VOL. 95 NO. 114 Designated by the Courts as the Youngstown ...€¦ · INSIDE: Michigan task force...
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Daily Legal NewsA DAILY NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO LEGAL, FINANCIAL, REAL ESTATE AND GENERAL NEWS
Designated by the Courts as theOfficial Law Journal of Mahoning CountyVOL. 95 NO. 114 50¢Youngstown, Ohio, Thursday, June 13, 2019 (USPS 143-780)
AN EDITION OF THE AKRON LEGAL NEWS
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SHERRY KARABINLegal News Reporter
A customer slips and falls on aspill in a grocery store, sustain-ing neck and back injuries. Theindividual later meets with anattorney to file a negligenceclaim against the businessowner, but can this person pre-vail?
As Harrington, Hoppe &Mitchell attorney PatrickManning explains, the answerdepends upon a number of vari-ables.
“In order to recover for his orher injuries, a person must firstprove negligence on behalf of theallegedly responsible party,” saidManning, who focuses on civillitigation, personal injury andemployment and public sectorlaw matters. “From a legalstandpoint, negligence is a fail-ure to use reasonable care underthe circumstances.”
Manning said to establish aclaim the plaintiff must be ableto prove four elements: A duty, abreach of that duty, causationand damages.
“First you must be able todemonstrate that the person orestablishment against whomyour claim is made owed you aduty due to ownership or opera-tion of the instrument responsi-ble for the injury, the relation-ship between the people involvedor by law.
“Once a duty is established,you must be able to prove thatthe responsible party breachedthat duty, either through anaction or inaction.”
In the case of the slip and fallincident, Manning said the busi-ness owner is generally requiredto ensure that the premises are“reasonably safe.” However, thatdoes not mean the owner mustprotect customers against everypossible scenario.
“If the spill is open and obvi-ous to the average person, just
dents involving drinking anddriving or texting and driving,are so egregious that the tortfea-sor’s behavior may be deemedreckless and this can affect casevalue for the victim.”
Simply proving a breach ofduty is not enough. Manningsaid the plaintiff must be able todemonstrate that the actions ofthe responsible party not onlycaused the resulting harm butthat the harm was “reasonablyforeseeable” by the defendant.
“If standing water has been leftunattended for hours in a gro-cery store, the plaintiff can makean argument that a slip and fallaccident was ‘reasonably fore-seeable’ by the owner,” saidManning.
It is also important that theplaintiff reports the incident tothe owner right away and seeksappropriate medical attention todocument any related symptomsand injuries.
“If someone waits six monthsto see a doctor and then goes fortreatment, it will be difficult toprove that the injuries aredirectly related to the fall,” saidManning.
“Proving an individual hasbeen harmed as a result of atortfeasor’s negligence is morestraightforward when there is anobjective injury such as a bro-ken bone or a catastrophicinjury like wrongful death,” saidAngelotta.
“Injuries such as a mild con-cussion or whiplash are diag-nosed primarily through subjec-tive complaints. Since theinjured party’s credibility isalways an issue in proving theclaim, these cases can be moredifficult.”
Angelotta said even in cases inwhich negligence and the result-ing damages are clear, it maynot be possible to recovermonies spent on medical andother bills.
“If I get a call from the familyof a person killed in an autoaccident and the other motoristis uninsured or has minimalcoverage, which in Ohio is$25,000, I have a responsibilityto explain that their recoveryamount can be minimal,” saidAngelotta. “Usually tortfeasorswith such minimal coveragehave little by way of collectibleassets or can avoid personalexposure through bankruptcy.Unfortunately this is somethingthat I encounter a lot,” he said.
In fact, Angelotta said he rec-ommends that his clients carrya liability policy with limits wellin excess of the state minimum.In addition, he advises them topurchase a similar amount ofuninsured or underinsuredmotorist coverage.
