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Common Legal Questions in Ohio

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Auto Accident (38)

Ohio Courts & Legal Aid

Case Law Cited in Ohio

25 court decisions cited across these pages. These are provided as legal background, not as advice about any particular case.

Ross v. Nutt, 177 Ohio St. 113 (1964)

An owner is not liable for injuries caused by a thief's driving, even where keys were left in the car; liability for another's driving attaches only on entrustment to an incompetent driver or agency.

Cited on: Your Stolen Car Was Used in a Hit-and-Run in Ohio: Whether You Are Responsible · Sued in Ohio After Your Adult Son Crashed Your Uninsured Car: Whether You as the Owner Are Responsible · Your Sister Drove Your Car in an Ohio Hit-and-Run: What You as the Owner Can Be Held Responsible For +1 more

Petti v. Perna, 86 Ohio App.3d 508, 621 N.E.2d 580 (3d Dist. 1993)

The part of a police report giving the officer's conclusions about the cause of a crash he did not witness, or its contributing factors, was not admissible; the court held the error harmless on that record.

Cited on: Your Insurer Says Your Spouse Was at Fault, but the Police Report Disagrees: How to Dispute It in Ohio · Police Recorded a Crash on the Other Driver's Word After an Ohio Road-Rage Incident: What It Means and How to Dispute It · Hit by a Company Vehicle in Ohio, You Beat the Ticket, and the Insurer Still Won't Pay: Your Claim

Gulla v. Straus, 154 Ohio St. 193, 93 N.E.2d 662 (1950)

An owner is liable for a permissive driver's crash only for negligent entrustment: knowingly, through actual knowledge or knowledge implied from known facts, entrusting the vehicle to an incompetent driver. A missing license alone is not enough unless it caused the injury.

Cited on: Sued in Ohio After Your Adult Son Crashed Your Uninsured Car: Whether You as the Owner Are Responsible · Your Sister Drove Your Car in an Ohio Hit-and-Run: What You as the Owner Can Be Held Responsible For

Loukinas v. Roto-Rooter Servs. Co., 167 Ohio App.3d 559, 855 N.E.2d 1272 (1st Dist. 2006)

Even before litigation begins, a party is under a duty to preserve evidence it knows or reasonably should know is relevant to the action.

Cited on: You Fell in a Store in Ohio Months Ago: Whether the Video Still Exists and How to Ask for It · Your Car Won't Accelerate After an Ohio Crash Repair and the Adjuster Blames the Transmission: Proving What Caused It

Paschal v. Rite Aid Pharmacy, Inc., 18 Ohio St.3d 203, 480 N.E.2d 474 (1985)

A shopkeeper owes business invitees a duty of ordinary care to keep the premises reasonably safe, but is not an insurer of their safety; the shopper lost in that case.

Cited on: Denied a Wheelchair Before a Flight and Hurt on the Airport Escalator: Whether the Airline or the Airport Is Responsible · You Fell in a Store in Ohio Months Ago: Whether the Video Still Exists and How to Ask for It

A.B. v. R.B., 2022 Ohio 1105 (2022) — Ohio Court of Appeals

As set forth herein, we affirm the lower court’s judgment, finding that mother is entitled to interest as to the arrearages, consistent with California law.

Cited on: Child Support Continuing Past Age 18 Across State Lines

Bond v. Howard Corp., 72 Ohio St.3d 332, 650 N.E.2d 416 (1995)

A party that hires an independent contractor for inherently dangerous work owes no duty to protect against its hazards unless it actively participated, meaning it directed the activity that caused the injury or gave or denied permission for the critical acts.

Cited on: Burned by Cement on a Hired Job in Ohio With No Protective Gear: Who Can Be Liable

Carpenter v. Scherer-Mountain Ins. Agency, 135 Ohio App.3d 316, 733 N.E.2d 1196 (4th Dist. 1999)

An insurance agent who undertakes to obtain coverage owes a duty to act diligently; the measure of damages is what would have been due under the correct coverage.

Cited on: Not at Fault in Ohio, but Your Insurer Never Moved Coverage to Your New Car: What You Owe and What It Owes

Clarke v. Royal, 2021 Ohio 2005 (2021) — Ohio Court of Appeals

rendered a final judgment for Ms. Royal in the amount of $2,100 (double the $950 security deposit, plus the $200) plus $5,415 in attorney fees

Cited on: Landlord Failing to Return a Security Deposit After Move-Out

David v. Lose, 7 Ohio St.2d 97, 218 N.E.2d 442 (1966)

When bailed property is returned damaged, the bailor's prima facie case is the bailment, delivery, and failure to return the property undamaged; the bailee must then show the loss occurred without its fault.

Cited on: Crashed a Rental Car in Ohio After Reporting Bald Tires: Who Pays for the Damage

Deming v. Osinski, 24 Ohio St.2d 179, 265 N.E.2d 554 (1970)

A vehicle proceeding in violation of a law or ordinance loses its preferential right of way (quoting Morris v. Bloomgren); where the oncoming driver was lawful, the turning driver bore the duty to yield.

