Findlay Personal Injury Lawyer - dog bite

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

Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon named Dog Warden of the Year

Chuck Boyk — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:37:00 GMT

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Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorney gives answers to general legal questions

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:24:00 GMT

Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorney Dale Emch answers general legal questions in his Toledo Blade “Legal Briefs” column. Attorney Emch answers questions on all topics, including those on car accidents, dog bites, and wrongful death.

Dear Dale: My sister has been living with a guy for about three years. She has recently been trying to get him to leave because he has become verbally abusive and sometimes destructive, but he refuses. I would think that being abusive, which her neighbors
Answer: My initial take on this situation is that your sister probably can throw the guy out as long as some provision is made for him to retrieve his belongings.

But your question doesn’t address a few key details, so I’ll try to deal with the “what-ifs” in hopes they’ll be helpful to you or other readers. My main concern about booting the guy out and changing the locks would be if he can be construed to be a tenant who is renting from your sister. If he’s the type of guy who would push the matter on a legal front, it could be a hassle for her to get him out.

In Ohio, a tenant is someone entitled by a rental agreement to use and occupy a residence. A rental agreement can be written or oral. A tenant can be evicted in certain situations, but those evictions have to follow rules spelled out under the law.

For instance, a tenant can be evicted for such things as not paying rent or for holding over past the term of the lease agreement. In that event, the landlord must give the tenant proper notice that he’s being asked to leave and that his eviction could be sought. A complaint would then have to be filed in court and a hearing would be held.

Rental agreements also can be terminated without evictions. For instance, a landlord renting to a tenant on a month-to-month basis without a lease can end the agreement by giving the tenant a month’s notice that he has to move.

So, what does that mean for your sister? It really depends on what their agreement was when he moved in. If they formally agreed that he would pay a set amount of money each month to live there, he’d have an argument that he was a tenant. In that case, to be safe legally, she could give him a 30-day written notice that he must leave.

I’m guessing, though, that they didn’t have a formal agreement. If that’s the case, I don’t think he’d be a tenant under Ohio law, and therefore wouldn’t be entitled to the protections available under the law. He’d be no different than a guest, and his refusal to leave would be a trespass. If that’s the situation, my view is that she can kick the guy out today, change the locks, and make his belongings available to him somehow.

The problem is that in these situations there’s always a rub between the legal and the practical. It’s simply bizarre that your sister has told the guy to get out, but he won’t. He may be the type of guy who is going to make things ugly or messy before she can finally get him out the door, regardless of whether the law is on her side. If he has no rental agreement with her, she should ask him to leave again in front of witnesses, and if he doesn’t, she should call the police.

If he is paying rent and he won’t leave after getting written notice, have your sister contact a lawyer who deals with property-law issues so the process can be done in a legally proper way.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Lucas County Dog Warden is backed by Toledo, Ohio dog bite attorneys

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:45:00 GMT

Our Toledo, Ohio dog bite attorneys wrote The Ohio Dog Bite Book, which outlines what you should do in the event of an Ohio dog bite. If you or someone you know has suffered from a dog bite, it is important know the proper steps to take. Seek medical treatment immediately, and take photos of the injury. If an insurance company contacts you, do not make any statements or sign any medical authorizations before consulting an attorney.

But one of the most important tips in The Ohio Dog Bite Book is to notify the authorities, including your area Dog Warden.

Toledo, Ohio dog bite attorney Dale Emch defends Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon in his recent Toledo Blade op-ed piece, “Skeldon does his duty, tells it like it is.”

As Dale’s column points out, Tom Skeldon works to prevent dog bites and dog attacks by strongly enforcing Toledo’s pit bull laws. Pit bulls, the only breed classified as vicious in the State of Ohio, can cause serious personal injury to victims. The difference in a pit bull bite is the strength of the dog’s locking jaws and the power that comes from their back legs when pits shake their victims. Mr. Skeldon, as well as our Toledo, Ohio dog bite attorneys, recognize this, which is why we continue to support the Lucas County Dog Warden, and his stance on pit bulls.

To learn more about these tips and what to do in the event of a dog bite, contact our office to order your FREE copy of The Ohio Dog Bite Book.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Learn how to protect yourself from dog bites, personal injury

Chuck Boyk — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:53:00 GMT

There are few things scarier than a dog about to attack. Vicious dogs or not, dog bites can cause serious personal injury, including permanent scarring and emotional distress.

In order to prevent dog bites, the Humane Society suggests standing still and straight, like a tree, instead of running away from an approaching dog. Do not yell or wave your arms at a dog.

If the dog does start to attack, prevent personal injury by lying on the ground in the fetal position, using your hands to cover your face and neck. The American Kennel Club recommends to leave alone dogs you are unfamiliar with, or those who are sleeping, eating, or caring for their puppies.

