IN THE NEWS

The family of Andrew Combs, who was fatally shot while stopping a robbery at a Columbus gas station, is suing Sunoco for alleged negligence, claiming the company failed to provide adequate security measures. As the legal representation for Combs’ family, we will emphasize Sunoco’s responsibility and aim for justice for Andrew’s untimely death, also seeking financial security for the 7-month-old son Combs was never able to meet.

Employees of the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center are responsible for the health and safety of the kids in their care, and they failed Damarion Allen. By filing a complaint on behalf of our client, we intend to hold the staff accountable for their actions and to ensure no other child faces lifelong pain and suffering.

Our client’s husband was suffering a medical emergency. Our client called 911. The responding paramedics did not properly assess him or take him to the hospital to get him the help and, tragically, he died overnight. We sued the City of Columbus and its paramedics. The City ultimately agreed to settle the case for $1.1 million, one the largest settlements the City has paid for EMS negligence.

Madison Sparks and her family accused the South-Western City School District of failing to protect Sparks from her teacher’s sexual abuse while she was a student.

We represent the family of Eric Cole, who was hit and killed by a Springfield Police Department cruiser last June 2021.

We represent Zara Moss, a former fencer at Pennsylvania State University, who was verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by former head fencing coach Wes Glon. Penn State placed Glon on administrative leave following Ms. Moss’s lawsuit, and he has since retired. Ms. Moss reported Glon’s abuse to Penn State Title IX officials during her senior year. Yet as Ms. Moss alleges in her federal lawsuit, the University was deliberately indifferent to the abuse. Sadly, Zara gave up fencing and has been receiving treatment for emotional distress and PTSD.

We represented a township medical director who spoke out against a plan that would have disrupted the township’s EMS services and threatened residents’ safety. When two township trustees behind the plan retaliated against the medical director, we filed a federal lawsuit against them and obtained an order finding that the trustees had violated the medical director’s First Amendment rights.

When it comes to excessive force by police, even other law enforcement agents can be targets. Jim Burk, a federal agent, is pursuing civil rights claims against the Columbus Police Department.

Our client James Stewart was severely injured at the Ross County Jail when an officer slammed him to the ground, breaking his neck. The case settled favorably for Mr. Stewart.

Patrick Baker was wrongfully convicted of a robbery based on the actions of a disgraced former Sandusky County Sheriff’s Deputy. Patrick’s conviction was overturned. After that deputy went to prison for his own crimes, we sought compensation for Patrick, and the state ultimately agreed he was wrongfully imprisoned.

Jason Hick worked for a property management group. The company’s owner told Jason to rent their apartment units only to white people, and also to evict current tenants based on their race. After Jason refused and spoke out about this discriminatory conduct, he was fired.

After the Faietas noticed linear marks on their 3-year-old son’s rear end when they picked him up from daycare, they were concerned that he may have been beaten or otherwise abused. They went to the school the following day to speak with teachers, but received no answers and later received a letter from the school (which was operated by a large church) informing them they’d be arrested for trespass if they returned. We filed a lawsuit on their behalf and proved that their son had in fact been beaten, by a parent volunteer who the church never should have allowed to oversee the children. We obtained a jury verdict against the abuser and the church of approximately $6 million.

When the owner of Mopaz Diamonds came to Columbus to attend an international jewelry and gemstone convention, he checked into a local hotel and placed nearly $1 million worth of diamonds and jewelry in three of the hotel’s safe deposit boxes. The next morning, he went to retrieve the items and discovered that jewel thieves had looted his three boxes and more than a dozen others used by other convention attendees. We sued the hotel, even though Ohio law generally limits a hotel’s liability to $500 under such circumstances and even though other victims that had suffered millions of dollars in losses had sued the hotel and had been limited to $500. After developing a creative legal theory to get past the Ohio statute, we recovered the full amount of our client’s losses.