In the case of Durig v. Youngstown, 2023-Ohio-4446, an appellate court affirmed a lower court’s order denying the city leave to amend its answer to plaintiff’s complaint to assert immunity as an affirmative defense.   The city moved to amend its answer 2 years and 9 months after filing its initial answer, after discovery had been completed, the dispositive deadline had passed, and the trial date was scheduled. In this case, the appellee-estate argued that the city-appellant’s motion for leave to amend the complaint was rightfully denied because an affirmative defense, if not asserted in t ..read more

In the case of Graham v. Lake Cty. Jobs & Family Servs. & Child Support Enforcement Agency, 2023-Ohio-4366, an appellate court held that a non-custodial parent is entitled to a public record, which is a document—unless conformed to an exception—that is held by a public office, from a child support enforcement agency so long as the request is directly connected to the support enforcement program. In this case, the parent argued that emails concerning the parent that were the subject of the various government entities’ (county, family services, and child support enforcement agency) corre ..read more

In the cases of Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1385 v. Greater Dayton Regional Transit Auth., 2023-Ohio-4330 and Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1385 v. Greater Dayton Regional Transit Auth., 2023-Ohio-4331, an appellate court held that employees were not capable of ratifying payments by an employer pursuant to an arbitration award in a CBA dispute when the employees were not parties to the arbitration. In this case, the company argued that the arbitration award was paid in full because, even if the payments were not the correct amount, the employees ratified the amounts by cashing the chec ..read more

In the case of South v. Cleveland State Univ., 2023-Ohio-4328, an appellate court held that the university was not liable for a concert attendee’s injuries sustained when a concert seat broke when she sat down as there was no duty to individually inspect 14,000 seats before each performance. In this case, the attendee argued that the university should have independently inspected every seat to ensure that there was no defect which would cause the seat to break. In response, the university argued that the center had 14,000 seats, so an inspection of each seat individually would not be reasonabl ..read more

In the case of States ex. rel. Chatman v. Galion Police Dept., 2023-Ohio-4177, an appellate court held that, pursuant to R.C. 149.43(B)(8), public records relating to an inmate’s conviction are not required to be released to the person who is incarcerated from the criminal conviction unless the inmate had received a finding by the sentencing judge that the public-records request was necessary to support a justiciable claim. In this case, the inmate-relator argued that the police department did not respond to his request for public records and sought a writ of mandamus to compel the police depa ..read more

In the case of Ohio Council 8, AFSME, AFL-CIO v. Lakewood, 2023-Ohio-4212, in a plurality decision, an appellate court held that the Ohio State Employment Relationship Board (“SERB”) has exclusive jurisdiction over claims arising under the employee’s collective-bargaining rights and thus the trial court properly dismissed a claim filed by the Union to force arbitration regarding an employee’s termination. In this case, the employee argued that the city denied the employee’s rights by refusing to arbitrate the employee’s termination in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. In respon ..read more

On November 2, 2023, Best Lawyers announced the “Best Law Firms” rankings. And McGown & Markling is very proud to remain among the select few law firms to receive yet again receive a Tier 1 Ranking by Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms.” It is indeed an honor to be recognized in areas ranging from municipal, labor, and employment litigation, as well as employment and labor law. Best Lawyers®, the oldest and most respected Purely Peer Review® research and accolades company in the legal profession, today announced the release of the 14th edition of the United St ..read more

The Ohio Ethics Commission just published its newest newsletter, “The Voice of Ethics,” which can be viewed here. Past newsletters from the Ohio Ethics Commission can be viewed here. McGown & Markling is often asked to opine on various ethics issues, but the best ethics advice comes straight from the Ohio Ethics Commission itself. To request an advisory opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission, please click here. To explore additional resources available on the Ohio Ethics Commission’s website, please click here. Authors: Matthew John Markling and the McGown & Markli ..read more

McGown & Markling is proud to announce that Managing Director Matthew John Markling has once again been selected one of The Best Lawyers in America® in the practice area of Litigation – Labor and Employment for the year 2024. This is especially gratifying as recipients are selected by one’s legal peers. Heartfelt congratulations from all of us at McGown & Markling. Mr. Markling has also been selected as one of The Best Lawyers in America® in the practice areas of Litigation – Municipal, as well as Education Law, for the year 2024. To learn more about Mr. Markling, click here. The ..read more

In the case of State ex rel. Barr v. Wesson, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-3080, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the warden’s assistant did not have to create a public record when the warden’s assistant did not respond to the inmate’s request for specific public records and later claimed that such records did not exist and were not maintained by the prison. In this case, the inmate argued that a public record had to be created because the warden’s assistant told the inmate that the warden’s assistant would provide an answer to the public record request but then failed to. In response, the warden ..read more