Findlay Personal Injury Lawyer - Ohio car accident

Findlay, Ohio car accident lawyer gets blasted in newspaper | Findlay, Ohio car accident lawyer

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:27:00 GMT

When Toledo, Ohio car accident lawyer Dale Emch wrote a Toledo Blade article on Intra Family Exclusions, he didn't expect to receive such a harsh response from a local insurance agent in a Letter to the Editor. Read the response to Toledo, Ohio car accident attorney Dale Emch and see for yourself.

Attorney Emch went on to write a rebuttal, defending his stance that he is only trying to look out for the little guy in the event of an Ohio car accident. Here is an excerpt of his response:

My view is that passengers who are injured in a car accident should be entitled to receive compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering even if the accident was caused by a driver who was an insured family member.

While not all auto insurance policies contain an Intra Family Exclusion, it is still a good idea to check with your agent to see if yours does. A ten-minute phone call could save you years of suffering if you are ever involved in an Ohio car accident. If you or someone you love is injured in an Ohio car accident, contact our office today to order your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Findlay, Ohio car accidents can happen even in the driveway | Findlay, Ohio car accident lawyers

Chuck Boyk — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:12:00 GMT

How many fatal car accidents occur each year that don't happen in traffic?

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 33 people die and 16,000 are injured each week in the United States in non-traffic car accidents. Non-traffic fatal car accidents include accidents such as vehicular backovers, children being strangled when a motorized window goes up, kids passing away after being left in a hot automobile and suffering from hyperthermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, and car fires.

KidsandCars.org, a non-profit organization that advocates for kids and automobile safety, was happy to see the statistics finally gathered and released, since they have been rallying to have the government gather info on fatal car accidents and injuries that do not happen on the roads.

Our Findlay, Ohio car accident lawyers urge parents to be extra careful with their kids around cars, regardless if you are on the road or in your driveway. If you or someone you know has been injured in or around a car, contact our office today to order your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Findlay, Ohio car accident Dale Emch on intra family exclusions | Findlay, Ohio car accident attorneys

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:08:00 GMT

Findlay, Ohio car accident lawyer Dale Emch wrote a very interesting article in the Toledo Blade on intra family exclusions in auto insurance policies. He has posted it on his Toledo, Ohio car accident blog.

If your auto policy has an intra family exclusion, it could mean that your family would not be protected in the event that you cause an Ohio car accident. The exclusion allows for the insurance carrier to deny the claim if you cause the accident, which also means that the insurance company would refuse to pay for your passengers’ medical bills, lost wages, or pain and suffering.

If you or someone you know has suffered injuries from a Findlay, Ohio car accident, you need information. Contact our Findlay, Ohio car accident lawyers today to receive your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book, or to schedule a free, no-obligation case evaluation and consultation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Is your family protected from a Findlay, Ohio car accident?

Chuck Boyk — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:11:00 GMT

Even though you buy full coverage auto insurance to protect you and your family in an Ohio car accident doesn't mean that you will be fully covered.

Our Toledo, Ohio car accident lawyers see cases where an Intrafamily Exclusion is deeply written in an auto policy, which denies coverage if the Ohio car accident is caused by a family member. Many families do not know that their full coverage policy contains this exclusion - even though they pay extra money for what they think is full coverage.

Our Toledo, Ohio car accident lawyers urge drivers to double check with their insurance agents to see if this clause is present in their policy. If it is, make arrangements to change coverages. An Ohio car accident is jut that - an accident. Everyone should be entitled to compensation after an Ohio car accident, regardless of who causes it.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a Toledo, Ohio car accident, contact our office to receive your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

August worse than January for driving | Ohio car accident lawyers

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:18:56 GMT

The NHTSA also reported that speeding is a factor in 30% of all fatal car accidents, 18% of daylight car accidents were alcohol-related, and 54% of nighttime car accidents were alcohol-related.

It turns out that the snowy winter months are not the most dangerous time to drive. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, of NHTSA, reports that August is the most dangerous month to be on the road, and Saturday is the most dangerous day to drive.

The number of car accidents in August 2008 totalled 3,612 and the number of car accidents in January of the same year were 2,818, according to the NHTSA. The change in the number of car accidents could be due to the time of day, simple distractions, or unsafe behavior, according to Forbes.com, who reported the findings.

Our Toledo, Ohio car accident lawyers handle Ohio car accidents on a regular basis. If you or someone you love has been injured in an Ohio car accident, contact our office today for your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book. You can also contact our attorneys 24 hours a day, seven days a week to discuss your Ohio car accident case.

