Nursing home abuse, unfortunatley, occurs all too often in Ohio and around the Country. It is a sad, but true, fact that many residents of nursing homes are terribly abused by the very folks that they or their family paid and trusted to care for them. Some times, the abuse is so horrible that the nursing home should not only be held accountable for the harm it caused, it should also be punished for it misconduct. Punitive damages are intended to punish a wrongdoer for especially bad conduct and to set an example for others. Unfortunately, on February 15, 2012, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled, in Havel v. Villa St. Joseph, that, despite the fact that the Ohio Constitution states that the Ohio Supreme is the only body with the power to determine all rules regarding court procedure, and despite the fact the Court had enacted a rule regarding bifurcation, the Ohio legislature may also do so. Accordingly, although the Ohio Supreme Court enacted Civil Rule 42 back in 1970, which procedural rule gives the trial judge the discretionary power to decide whether to bifurcate a trial (bifurcation means that different issues in a case are decided in separate trials) the nursing home and insurance industries successfully lobbied the Ohio legislature to enact a statute that requires trial judges to bifurcate claims for punitive damages and to conduct a separate trial on such claims. So, the victims of nursing home abuse, who have already suffered more than enough, will now be forced to sue the nursing home twice, and incur additional costs and fees, in order to attain justice and hold the nursing home fully accountable for its misdeeds. If you believe that you or a loved one has been injured by nursing home neglect, you need to contact an experienced trial lawyer as soon as possible.
Fatal fire truck crash reaches Ohio Supreme Court
As drivers, we learn to yield to police and fire vehicles on their way to an emergency. When we see flashing lights or hear sirens, we know to pull over and wait for the squad car or fire engine to pass. But what if there's little to no warning, and what expectations do we have that police or fire officials will obey traffic signals? Is the city immune from liability if its police officers or firefighters get into an accident on the way to an emergency?
These are the issues being argued in a fire truck accident lawsuit that's reached the Ohio Supreme Court. A woman whose husband was killed in a crash with a fire truck in Massillon, Ohio, in 2008, contends that the firefighter behind the wheel was driving at excessive and unsafe speeds given the neighborhood and the nature of the emergency. Furthermore, her lawsuit says, the firefighter failed to use an air horn or apply the brakes before reaching the intersection where the crash happened.
Former NFL players dealing with post-concussion symptoms
Recently media stories about concussion injuries have made the headlines because of the debilitating long-term effects they can have on an individual or professional athlete. A concussion is viewed as a brain injury and for those that play sports, they want to be protected.
Last week a panel of federal judges agreed to consolidate four concussion-related lawsuits facing the National Football League into one pre-trial case. Also, it's expected that an additional 16 related lawsuits will be included into the larger suit.
Headphone use increases chance of a pedestrian accident
The numbers of pedestrian accidents around the country have increased despite falling numbers of car accident deaths and fatalities. Although technology has made cars safer for drivers and passengers, technology also appears to be creating an unforeseen danger on Ohio roads in the form of ear buds.
A recent study into the causes of pedestrian accidents was launched after a teen was killed while crossing railroad tracks. The teen was wearing headphones at the time of the fatal accident and did not hear the horn of the oncoming train. One pediatric emergency physician saw this tragic accident as an opportunity to warn parents and young adults about the dangers of being distracted around cars and trains.
Pit bull attacks terrorize neighborhoods
Hearing that someone owns a pit bull brings fear to many people because of their fierce reputation, but the citizens of Midwood and Borough Park neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York, have a good reason to be scared. It has been reported that there are pit bulls running wild in the area attacking people and pets.
Some of the attacks have been posted on YouTube, where an area resident identified the attack as the one that injured her dog. In the video it shows two dogs attacking her dog and then running off. With a swollen brain, her dog died of its injuries.
Ohio facility hit with ten serious safety violations by OSHA
An International Automotive Components employee at the Huron, Ohio manufacturing facility was seriously injured by a swinging mold that was hanging by a remote-controlled crane. The mold hit has hand, crushing one of his fingers. The workplace accident prompted an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA cited ten serious safety violations at the Huron facility including failure to provide fall protection, improper wiring that exposed workers to electrical hazards and failure to ensure workers did not perform tasks under suspended loads. The latter violation also included a failure to ensure employees were kept clear of loads about to be lifted by cranes. Ultimately, these violations are an indictment of an unsafe workplace that could - and inevitably did - cause a workplace accident.
