August 17, 2023- CRUG is proud to announce that the milestone 30^th edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for 2024 has been publicly released and 8 lawyers from Collins, Roche, Utley & Garner have been recognized.

July 13, 2023 – Collins, Roche, Utley & Garner and its partner, Kurt Anderson, successfully secured the dismissal of a legal malpractice lawsuit because the plaintiff’s attorney failed to timely secure service of process upon the defendant client.

In Michael Mellon v. Aaron A. O’Brien, Esq., et al., 2023-Ohio-2393, the 8th District Court of agreed that the plaintiff, Michael Mellon, never properly commenced the malpractice suit against his former attorney, Aaron O’Brien, because Mellon’s attorney admittedly failed to obtain proper service of summons upon O’Brien within one year of filing the suit, as required by statute. Although the certified mail summons was never delivered, O’Brien had coincidentally learned about the suit from an acquaintance who had noted it on the court’s docket. O’Brien retained Anderson, who filed an answer asserting the defense of failure of service. Despite the answer, and despite notice from the clerk of courts that certified mail service had not been returned, Mellon’s counsel made no further efforts at service. Once the 1-year statutory deadline for service passed, Anderson requested that the suit be dismissed. Because service was never perfected, and because both the original statute of limitations and the Ohio Savings Statute had both expired, the trial judge agreed that the filed lawsuit never properly initiated and could not be resurrected in any way. The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, finding that O’Brien’s participation in the lawsuit did not waive service because O’Brien’s answer preserved the defense from the outset. Nice win that highlights the importance of always preserving the defense of failure of service (or any other 12(B) defense), especially if there are additional grounds that could be asserted as an early 12(B) motion to dismiss.

February 2, 2023–CRUG Partner, Patrick M. Roche obtained a defense verdict in a Mahoning County trial this week. Pat represented the owner of a 6-unit residential building. The Plaintiff was a tenant who sued the owner for negligence that allegedly enabled the unlawful entry of a third party associated with another tenant.  The intoxicated intruder broke into plaintiff’s unit but did not physically harm plaintiff. Plaintiff alleged PTSD.  The jury verdict was in favor of CRUG’s client, the landlord, as well as the property management company.

Annually, Super Lawyers® recognizes the top lawyers in Ohio via a patented multiphase selection process involving peer nomination, independent research and peer evaluation. The Ohio lawyers who receive the highest point totals during this selection process are further recognized in Ohio Super Lawyers Top Lists. Browse the Ohio Top Lists below to ensure you are selecting the “best of the best” attorney https://www.superlawyers.com/ohio/toplists/

The Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (OACTA) inducted David Orlandini as its President. During the Legal Excellence Awards Luncheon & Annual Business Meeting at OACTA’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, outgoing President, Benjamin Sassé inducted new board members.  Dave previously served as Vice President and also served as Chair on OACTA’s Litigation & Trial Skills Committee.

The Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys is an organization of attorneys, corporate executives, and managers who devote a substantial portion of their time to the defense of civil lawsuits and the management of claims against individuals, corporations, and governmental entities. The mission of OACTA is to promote fairness, excellence, and integrity in the civil justice system by providing resources and education to attorneys and others dedicated to the defense of civil actions.