News

On December 4, 2008, Adam E. Carr spoke at a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar for lawyers entitled, “Building Your Civil Trial Skills,” at the Sheraton Suites in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.  Adam E. Carr was one of three speakers at the all-day seminar.  His presentation included topics relating to post-trial motions, appeals, and legal ethics.  The seminar was sponsored by the National Business Institute.

RECENT MEDIA

Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune
July 7, 14, and 24, 2007

The Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune discussed a lawsuit by Adam E. Carr on behalf of the Allen Eiry Senior Center against its new landlords. The senior center had occupied the property for more than ten years. The new landlords wanted to significantly increase the rent beyond what the lease required the senior center to pay. The senior center declined to pay more than what the lease required. According to the suit papers, the landlords then engaged in a pattern of escalating harassment designed to drive the senior center out of the building. The alleged harassment included a refusal to turn on the central air conditioning unless the senior center paid maintenance fees it had never paid before. Adam E. Carr successfully petitioned the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas to issue a temporary restraining order, followed by preliminary and permanent injunctions, requiring the senior center's landlords to immediately restore and maintain the central air conditioning and other utilities.

RECENT VERDICTS

David I. Griffin v. Kimberly A. Urick

Trumbull C.P. No. 2007 CV 00517
Verdict Date:  April 15, 2008
Defense Counsel:  Adam E. Carr

A motorcycle operator claimed to have sustained significant injuries including the degloving of his left heel and foot and fractures of the left heel, left foot, and right hip.  The motorcyclist had a prosthetic hip installed and he continues to have ongoing complaints.  There is an anticipated need for future surgery on his foot.  He walks with an obvious limp. He produced $138,357.25 in medical bills and over six hundred pages of medical records.  He also claimed to have lost over $22,000 in commissioned wages as a bail bondsman.  The motorcyclist claimed he tried to go back to work twice after the accident but was physically unable to do the job.  He did return to work permanently nearly two years after the accident.

The driver of a Ford Explorer was alleged to have signaled and begun to make a left turn at an intersection.  She then turned her mind and turned right, according to the motorcyclist.  He was attempting to pass her on the right.  Photographs and measurements of the scene indicated that the lane was seventeen feet wide.  This was wide enough for another Ford Explorer to have passed her on the right if she had been making a left turn.

The motorcyclist was taken from the scene of the accident to the closest hospital.  Later that evening, the driver of the Explorer stopped by a bar owned by the motorcyclist's father.  She had known the motorcyclist previously.  Two witnesses from the bar testified that she admitted she was at fault for having her left turn signal on.  On cross-examination by defense counsel Adam E. Carr, the witnesses disagreed on whether she stopped by to ask for money or to check on the motorcyclist's condition.

At trial the driver of the Explorer denied ever having signaled or attempted any left turn.  She admitted having gone to the bar but denied having admitted fault.  Two other witnesses located by the defense testified that they had been present at the scene of the accident.  They did not see the Explorer exhibit any turn signal, either left or right.  They saw the motorcyclist attempt to pass the Explorer on the right while the Explorer was making a right turn.  They testified that the motorcyclist actually drove onto the grass in an attempt to pass the Explorer.

The motorcyclist testified that he had gone to a funeral earlier that day.  He and many other motorcyclists had ridden in a procession from the funeral home to the grave site.  From the grave, they had gone to the home of the decedent, where a wake had been held.  After the wake, the motorcyclist traveled to the scene of the accident.  On cross-examination by defense counsel Adam E. Carr, the motorcyclist was unable to recall the name of the decedent, the name of the funeral home, or the exact location of the decedent’s home where the motorcyclist had gone for the wake.  There was substantial evidence of alcohol consumption by the motorcyclist that day but the motorcyclist had passed a blood alcohol test at the hospital several hours after the accident.  As a result, the judge did not permit the jury to hear any evidence relating to alcohol.  The defendant received a unanimous jury verdict so she did not need to appeal this ruling.