Cited on: Hit by a Speeding Car While Turning in Ohio: Fault, the Right of Way, and an Accusation You Did It on Purpose

Doe v. Etihad Airways, P.J.S.C., 870 F.3d 406 (6th Cir. 2017)

The Montreal Convention, like the Warsaw Convention before it, provides the exclusive remedy for international passengers' claims within its scope.

Cited on: Denied a Wheelchair Before a Flight and Hurt on the Airport Escalator: Whether the Airline or the Airport Is Responsible

Dukuzumuremyi v. Martin, 2025 Ohio 508 (2025) — Ohio Court of Appeals

granted judgment to Rashidah on her replevin claim

Cited on: Disputed Ownership of a Pet After a Temporary Custody Arrangement

Eicher v. United States Steel Corp., 32 Ohio St.3d 248, 512 N.E.2d 1165 (1987)

The duty to frequenters under R.C. 4101.11 does not extend to hazards inherently present in the work where the frequenter is an independent contractor's employee.

Cited on: Burned by Cement on a Hired Job in Ohio With No Protective Gear: Who Can Be Liable

Elliott v. Harding, 107 Ohio St. 501, 140 N.E. 338 (1923)

The parent-child relationship alone does not make a parent who owns a car liable for the child's driving; Ohio does not follow the family-purpose doctrine. Entrusting a car to a driver known to be incompetent can still create liability.

Cited on: Sued in Ohio After Your Adult Son Crashed Your Uninsured Car: Whether You as the Owner Are Responsible

Hughes v. Al Green, Inc., 65 Ohio St.2d 110, 418 N.E.2d 1355 (1981)

Once a buyer has received a vehicle, the risk of loss before title issues is decided by the UCC and falls on the buyer; title no longer decides who may proceed against a third-party tortfeasor.

Cited on: A Truck You Had Just Bought Was Totaled in Ohio Before You Insured It: Your Coverage and Your Claim

In re Adoption of L.M.C., 2023 Ohio 3119 (2023) — Ohio Court of Appeals

Generally, a petition to adopt a minor child may only be granted if the natural mother and father of the child execute written consent or the probate court finds, pursuant to R.C. 3107.07(A), that consent is unnecessary.

Cited on: Can You Terminate an Absent Father's Parental Rights Without an Adoption in Ohio?

Jaques v. Manton, 125 Ohio St.3d 342 (2010)

R.C. 2315.20 does not address evidence of medical write-offs, so Robinson v. Bates controls.

Cited on: A Settlement Offer Below Your Medical Bills After an Ohio Rear-End Crash: What Goes Into Deciding Whether to Sue

Love v. City of Port Clinton, 37 Ohio St.3d 98, 524 N.E.2d 166 (1988)

Where the essential character of an alleged tort is an intentional, offensive touching, the statute of limitations for assault and battery governs even if the touching is pleaded as negligence.

Cited on: Deliberately Struck by a Car in Ohio: Your Injury Claim and the One-Year Clock

Messer v. Summa Health Sys., 2018 Ohio 372 (2018) — Ohio Court of Appeals

An employee must first establish a prima facie case of retaliation by demonstrating each of the following elements: (1) that she was engaged in a protected activity, (2) that the employer knew of her participation in the activity, (3) that she was subjected to adverse employment action, and (4) that "there is a causal link between the protected activity and the adverse employment action."

Cited on: Defending an Employer Against a Retaliatory Harassment Claim

Robinson v. Bates, 112 Ohio St.3d 17, 857 N.E.2d 1195 (2006)

Both the original medical bill and the amount accepted as full payment are admissible to prove the reasonable value of medical care; the jury decides the value.

Cited on: A Settlement Offer Below Your Medical Bills After an Ohio Rear-End Crash: What Goes Into Deciding Whether to Sue

Smith v. Howard Johnson Co., 67 Ohio St.3d 28, 615 N.E.2d 1037 (1993)

Ohio recognizes a tort for interference with or destruction of evidence; its elements include probable litigation, the defendant's knowledge of it, and willful destruction designed to disrupt the plaintiff's case.

Cited on: You Fell in a Store in Ohio Months Ago: Whether the Video Still Exists and How to Ask for It

State v. Armstrong, 2021 Ohio 1087 (2021) — Ohio Court of Appeals

A privilege once granted can be revoked, however.

Cited on: Proving Lawful Permission to Be in a Dwelling in a Burglary Case

Summers v. Lake of the Woods Apartments, 212 N.E.3d 389 (2023) — Ohio Court of Appeals

When a landlord fails to maintain rental property in accordance with these statutory conditions, R.C. 5321.07 provides tenants “with leverage to redress breaches of those duties.”

Cited on: Tenant Remedies for a Landlord's Delayed Repairs

Williams v. Sharon Woods Collision Ctr., Inc., 2018-Ohio-2733, 117 N.E.3d 57 (1st Dist.)

Affirmed a Consumer Sales Practices Act judgment against a collision-repair shop, including a jury finding that it failed to perform repairs in a workmanlike manner.

Cited on: Your Car Won't Accelerate After an Ohio Crash Repair and the Adjuster Blames the Transmission: Proving What Caused It

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