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Fatal truck accident could prompt reform of truck regulations
Truck drivers often work long hours that can lead to sleep deprivation or inattentive driving. Such a setting could have been in play during a 2010 truck accident in Ohio which killed a 47-year-old woman and left her son in a wheelchair. Now the father of the affected family is pushing for regulation change to reduce the amount of time truck drivers spend on the road.
The truck accident happened just outside of Cleveland when a 49-year-old truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a car carrying a 47-year-old woman and her son. The woman died from the crash, while her son was seriously injured. He suffered a brain injury after the crash left him depleted of 80% of his blood. The truck driver in the accident was sentenced to five years in prison.
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Mechanic pinned at construction site, dies from injuries
Construction sites are inherently dangerous places. They host powerful large-scale equipment; a variety of tools that pierce and cut; and some very heavy materials that must be moved or manipulated. With all of these perilous conditions, it is paramount for construction firms to provide a safe environment for their workers. Providing a safe atmosphere can curb workplace accidents.
Though it is not yet clear, unsafe conditions could have led to a fatal workplace accident in Lancaster, Ohio. A 28-year-old mechanic was working late at a construction site for Toxco Inc., a company that recycles batteries and is in the process of expanding its facilities. An employee for the company heard a noise coming from the construction site and when he investigated the matter, he found the 28-year-old crushed under a piece of equipment.
Judicial bias in legal malpractice cases
Is There a Lawyer-Judge Bias in Legal Malpractice Cases?
Answer: Consider a book written by Benjamin H. Barton titled The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System [Cambridge University Press.] Benjamin Barton is a law professor at The University of Tennessee College of Law who has had his publications quoted in Time Magazine, the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal law blog.
Professor Barton quotes an economist George Stigler "We propose the general hypothesis: every industry or occupation that has enough political power to utilize the state will seek to control entry....crudely put, the butter producers wish to suppress margarine and encourage the production of bread". George J. Stigler, The Theory of Economic Regulation 2 Bell J. Econ. & 6 Mgmt. Sci. 4-6 (1971)
Professor Barton points out that that a "study of judges; who they are, how they are trained, what their jobs are like, and their salary effects-leads inexorably to the conclusion that judges will regularly favor the interests of lawyers over those of other litigants." For starters Professor Barton points out many judges look to lawyers to get and keep their jobs. Most state judges he says face some type of election (either contested or retention), and lawyers provide most of the elected judiciary campaign donations. In states where Judges are elective states [including merit selection states with retention elections] Professor Barton submits that Bar Association frequently endorsed judicial candidates and conduct and publish "bar polls" on the judges. Professor Barton highlights that a judge who alienates her lawyer colleagues may soon be looking for other employment.
Professor Barton believes that a legal malpractice case is more difficult because the client not only has to prove that he would have had a better outcome had the lawyer done their job right but has to prove they could have collected whatever damage or benefit was lost, a standard not found in other type of professional negligence claims.
The more difficult question to study however is whether Judges, because of the reasons stated above, subconsciously favor lawyers when interpreting case facts and listening to legal arguments in legal malpractice cases. Certainly Mr. Stigler might believe, based on his theories of economic preservation, that there would be a natural bias in favor of lawyers in legal malpractice claims. The Judiciary should invite further study to be sure that the mirror of ethical reflection reveals Lady Justice with the blindfold squarely in place and her finger off the scale.
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Three truck accidents caused injury in Franklin County
Franklin County residents are likely accustomed to hearing about truck accidents all across Ohio. In Columbus and around the state, truck accidents happen frequently and can often result in serious injury or even death. In one such incident near Kirkersville in neighboring Licking County, three tractor-trailers forced the closure of Interstate 70.
The three vehicles were actually involved in separate truck accidents on the interstate, which has since reopened. One tractor-trailer crashed into a ditch and ended up in the westbound lanes. That crash prompted the wrecks of the two other tractor-trailers. At least one person was injured in the truck accidents, which happened near Route 158. That person was taken to Grant Medical Center in Franklin County, though the condition of the injured party was not made available.