Elaine M. Krauss v. Lois E. Stitt, Administratrix of the Estate of Keith M. Stitt, deceased

Trumbull C.P. No. 2004 CV 00987
Verdict Date:  September 25, 2007
Defense Counsel:  Adam E. Carr

A motorcycle passenger suffered a highly unstable fracture of the distal left tibia and fibula (the two lower leg bones) in a collision with a deer.  The plaintiff’s treating orthopedic surgeon surgically inserted a rod through the tibia and secured it in place with screws to help repair the fracture.  The plaintiff was unable to work at all for four and a half months after the accident and she gradually returned to work over the following two months.  She continues to have difficulty descending stairs.  The rod and screws will remain in her leg permanently.

Before the accident, the operator and the passenger had observed a herd of deer near the side of the road.  One of the deer crossed the road and the motorcycle operator slowed down in response.  A second deer jumped out and hit the motorcycle.  The motorcycle passenger contended that the motorcycle operator should have come to a full stop after the first deer crossed the road.  The passenger was the motorcycle operator’s fiancée.  The motorcycle operator died a short while after the accident of injuries sustained in the accident. The motorcycle passenger sued the driver's estate, claiming he was negligent.

Adam E. Carr successfully petitioned the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas to award summary judgment in favor of the driver's estate on the grounds that the driver had done nothing wrong.  The court of appeals determined that the common pleas judge should have let a jury decide the outcome of the case.  At trial, Adam E. Carr received a unanimous jury verdict in favor of the driver's estate.

RECENT COURT OF APPEALS DECISIONS

Francisco Alicea, Jr. v. Mark A. Beckinger
Trumbull App. No. 2008-T-0009, 2008-Ohio-5861
Defense Counsel:  Adam E. Carr

The policyholder originally purchased a policy of automobile insurance under her maiden name.  The policy included uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.  The policyholder later advised the insurer that she did not want to pay a premium for uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and she signed a form rejecting that coverage.  More than four years later, she and her new husband were involved in an accident.  They then sought benefits under the coverage that the policyholder had previously elected not to purchase.

At the time the policyholder rejected coverage, Ohio law had required an insurer to offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage with every policy of automobile liability insurance.  The policyholder argued that the rejection of coverage was ineffective because the insurer had not made a valid offer of coverage under Ohio law.  See Linko v. Indemn. Ins. Co. of N. Am., 90 Ohio St.3d 445, 449, 2000-Ohio-92, 739 N.E.2d 338

Adam E. Carr successfully convinced the Eleventh District Court of Appeals that Allstate’s form had complied with the law at the time, and that more recent changes in the law also favored the insurer.  The Supreme Court of Ohio declined to hear a further appeal by the policyholder.

SELECTED REPORTED CASES

• In re Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage Cases (Nationwide Agribusiness Ins. Co. v. Wagner and Vicars v. McCray), 100 Ohio St.3d 302, 2003-Ohio-5888, 798 N.E.2d 1077
• Ohayon v. Safeco, 91 Ohio St.3d 474, 2001-Ohio-100, 747 N.E.2d 206
• Cappara v. Schibley, 85 Ohio St.3d 403, 1999-Ohio-278, 709 N.E.2d 117
• Williams v. Williams, Mahoning App. No. 08 MA 248, 2009-Ohio-6162
• Alicea v. Beckinger, Trumbull App. No. 2008-T-0009, 2008-Ohio-5861
• Aber v. Zurz (Summit), 175 Ohio App.3d 385, 2008-Ohio-778, 887 N.E.2d 381
• Bauer v. Integon Genl. Ins. Co., Cuyahoga App. No. 85981, 2005-Ohio-6363
• Adkins v. Ferguson, Ashland App. No. 02 CA 34, 2003-Ohio-403
• Adkins v. Hansen, Ashland App. No. 01COA01437, 2002-Ohio-2676
• Carroll v. Allstate Ins. Co. (Holmes), 148 Ohio App.3d 413, 2002-Ohio-3074, 773 N.E.2d 1061
• Bautista v. Kolis (Mahoning), 142 Ohio App.3d 169, 2001-Ohio-3159, 754 N.E.2d 820
• Musaelyants v. Allstate Ins. Co. (Cuyahoga 2001), 145 Ohio App.3d 251, 762 N.E.2d 459
• Boehm v. Butcher (Clermont), 144 Ohio Misc.2d 90, 2007-Ohio-6576, 879 N.E.2d 268