Ohio

In 15 States, DNA Innocence Claims Die With Prisoner or When Inmate Released

Ohio remains one of 15 states in which the convicted lose their option for DNA testing once they get out of prison or die. In a lengthy feature about innocence claims, the Columbus Dispatch reports that state law requires a person to be alive and in person to qualify for…

Jan 29, 2008 5:45 PM CST

Man Who Stole Salvation Army Kettle Spends Night Homeless on Judge’s Orders

A man who stole a Salvation Army donation kettle containing $250 the week before Christmas was sentenced by a Cleveland-area judge to spend the night homeless. Last Thursday, Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Cicconetti called Nathen Smith’s crime “despicable” and ordered the 28-year-old to spend the next 24 hours…

Jan 28, 2008 5:51 PM CST

Lawyers Argue Over Right to Autopsy Organs

Lawyers for the parents of a man who died in a van accident argued yesterday they have a constitutional right to the return of his organs removed in an autopsy. Ohio Supreme Court justices were skeptical of arguments on both sides of the issue, the Associated Press reports. The suit…

Jan 24, 2008 3:00 PM CST

Local Officials Suggest New Ideas for Saving on Legal Fees

Local officials have advanced several cutting-edge concepts lately about how to save money on legal fees. However, the lawyers concerned may not be jumping for joy over the innovative ideas. In Milford, Ohio, a newly elected school board member suggested that the group could save money by eliminating their general…

Jan 10, 2008 12:05 AM CST

Ohio Supreme Court: Surrogate Mom Has No Parental Right to Triplets

In a cutting-edge case that has spotlighted the gap between traditional family law principles and state-of-the-art medical options for dealing with infertility, a Pennsylvania woman who carried triplets to term as a surrogate mother for an Ohio man has been found to have no parental rights over the infants. Because…

Dec 20, 2007 10:49 PM CST

Pregnant Lawyer Charged Over Fake Kidnap Story

A pregnant lawyer who—according to police and her own husband—falsely claimed that she was kidnapped has been charged with making false alarms. If Karyn McConnell Hancock, 35, is convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, reports the Associated Press. Hancock herself reportedly…

Dec 14, 2007 10:38 PM CST

‘Finders Keepers,’ Says Contractor Who Found $182K in Walls

A contractor who found $182,000 in cash in a homeowner’s bathroom walls has hired a lawyer and threatened a lawsuit asserting a right to the money. Contractor Bob Kitts was rehabbing an 83-year old Cleveland home when he found some of the Depression-era cash in the walls and called homeowner…

Dec 14, 2007 3:34 PM CST

Pregnant Lawyer Wasn’t Kidnapped

A pregnant lawyer who claimed she had been kidnapped has recanted her story. It isn’t clear exactly what Karyn McConnell Hancock, 35, is now saying happened during the several days she was missing from Toledo, Ohio, last week. But she has recanted her original story that two men and a…

Dec 11, 2007 4:24 PM CST

Pregnant Lawyer May Have Been Kidnapped Due to Dad’s Case

A pregnant Ohio lawyer’s kidnapping and release may have involved a case involving her father, who is a municipal court judge, the lawyer’s husband said. Karyn McConnell Hancock was released unharmed Saturday morning, three days after her abduction near Six Flags Over Georgia, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported. She said she…

Dec 10, 2007 4:47 PM CST

Concerned re Web Privacy, Ohio Courts Mull Paper Records Removal

Updated: As county courts in Ohio moved to make a number of dockets and case records available online, concerns arose about how that might adversely affect individual privacy. So a judicial commission was appointed to study the issue. Now, under its proposed recommendations, it appears that new rules may not…

Nov 20, 2007 9:49 PM CST

‘Law School 101’ Could Help Struggling Homeowners

The requirements of legal standing could help homeowners facing foreclosure on their homes. A federal judge in Cleveland recently tossed 14 foreclosure cases because Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. could not prove ownership of the properties, the New York Times reports. The bank is trustee for investors in pools of…

Nov 15, 2007 3:36 PM CST

Ohio Dowry Ruling is Appealed; Important Muslim Marriage Issue

In a case that has attracted national interest, an Ohio woman is appealing a court ruling that her ex-husband doesn’t have to pay the dowry she is guaranteed in her Muslim marriage contract. Although courts in other states reportedly have enforced similar religious marriage contracts, the judge in Raghad Alwattar’s…

Nov 1, 2007 4:21 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Theatrics Void $30M Jury Award

The Ohio Supreme Court has overturned a record-breaking $30 million medical malpractice award, citing, among other courtroom misbehavior, a theatrical closing argument by the controversial Michigan attorney representing the brain-injured plaintiff. Attorney Geoffrey Fieger’s courtroom antics, including his assumption at closing of the persona of his client, when he allegedly…

Oct 27, 2007 12:35 AM CDT

Courts Disagree on Dowry Enforceability

Although one Muslim man’s marriage contract calls for a $25,000 dowry to be paid to his wife, he doesn’t have to pay her, now that they are divorced, because it is a religious agreement rather than an enforceable legal contract, an Ohio judge has ruled. The decision, the first on…

Oct 22, 2007 6:15 PM CDT

Merit, Not Lockstep, Pay at Jones Day

Despite the attention paid in recent months to Howrey’s announcement that it would no longer implement a so-called lockstep pay schedule for associate attorneys, merit-based salary schedules are by no means unprecedented at major firms. Jones Day has had such a salary system for associates for decades, paying young attorneys…

Oct 15, 2007 8:03 PM CDT