Source: https://www.mrrlaw.com/category/frontpage-article/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 12:16:13+00:00

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Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., LPA (MRR) is proud to announce that attorney George V. Pilat has been elected Chair of the Solon Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Voting took place in December with officers beginning their term on January 1, 2019. The Solon Chamber serves as advocates for the business community by supporting and fostering vibrant economic growth. George has been a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors since 2015, a Vice Chair since 2017, and has served on the Membership, Finance, and Governance Committees.
Mr. Pilat, a Partner at the firm’s Cleveland office, focuses his practice on business and commercial law, and insurance defense. He is Chair of the firm’s Business & Commercial Law Practice Group and Co-Chair of the Insurance Agents & Brokers Practice Group. He represents small and medium-size businesses and business owners as well as national and regional insurance companies, agencies, and agents, in all forms of transactional and litigation matters. George has also been selected as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” for 2018 and 2019 in the field of insurance law.
For over 30 years George has built up his role as the “Legal Business Advisor” to all his clients, helping them to properly structure their organizations and operations, identify and address risks and challenges they face, provide sound counsel advice, and develop and implement cost-effective solutions to run their organizations better.
In addition to his service with the Solon Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Pilat is also a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Great Lakes Funding Network, and the Insurance Board of Northern Ohio (IBNO). George was also presented the “Friend of the Insurance Industry” award by the IBNO in 2013.
Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., L.P.A., today announced that eleven of its Ohio-based attorneys have been selected to the 2019 Ohio Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists. In the firm’s Cleveland office, Tom Mazanec, Todd Raskin, John McLandrich, Frank Scialdone, and Jeffrey Kay were named to the Super Lawyers list. Tami Hannon and Cara Wright were included in the ranks of Rising Stars. In the Columbus office, Doug Holthus and Paul-Michael La Fayette earned Super Lawyers honors, while Stacy Pollock and Chenee Castruita were named Rising Stars. Each year, no more than five percent of lawyers in the state are named to the Super Lawyers list, and no more 2.5 percent are selected to the Rising Stars list.
Tom Mazanec is a founding partner of MRR and has played an essential role in establishing many of the firm’s practice specialties, since 1980. He serves as a lead trial attorney in both MRR’s Cleveland and Columbus offices. Mr. Mazanec has a diverse legal practice, with a special emphasis on liquor liability, professional liability, product liability, construction and wrongful death claims. He has handled liquor liability cases for more than 30 years and has tried numerous matters to verdict. He also has considerable experience in trying catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases as well as cases involving seven and eight figure exposure for his clients. He has tried cases in virtually every county in the State of Ohio with a special emphasis on catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases involving seven and eight figure exposures for his clients. In the area of professional liability, Tom defends doctors, lawyers, insurance agents, accountants, appraisers, home inspectors and other professionals against malpractice claims. He is a life-long resident of Ohio and has practiced in all 88 counties. Tom earned his Super Lawyer rating for his work on Product Liability, Construction, Liquor Liability and Wrongful Death: Defense.
Todd M. Raskin is a founding partner of Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder, Co., L.P.A., and is based in the firm’s Cleveland office. He has a diverse legal practice with an emphasis on civil rights and government liability defense, as well as the defense of employers, both public and private. He has tried more than 100 cases to conclusion in 35 years of private practice in many courts throughout Ohio and the Midwest and is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and the Litigation Counsel of America. Todd has earned his Super Lawyer rating for 8 years in a row, beginning in 2012, for his work in State, Local & Municipal Law, Employment Litigation: Defense, and Professional Liability: Defense.
John T. McLandrich is a partner and Chairman of the Board. John’s practice focuses on the representation of municipalities, including defending cases on behalf of police and public entities accused of violations of civil rights and in employment matters. For over 30 years he has handled matters including claims of jail suicide, police pursuit, false arrest, excessive force by police officers, and failure to properly train police officers. He has represented civil defendants in federal and state courts throughout Ohio, serving as lead trial counsel. He has represented clients in class action matters, including municipalities relating to class action sewer cases. His appellate experience consists of handling and arguing matters before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, where he has argued over 100 cases, as well as hundreds of cases before many of Ohio’s Courts of Appeal, including the Ohio Supreme Court, where he has won eight favorable decisions. John earned his Super Lawyer rating for his work in Appellate Law, State, Local & Municipal Law, and Civil Rights Law.
Frank H. Scialdone is a partner in the firm’s Cleveland office and focuses his practice on appellate advocacy in state and federal courts with an emphasis on employment law, constitutional torts (Section 1983), public entity defense, and insurance defense. He has handled more than 200 appellate cases in the Ohio Supreme Court, Ohio’s intermediate appellate district courts, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He routinely consults with trial attorneys on error preservation and pre-appeal strategy. Frank has prosecuted and defended original actions (e.g., mandamus, prohibition, etc.) and has submitted amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs on behalf of clients and organizations. He is one of the first attorneys to be certified as a specialist in appellate law by the Ohio State Bar Association. Frank has earned his 2019 Super Lawyer rating for his work in Appellate Law.
