- Write down everything you can remember about how the injury occurred, including the names, addresses and phone numbers of potential witnesses, police officers and insurance company representatives (or company or workers’ compensation representatives if it was a work-related injury)
- Talk to an Ohio personal injury lawyer before making any statements, written or verbal, to insurance company adjusters or representatives
- Let anyone you think may be responsible for the injury know right away you’re intending to file a claim against them
- Take steps to protect any evidence you may need to prove your injury, such as your totaled car, photographs of an accident or injury scene, clothing you were wearing, damaged personal belongings, and so forth
How Do I Figure Out Who Is at Fault?
In most cases, in order to collect on an injury claim in Ohio, you must prove the person who caused the injury was “negligent” – which is a failure to exercise ordinary care. You must prove:
- The person who caused your injury owed you a duty
- The other person broke or breached that duty
- You suffered damages
- The other person’s failure caused your injury
If you were careless, and that contributed to your injury, your recovery of damages is reduced in proportion to your fault under Ohio comparative negligence law. If you were more careless than the other person, you can’t recover any damages.
Ohio law generally doesn’t make one person responsible for another person’s negligence. Exceptions exist when people are involved in a joint enterprise, such as a partnership or an employment relationship. If more than one person is negligent toward you, each is responsible for a proportional share of the damages.
If you’ve been injured using a consumer product, the manufacturer of the product may be responsible under a “products liability” legal theory, which is based on a statute. You need to prove:
- The product was defective because of an inadequate warning or a problem with the product
- The defect caused your injury
- You suffered damages
- The manufacturer was responsible for some aspect of product creation
Product suppliers can be liable for damages under state products liability law. You need to prove:
- The supplier was negligent
- The negligence caused your injury
- The product wasn’t the way the supplier promised it would be
- You suffered damages
What Is My Claim Worth?
Under Ohio law, the person who injured you is responsible for:
- Past, current and future estimated medical expenses
- Time lost from work, including time spent going to medical appointments or therapy
- Any property that was damaged, such as your vehicle
- The cost of hiring someone to do household chores when you couldn’t do them
- Any permanent disfigurement or disability
- Your emotional distress, including anxiety, depression and any interference with your family relationships
- A change in your future earning ability due to the injury
- Any other costs that were a direct result of your injury
In some cases you may need an expert to explain your injuries and why you’re entitled to certain damages. This is very common in medical malpractice cases. A lawyer will know what type of expert witness to hire to best prove your damages.
How Long Do I Have to File a Legal Claim?
In Ohio, you only have two years to file a lawsuit against the person who injured you. If your lawyer isn’t able to come to an agreement with any involved insurance companies, you’ll want to file a lawsuit before the two-year statute of limitations runs out. If your injury is related to a breach of contract, you may have six years to file a lawsuit.
Questions for Your Attorney
- Can I still file a lawsuit if I accepted a settlement offer from the other person’s insurance company before I contacted you?
- The insurance company seems to be taking me and my injuries seriously. Why do I need to hire a lawyer?
- Is the other person’s insurance company entitled to look at my medical records without my permission? Should I let it have access to my records?