“This will provide relief to anindividual hurt by an uninsureddriver or a driver who has mini-mal insurance,” said Angelotta.“Uninsured or underinsuredcoverage can help the individualto recover for damages such asmedical expenses, income lossand non-economic damages likepain and suffering.”
happened and was just reported,the injured party likely wouldnot be able to establish a breachof duty,” he said. “However, if thespill is not open and obvious andwas reported hours ago andnothing was done to clean it up,it’s more likely that the plaintiffwould be able to establish abreach of duty.
“Another example might be if aplaintiff customer is walkingbehind another shopper in thestore and that first shopperdrops a bottle of Coke and itspills, immediately causing theplaintiff to slip and fall, the storeowner would likely not beresponsible.”
Kisling, Nestico & Redick sen-ior partner Joshua Angelottasaid it’s not necessary to provethat the breach was intentionalor meant to cause harm to theother party.
“All the plaintiff needs to do isto prove that the defendant hada duty to exercise ordinary andreasonable care in the context ofthe incident and failed to do so,”said Angelotta.
“Some instances of actionablenegligence, such as car acci-
Attorneys: Keys to building successful negligence claim
Patrick Manning Joshua Angelotta
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Lawenforcement and AAA are warn-ing of a summer spike in teendriving accidents with the end ofthe school year.
The risk for fatal teen crashesincreases by 17% betweenMemorial Day and Labor Day,according to the Dayton DailyNews.
AAA officials say about six in10 crashes involving young driv-ers result from distractions.
Distractions include sendingand reading emails and texts oncellphones. Passengers also canbe distractions.
Driving school officials recom-mend storing phones out ofreach while driving and someurge parents to enforce a no-passenger rule for at least sixmonths.
Summer also may be moredeadly for young drivers on theroad because more get theirlicense in the summer, saidSharon Fife, owner of Kettering-based D&D Driving School.
ous injury, according to aDayton Daily News investigationof State Highway Patrol data.
Patrol Sgt. Chris Colbert hassaid "we owe it to teens to makesure they're as equipped as pos-sible."
State lawmakers in Ohio areconsidering requiring teen driv-ers to hold their learner's permitfor a year, rather than sixmonths, to provide them withmore experience before gettingtheir license.
"It's the busiest time for dri-ver's education," Fife said.
Teens also are driving "withless intention in the summer,"said Kara Hitchens, AAA spokes-woman.
"They aren't driving to schoolor to work as much," Hitchenssaid. "They have more free timeand may drive more recklessly."
Mike Belcuore, AAA drivingschool manager, said in a newsrelease that teens should prac-tice safety during every trip.
Minding the speed limit andstaying away from impairingsubstances like alcohol andmarijuana will help preventmany crashes from ever occur-ring, he said.
Teens make up about 5% ofOhio drivers, but were involvedin more than 15% of crashesbetween 2014 and 2016.
Over the last five years, 15- to17-year-old drivers have been atfault in more than 67,000 crash-es in Ohio. Of those 150 werefatal and 1,451 included a seri-
Authorities warn of summer spike in teen driving accidents
Mother charged in newborn’sdeath pleads not guilty
Community members paid fora funeral, burial and a head-stone marked "Geauga's Child,"where gifts and flowers continueto be placed. Investigators sayEastwood-Ritchey stated she hidthe pregnancy from everyone.
They say the woman, of theCleveland suburb of Euclid,married the baby's father andhas three grown children.
Authorities say familial DNAancestry from an online data-base was used to track downEastwood-Ritchey.
CHARDON, Ohio (AP) — Awoman who authorities say puther newborn baby boy in agarbage bag and left him in awooded area in 1993 has plead-ed not guilty to charges includ-ing aggravated murder.
Forty-nine-year-old GailEastwood-Ritchey pleaded notguilty Monday in GeaugaCounty to aggravated murderand murder charges. Her bondwas set at $250,000.
A message seeking commentwas left for her attorney.
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