Jeffrey Kay is a partner in the firm’s Cleveland office and focuses his practice on civil rights and governmental liability, business and commercial law, and appellate law, with a concentration on civil litigation defense. He represents insurance companies/risk pools and their insureds with respect to both first and third-party claims, including employment discrimination, professional liability, municipal liability, automobile negligence claims, general commercial matters, bad faith claims, uninsured/underinsured claims, products liability, wrongful death claims, commercial premises liability claims, and property and casualty claims. He also has significant experience counseling clients in insurance coverage matters, including the securing of declaratory judgments on policy interpretations. Mr. Kay has successfully handled cases before state and federal administrative agencies, with a focus on representing clients before the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) and the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC). He has achieved success on behalf of his clients before state and federal appellate courts, having successfully argued cases before most of the Ohio Appellate Circuit Courts.
Tami Zupkow Hannon is a partner in the firm’s Cleveland office and is a listed Rising Star in State, Local & Municipal Law, Employment Litigation: Defense, and Civil Litigation: Defense. She focuses her practice on defending governmental entities, their employees and elected and appointed officials, particularly those in law enforcement and corrections. Tami also practices extensively in the field of employment law, providing personalized and comprehensive guidance to address not only the direct employment issue at hand but also the larger civil liability context. In addition to providing guidance during the critical decision making process, Ms. Hannon assists in later defending decisions should they be challenged before the courts or an administrative agency. She also provides timely and personalized training in various employment matters, and has experience under the ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, Title VII, and their state-law counterparts.
Cara M. Wright, a Columbus associate, represents counties, municipalities, and their employees in a variety of cases, including claims related to alleged violations of the United States Constitution, violations of Ohio’s public record laws, and state law tort claims. She has successfully defended clients in cases involving the use of deadly force, jail suicides, and claims that inmates were provided inadequate medical care while incarcerated in county jails. Cara also represents public and private employers in cases alleging employment discrimination. Additionally, her experience includes representing professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, behavioral health specialists, accountants and attorneys, in claims of professional negligence. In addition to her representation of clients in state and federal court, she has also appeared in cases before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Cara earned the designation of Rising Star for State, Local & Municipal Law.
Doug Holthus, Administrative Partner for the firm’s Columbus office, is listed as a Super Lawyer for his work in Civil Litigation: Defense, Employment Litigation: Defense, Construction Litigation, and Civil Rights Law. His primary areas of focus are professional negligence defense, employment, civil rights and government liability, construction claims litigation and general liability matters. He has tried, advocated and or arbitrated nearly one hundred cases before civil juries, administrative licensing (and other) boards and arbitration panels in Ohio, Illinois and California, in both state and federal court. Among other professional and civic activities, Doug is actively involved as a volunteer for The Miracle League of Central Ohio, serves as a coach/advisor for the Bishop Watterson High School / Ohio High School Mock Trial Teams, is a Columbus Bar Foundation Fellow, is past-Chair of the Columbus Bar Association’s Professionalism Committee, and previously served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Professional Liability Defense Federation.
Paul-Michael La Fayette is a partner in the firm’s Columbus office andconcentrates his practice on professional liability defense, including the defense of dentists, physicians, real estate agents and attorneys. He represents professionals in administrative licensure proceedings before their professional Boards. In addition to professional liability, Paul regularly represents governmental entities in litigation and as general counsel. He has extensive experience in representing clients in lawsuits involving professional malpractice, premises liability, contracts, employment, construction, civil rights, zoning, wrongful death and products liability.
Stacy V. Pollock, a partner in the firm’s Columbus office, focuses her practice on employment and labor law. She is a certified specialist in Labor and Employment and is a certified Professional in Human Resources. She advises public and private employers in matters involving leave and discipline issues, personnel policy matters, and labor negotiations and arbitrations. She has experience representing clients before various governmental administrative agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the State Personnel Board of Review, the State Employment Relations Board, and the Ohio Department of Education. Stacy also has considerable experience in education law, representing schools and school administrators in matters involving employee and student discipline.
Super Lawyers and Rising Stars have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. For more information about Super Lawyers, visit SuperLawyers.com.
On October 9, 2018, The Ohio Supreme Court issued its anticipated Decision in Ohio Northern University v. Charles Construction Services, Inc., et al., Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-4057 holding that a subcontractor’s faulty work is not an “occurrence” under a commercial general liability (“CGL”) policy. The Court determined that in the commercial construction setting, an insurer underwriting and issuing CGL coverage is not required to defend or indemnify its policyholder or any named insured against claims for property damage caused by a subcontractor’s faulty workmanship.
