Recent News

Check here for the latest court decisions and legislation affecting insurance law........

  • Recent Kentucky Supreme Court Decision on Open and Obvious Doctrine

  • UPDATE - Amendments to the Kentucky Mine Subsidence Reinsurance Plan
     
  • Recent Michigan Supreme Court Decision on No-Fault Threshold

  • Summary Judgment Obtained in Suit for Wrongful Death of Young Man in Residential Premises Fire

    Jerry Rolfes and Gary Hall obtained summary judgment in June 2010 in a wrongful death suit in Clermont County Common Pleas Court arising from a residential premises fire that tragically resulted in the August 2007 death of a young adult man. The suit had alleged negligence of the homeowners who had removed several smoke detectors for remodeling/painting or had failed to maintain other hardwired units. Focusing in part upon the law of any evidence of causation being established by plaintiff's human factors and fire protection engineering experts or otherwise. Plaintiff chose to not pursue any appeal of the summary judgment decision.

  • Recent Ohio Supreme Court Decision on Recoverability of Attorney-Fee under an Insurance Policy
     
  • Recent Ohio Supreme Court Decision on Equitable Contribution 

  • Summary Judgment Granted in Premises Liability Suit Arising from the Death of a Child 

    Matthew Smith, Tom Glassman, and Bob Young recently obtained summary judgment in favor of the owner and manager of an apartment complex in a Franklin County premises liability case arising from the October 2006 death of a 23-month boy who was killed when he came into contact with a super-duty, dual-wheeled pickup truck on a driveway/parking area in the apartment complex. The pickup truck belonged to a pizza delivery man who parked the vehicle approximately 20 feet away from a playground in the apartment complex while he delivered a pizza. The child was playing on the playground minutes before the pizza delivery man arrived and parked his pickup truck. The adults responsible for supervising the child did not witness his departure from the playground or his approach to the pickup truck. The child, who somehow came to be underneath the pickup truck, was crushed when the pizza delivery man returned to his vehicle and began to drive away. Plaintiff alleged that the playground was unsafe because it was immediately-adjacent to driveway/parking areas and it was not enclosed by a fence. Plaintiff asserted claims against the apartment complex defendants for wrongful death, survivorship, and punitive damages. The trial court granted summary judgment to the apartment complex defendants on the grounds that the positioning of and lack of fencing around the playground in question were open and obvious conditions on the premises which the defendants had no duty to warn persons of or against. Attorneys Smith, Glassman, and Young will be pleased to discuss this case, general issues of premises liability, or their handling of other significant tort cases, with interested persons.