Our Toledo, Ohio dog bite attorneys have seen the devastation that personal injury from dog bites can cause, especially to children. They recommend teaching your kids about dogs and their habits, and never leaving them unattended with any animal.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Toledo, Ohio dog bite attorney voices opposition to Ohio bill

Anneke Kurt — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:33:01 GMT

Attorney Dale Emch testified recently in front of the Ohio House Infrastructure, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs committee to oppose HB 366, which would declassify pit bulls as vicious dogs.

As a Toledo, Ohio dog bite attorney, Dale Emch has seen the extensive damage pit bulls can cause in the blink of an eye. Injuries to his clients led him to speak out against a bill that's being offered in the Ohio General Assembly that would strip pit bulls out of the state's vicious dog law. A copy of his testimony about his Ohio dog bite victims is available online if you're interested.

Here's an excerpt of Dale's testimony:

I'm here today as an attorney who has dealt with the types of injuries pit bulls can cause in just a matter of seconds. In our Toledo law office, nine of the 23 dog bite cases we're handling involve pit bulls. That's 39 percent, which strikes me as being disproportionately high when you consider how many different breeds of dogs there are in our state. I recognize this is a such a small sampling that it is statistically meaningless in the broader context of this discussion, but it gives you at least a glimpse of what we're seeing. I'll leave it to Mr. Skeldon and his colleagues to provide the statistical information this committee needs to evaluate whether pit bulls should remain labeled as vicious dogs.
I'd like to provide you with some evidence of just how much damage these dogs can do. In the three cases I'll discuss, it's worth noting that none of the attacks were provoked, nor is there any evidence that these dogs were trained to fight or that they were owned by gang members. Something tripped their switch and they attacked.

Ohio law labels pit bulls as vicious dogs and requires that owners confine them in ways that would minimize the risk of them injuring people. It also requires pit bull owners to maintain a certain level of insurance in case their dog does cause an injury. The law is not overly burdensome and its requirements offer common sense measures designed to protect the public.

Removing the vicious dog label would restrict a valuable enforcement tool that Lucas County Dog Warden Tom Skeldon and other law enforcement officials throughout the state have to control pit bull ownership. Mr. Skeldon and a group of other concerned dog wardens and police officers are leading the charge against HB 366.

Dale urges you to contact Steve Reinard, chairman of the Infrastructure, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs committee, as well as other members, to voice your opposition to HB 366.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Anneke Kurt

Toledo six-year-old suffers personal injury from dog bite attack

Anneke Kurt — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:00:11 GMT

Six-year-old Rashad Mathis suffered serious personal injury Monday after he was mulled by a rottweiler near his home, according to the Toledo Blade. The boy had dog bites to his face, mouth and ear as well as personal injuries to his arms and legs. Our Toledo, Ohio dog bite attorneys see cases where children suffer personal injury resulting from dog bites, many of which require plastic surgery, like Mathis' did.

Dog bites not only cause physical damage to children, but often times cause emotional damage as well. Personal injury from the dog bites may heal, leaving behind scars, but many kids also suffer from fear of dogs or even fear of going outside.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Anneke Kurt

Kids left unattended with pits bulls and loaded rifle

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:22:34 GMT

Five children were left home alone in a house filled with pit bulls and a loaded rifle on August 28th, according to the Toledo Blade, resulting in a child endangerment charge for the kids' mother.

Alison Gilmore allegedly left the children unattended in the house the family shared with the dogs, and it was apparent that pit bull fighting had occurred on the premises. A picture window overlooked a makeshift pit in the living room, where there was dried blood, dog fighting collars and chains. Police found nine pit bulls in and around the house and garage, with one locked in a bedroom, according to WTOL Channel 11 News. The dogs had scars showing signs of fighting.

Police were warned by the children that the dog locked in the bedroom, "bites really bad." The kids ranged in age from 2 months to 9 years and have all been taken into the custody of Children Services. One child, whom Ms. Gilmore was baby-sitting, was allowed to go back to his mother.

Not only is dog fighting illegal in the state of Ohio, but it also teaches dogs to be vicious towards everything around them, including humans. According to Toledo Police Officer Barb Jackson, as reported by WTOL, "Pit bulls are basically loaded weapons."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Dayton Animal Shelter Overrun by Pitbulls

Shannon Weidemann — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:46:11 GMT

The Montgomery County Animal Control Shelter is operating at 145 percent of capacity due to a recent intake of pit bulls. The pit bulls were seized in raids and need to be held while the cases work their way through court.

It has cost approximately $60,000 to care for the animals since July. Some shelter workers have been bitten by the dogs as they break up fights and move the dogs for cage cleaning. Extra employees have been hired to help care for the animals.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann