filed with the probate court proving that the funds have been deposited in an appropriate account.  Additionally, if the net proceeds to the child exceeds $25,000, the court will require that a guardian be appointed to manage the child's assets until he/she reaches the age of majority.  Often times, a parent is the one appointed as guardian, unless evidence is presented to the court that the parent is not fit to be guardian of the child's assets. As a side note, the insurance company should be the one paying the court costs associated with filing the application to approve minor settlement.  Also, you cannot sign a release with the insurance company on behalf of your child until the court has approved the settlement.  Any release that is signed before court approval may be deemed invalid, since Ohio law requires court approval of all minor settlements. Best of luck to you.... Read More

You put yourself into harm's way. You might try to sue the son of the tenant, but it was not your job to stop the guy. You are doing what that guy Zimmerman did in Florida when the young boy got shot. Police have a license, and training, and authority. They can order the kid to stop and if he doesn't, they can shoot him. You have no such authority and if you put yourself in harm's way, you get hurt.... Read More

If there is a class action filed in one state, it applies to all claims made from any potentially injured party, regardless of what state they live in.  Class actions do not need to be filed in every state.  That is the very nature of a class action, to have all the potential claims in one case, and have them all resolved at the same time.... Read More

You if your injured due to the negligence of a state employee, you are entitled to your out of pocket expenses (i.e. property damage deductible, out of pocket medical bills), lost wages, and pain and suffering.  If you can prove that you sustained some pain and suffering, then you are entitled to be compensated for that. ... Read More

That fact in and of itself does not make you responsible for the accident. If you knew the person did not have a license, and you knew the reason was that they were not entitled to a license because they were not qualified to drive safely or for some other reason were not competent to drive, then you could be held liable.... Read More

Generally speaking, each party bears their own expenses in pursuing a personal injury claim.  Therefore, if you need an expert witness to prove a part of your claim, then you pay the expert witness' fees.  If the defense needs an expert to rebut your evidence or expert's opinion, defense pays the costs of their expert.... Read More

Did you jump? Were you pushed? Who are you going to sue, and under what theory? To me, it sounds like a baseless case, unless you can come up with some good theory. Attorneys typically charge 1/3 after reimbursing costs. Your case is worth whatever you can prove that it is worth, if you do not get tossed out of court.... Read More

Ohio is an at-will employement state, meaning that if you do not have a written contract of employment with your employer, then you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all (other than for protected discrimination- i.e., age, gender, race, religion, etc.).  So long as you did not have a written contract of employment, then legally the employer was allowed to terminate you for any reason or no reason.  If you did have a contract, then you need to review the contract, as the terms of the contract control regarding termination. Therefore, even if the drug test produced a false-positive, the employer legally can terminate you, as they do not need a reason to terminate you (unless you had a contract). Best of luck.... Read More

You should consult a local personal injury attorney because a local attorney can determine where liability may lie, and assess damages.  Most persoanl injury attorneys offer a free initial consultations. This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

Dear Susan: I am terribly sorry to hear about your incident.  It is certainly unfortunate.  Even more unfortunate is the law on this topic. Under Ohio law, a property owner or occupier has no duty to warn or remove dangerous conditions which are open and obvious to a reasonable person.  In Ohio, natural accumulations of ice and snow are, as a matter of law, open and obvious dangers.  This is because, according to the case law on the issue, a reasonable person knows of the dangerous nature of ice and snow, and knows that it should be avoided or proceeded across with extreme caution.  Unless the property owner/occupier did something to create the icy conditions (i.e. dumped water on the ground that froze, pointed a downspout into the area, etc), he has no duty to clear the ice/snow, including shoveling and/or salting.  Even if a local ordinance requires the property owner to clear sidewalks/driveways/parking lots, a violation of the local ordinance does not create civil liability to the property owner under Ohio law. You said that you were working as an independent contractor for the owner/occupier.  As an independent contractor, you are not entitled to workers' compensation through the person you were serving as an independent contractor (known as a principal), unless you have a contract that provides that the principal will cover your workers' compensation. If you are employed by a company and were working for them at the time of your slip and fall, you may be entitled to workers compensation through that employment.  If that is the case, you need to report the claim to your employer as soon as possible.  But, if you were a self-employed independent contractor, you would not be entitled to workers compensation unless you paid for the premiums for that coverage yourself. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done to help you in this situation.  If you need further advice, I would suggest that you contact an experienced attorney to assist you.  Best of luck.... Read More

There is no set amount that an insurance company pays for any particular injury or amount of treatment.  The settlement value of a particular claim is unique to every case and is based upon multiple different factors, including the total amount of your medical bills, whether or not you have health insurance, any lost wages, any pre-existing injuries or conditions that you may have, the jurisdiction where you live, any fault attributed to you, etc.  The only way to have your case appropriately evaluated would be to consult with an experienced attorney who can make that determination after gathering all of the information necessary. Good luck.... Read More