Changes Coming to Ohio Tolling and Vicarious Liability Laws

Beginning October 22, 2024, amendments to R.C. 2305.15 become effective precluding any “out of state” or other tolling of the medical, legal, or other statutes of repose.

Also effective October 22, 2024, new R.C. 2307.241 becomes effective expressly permitting vicarious liability lawsuits directly against the employer or principle, and not requiring the “primarily liable agent” to be joined, except in cases of medical, dental, optometric, chiropractic, or legal professional liability.  This codifies a long-standing Ohio rule created by the courts, recognizing that hospital and law firms cannot be held independently liable because only individual doctors and lawyers are licensed to practice medicine or law.

These changes were implemented specifically to overrule the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Elliott v. Duranni, 2022-Ohio-4190, which applied “out of state” tolling to the medical statute of repose.