Injured in Michigan? We work with Michigan's best car accident attorneys, Buckfire and Buckfire. They handle all types of Michigan car accidents, and have also written The Ultimate Michigan Car Accident Handbook. To order your FREE copy today, contact their office 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Ohio dog bite lawyer Dale Emch on dog bite injury liability

Chuck Boyk — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:38:00 GMT

What do you do if it is your dog that bites someone? Ohio dog bite lawyer Dale Emch discusses the flip side to dog bite injuries in his most recent Legal Briefs column. If you have a general legal question you would like to see addressed, including those on Ohio car accident settlements, Ohio work injury payments, or medical malpractice, contact Dale today at demch@charlesboyk-law.com.

I heard that a dog's owner isn't responsible for a dog bite if the person bitten was trespassing. So, if I was throwing the football around with my son in my backyard and the ball went into my neighbor's yard, would my neighbor be responsible if his dog bit me when I crossed into his yard to pick up the football?

Let me give you some of the basics about Ohio dog bite law before I zero in on your question. Under Ohio law, the owner, keeper, or harborer of a dog is liable for any injuries caused by the dog. It's a very strict rule that can have some harsh results. For instance, if my dog, Simon, ran out in front of a car, causing the driver to swerve off the road and hit a tree, I'd be responsible for the driver's injuries. And that would be true even if a friend was walking Simon for me and he got away when I wasn't in town. The law imposes strict duties on dog owners, including those who have dogs as headstrong as Simon.

Given the number of dog-bite cases our law office handles, I understand why the law has developed in this way. I've represented children who have been scarred for life and adults whose dog-bite injuries have caused them to be hospitalized for days. It would be little solace to those people if the owners could escape liability by saying, "Gee, our dog has never bitten anyone before, so we had no idea this would happen." There's no such thing as a free bite in the civil arena under Ohio law.

That said, people owning or keeping dogs do have certain defenses. Under the law, it's a defense if the person who was injured was committing or attempting to commit a criminal trespass, committing or attempting to commit any criminal offense other than a minor misdemeanor, or was teasing, tormenting, or abusing the dog. So, the law includes some common-sense protections for dog owners or keepers in limited circumstances.

The key to your question is whether your neighbor would have a defense because you were considered a trespasser. The Ohio General Assembly amended the law this year to change the defense of trespass to criminal trespass. That could be significant, and I expect the change will be the source of some legal wrangling over the next few years. Prior to the change in the law, a number of courts ruled that the trespass defense was available to dog owners whether the trespass was civil or criminal.

It sounds like a small thing, but it could be crucial in a lot of cases. The distinction lies in the difference between a criminal and civil trespass. Boiled down, someone commits a criminal trespass when they knowingly enter the land or premises of another - without privilege to do so - or remain on the land or premises after receiving notice in some form that they're on someone else's property. While there's more to the criminal code section dealing with trespass, that's the general gist.

For the purposes of a civil trespass, on the other hand, it doesn't matter whether the trespasser knew or received notice he was trespassing.

So, let's look at the distinction using the framework of your question. Let's say you had to jump a fence to get into your neighbor's backyard to retrieve the football. It would be hard to say that you didn't commit a criminal trespass because you knowingly entered your neighbor's property.

Let's look at a different scenario. Let's say you were playing football on someone else's property and you had no idea where the property line was. If you inadvertently crossed the property line and the property owner's dog bit you, I would argue that you hadn't committed a criminal trespass and the dog owner would be liable. Under the old version of the law, it didn't matter whether you knew where the boundary line was for the purposes of a civil trespass. If you were bitten on someone else's property and you had no privilege to be there, you were out of luck, at least for purposes of pursuing your claim under the state statute.

As an aside, the concept of privilege is important here. For instance, a letter carrier has the right to enter your property to deliver mail. So the trespass defense wouldn't apply. Or, in your scenario, if your neighbor had seen the ball go over the fence and waved you over to come get it, you wouldn't be a trespasser.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Ohio car accident layer on rental agreements and deposits

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:00:02 GMT

Ohio car accident lawyer Dale Emch discusses rental agreements and deposits in his December 21, 2008 Legal Briefs column. If you have a general legal question on Ohio car accidents, Ohio dog bites, Ohio workers’ compensation, or a similar issue, contact Attorney Emch and demch@charlesboyk-law.com.

Dear Dale: I moved out of an apartment last year. Even though more than a year has passed, I have not been able to get my security deposit back. I've called the apartment complex's office more than 100 times, but they still won't return my deposit. Every time I call, they have good attitudes with a lot of excuses, but they never give me my security deposit. I'm really tired of calling them. Is there anything I can do?

Answer: I think most of us have rented an apartment or home at some point in our lives, and most of us have had a landlord hold back all or a portion of a security deposit, sometimes justifiably, sometimes not.