In reaching this Decision, the Court re-visited its 2012 holding in Westfield Inc. Co. v. Custom Agri Sys., Inc. In this earlier case, Custom Agri, as a subcontractor, had allegedly faultily constructed a steel grain storage bin. Custom Agri was an insured under a CGL policy issued to it by Westfield Insurance which covered property damage caused by an “occurrence.” Westfield Inc. Co. v. Custom Agri Sys., Inc., 133 Ohio St.3d 476, 2012-Ohio-4712, 979 N.E.2d 269 at ¶ 3.At the trial court level, Westfield intervened, seeking declaratory judgment and a determination that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Custom Agri, inasmuch as all claims were related to Custom Agri’s own work and did not involve “property damage” caused by an “occurrence”, as those terms were defined within the Westfield policy. Ohio N. Univ. v. Charles Constr. Servs., Inc., Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-4057 at ¶¶ 13-15, citing Westfield Inc. Co. v. Custom Agri Sys., Inc., 133 Ohio St.3d 476, 2012-Ohio-4712, 979 N.E.2d 269.
The Ohio Supreme Court ultimately decided that the Westfield’s policy definition of “occurrence” as being an “accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions” did not include property damage caused by the insured contractor’s own faulty work. Ohio N. Univ. v. Charles Constr. Servs., Inc., Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-4057, citing Westfield Inc. Co. v. Custom Agri Sys., Inc., 133 Ohio St.3d 476, 2012-Ohio-4712, 979 N.E.2d 269 at ¶¶ 11-14. The Court reasoned that because an “accident” inherently involves fortuity, and faulty work is not fortuitous, there was no coverage under the Westfield CGL policy related to claims for property damage caused by faulty work. Id. at ¶ 18.
While Custom Agri Sys. was a subcontractor and its policy may have included a products-completed operations-hazard (“PCOH”) clause as well as a subcontractor clause, the Court determined that these separate provisions were not addressed directly. Now, and in its most recent Decision on the issue, the Ohio Supreme Court has directly addressed the effect of PCOH and subcontractor clauses. Id. at ¶ 19.
In Ohio Northern University v. Charles Construction Services, Inc., et al., Ohio Northern University contracted with Charles Construction Services, Inc. to construct the University Inn and Conference Center. The contract required Charles Construction to maintain a CGL policy that included a PCOH clause. Charles Constr. at ¶ 4. Charles Construction obtained a CGL policy with both a PCOH clause as well as a subcontractor clause from Cincinnati Insurance Company. The policy included terms specific to work performed by subcontractors. Charles Construction paid an additional premium for the PCOH coverage. Id. at ¶ 5.
After work was completed, Ohio Northern University discovered water damage from leaks believed to be caused by defective work of Charles Construction and its subcontractors. Ohio Northern University filed suit, and Charles Construction answered and filed third-party complaints against its subcontractors. Charles Construction submitted its claim to Cincinnati Insurance Company and asked that it defend and indemnify Charles Construction. In response, Cincinnati Insurance Company intervened at the trial court level, seeking declaratory judgment and a determination that it was not obligated to either defend or indemnify Charles Construction, due to the earlier Decision in Custom Agri. Id. at ¶¶ 7-8.
The particular PCOH clausecovered property damage “occurring away from premises you own or rent and arising out of *** ‘your work’ except *** work that has not yet been completed or abandoned”. Charles Constr. at ¶ 24. It further excluded coverage for property damage to the policyholder’s work arising out of it or any part of it. However the Court specifically stated the exclusion did not apply if the damaged work was performed by a subcontractor. Id. at ¶ 26.
“The language within the Coverage A portion of the CGL policy is critical to the policy’s overall effect. It states that CIC agrees to pay for property damage under certain circumstances. But the damage must be due to an “occurrence,” which the policy defines as “an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions.” Again, there is no question that the water-related damage to the inn was “property damage” and was discovered after the work had been completed. But unless there was an “occurrence,” the PCOH and subcontractor language has no effect, despite the fact that Charles Construction paid additional money for it.
Ohio N. Univ. v. Charles Constr. Servs., Inc., Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-4057 at ¶¶ 28-29, citing Westfield Inc. Co. v. Custom Agri Sys., Inc., 133 Ohio St.3d 476, 2012-Ohio-4712, 979 N.E.2d 269.
The Court acknowledged its decision to be contrary to recent decisions of other courts, and cited its duty to look to the plain and ordinary meaning of the language in the CGL policy to find the intent of the parties. Id. at ¶ 32.
Contractor and subcontractors should revisit their current insurance risk plans and coverages, and work directly with their respective brokers, agents and insurers to determine the current status of their risk coverages.
We also recommend those contractors that are either anticipating or presently involved in pending litigation reach out to their insurers, agents and/or brokers, immediately, for further guidance.
For more information on Ohio Northern University v. Charles Construction Services, contact Chenee Castruita at 614.324.1039 or via email at ccastruita@mrrlaw.com.
Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder (MRR) is proud to once again sponsor the Kentucky League of Cities (KLC) “City Employee of the Year Award” which brings recognition to an exceptional city employee who performs at a distinguished level to improve his or her local government and community. KLC represents more than 20,000 municipal employees.
MRR Lexington’s Administrative Partner, Barry Miller, presented Hopkinsville Police Chief Clayton Sumner with the honor on September 18, 2018 during the KLC Conference & Expo.
By sponsoring this award, MRR will provide a $1,000 donation to Hopkinsville/Christian County Boys and Girls Clubs in honor of Chief Sumner.
To view the official KLC press release, click here.

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