I shudder at the memory of my college roommates and I acting indignant when our landlord refused to give us our security deposit back many years ago. We were, to put it euphemistically, enthusiastic college boys. By the end of the year, the nice home we had moved into looked like something the city might consider condemning. An exaggeration, but you get the point. Though we really had no business getting our deposit back, my brother, Gregg, and a buddy of his - both newly minted lawyers at the time - pointed us to a law that put part of our deposit back in our undeserving hands.

State law dictates when landlords can retain security deposits, and our landlord didn't comply with the law. The Ohio Revised Code requires landlords to return security deposits within 30 days after termination of the rental agreement.

A landlord can withhold all or a portion of a security deposit for such things as unpaid rent, damage to the property, or violations of the lease. A landlord seeking to withhold any portion of a security deposit must provide written notice within 30 days of the end of the lease giving an itemized listing of reasons the deposit wasn't repaid, and a dollar figure associated with each item. Normal wear and tear on an apartment isn't sufficient reason to withhold a security deposit, and courts have ruled that landlords can't build in routine cleaning costs to the lease as justification for withholding security deposits.

State law provides a hammer tenants can use to whack landlords who don't comply with the security deposit code section. If a landlord fails to comply with the law, the former tenant can get double the amount owed to him, plus reasonable attorney fees.

Double damages and attorney fees are available but the law states that the tenant must provide the landlord with written notice of a new address where the security deposit or an itemized list of deductions can be sent. Though it appears that your landlord did not supply you with notice of why your deposit was being withheld, it's unclear to me whether you provided written notice of your new address.

If you did provide notice of your new address, you may want to consider suing the landlord in Toledo Municipal Court. It might take some time, but you've waited this long, right? It's clear that the landlord either feels justified in withholding your deposit or has no intention of ever coughing it up. Maybe having to pay double damages and attorney fees will cause the landlord to reconsider this behavior in the future. Trying to stop that kind of behavior is precisely why the law contemplates that financial hit. The legislature realized that without some sort of pain in the pocketbook, landlords could withhold security deposits for all sorts of shaky reasons.

If you haven't supplied your landlord with written notice of your new address, I'd do that immediately by certified mail, and then I'd contact an attorney if that fails to produce your security deposit.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Toledo, Ohio car accident attorney on Lemon Laws

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:13:00 GMT

Toledo, Ohio car accident lawyer Dale Emch answers readers general legal questions on everything from car accidents, workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, or wrongful death. Contact our office if you would like to have your general legal question considered for Attorney Emch's Toledo Blade column, "Legal Briefs."

Dear Dale: My father-in-law purchased a new car that has continued to have the same engine problem. He's taken it in for repairs, but the problem keeps happening again and again. He's fed up and wants to know what his rights are.

ANSWER: It sounds like he may have purchased a lemon and could be entitled to a new car. In certain situations, Ohio's Lemon Law protects consumers who have purchased new cars that are plagued by problems.

The law applies only to new cars that are less than 1 year old or have fewer than 18,000 miles, whichever happens earlier. First of all, the dealer or manufacturer must be given a reasonable opportunity to make any repairs necessary so that the vehicle conforms to the warranty. You might be able to get a new car or a full refund if any of the following factors apply:

• If repairs have been attempted at least three times on essentially the same problem, but the problem persists.

• If one attempt has been made to repair a problem that could cause death or serious bodily injury, and the problem still exists.

• If the car has required eight or more repairs, not necessarily for the same problem.

• If the vehicle has been out of service for repairs for a cumulative total of 30 days.

If the consumer decides to replace the lemon, Ohio law requires that the new vehicle must be acceptable to him. Alternatively, a full refund of the purchase price can be demanded. The purchaser of the lemon also can recoup costs such as fees charged for cancelling a loan or lease, or towing costs and vehicle rental fees.

Despite the law, the consumer may run into a dealer or manufacturer who won't make things right or who believes that you don't have a right to seek the relief contemplated by the law. If that's the case, the lemon's owner can file a lawsuit seeking to recover the damages incurred. The law also allows for the recovery of attorney's fees and court costs if the consumer wins the case. That said, if certain factors are met, the consumer could be forced into arbitration, which essentially is an out-of-court hearing in front of a neutral party.

So, your father-in-law could be entitled to a new car or a full refund if the factors listed apply. It's important that he documents all of the problems and repair attempts so he can exercise his rights under the law. He should start a file and hold on to all of the paperwork associated with the vehicle.

For more information, check out the informative site the Ohio Attorney General's Office has put together on the Lemon Law at www.ag.state.oh.us/citizen/consumer/lemon_law.asp.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk