Today the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a utility company could not shut off gas service to a 240-unit apartment complex to force the owner of the complex to retrofit the ventilation systems at the units.

The Bankruptcy Code mandates certain disclosure obligations upon bankruptcy debtors as part of the price they pay for receiving the benefit of a bankruptcy discharge. Included in these disclosure obligations which must be listed on the debtor’s schedule of assets is any pending or potential litigation of the debtor.

Blue-chip stocks can be attractive collateral for a loan because these securities are liquid and the company whose stocks are pledged has generally enjoyed consistent growth and earnings.

It happens often. A company spends years and a small fortune on attorney fees battling an adversary in a commercial dispute and finally – at last – a compromise is reached. The war is over! But wait. The issue of documenting the parties’ resolution remains. The documentation of the settlement of a commercial dispute is too often an afterthought. It shouldn’t be.

On December 1, 2011, an Ohio Court of Appeals concluded that a party lost its right to arbitrate a dispute when that party first attempted to assert that right more than a year after litigation concerning the dispute began. The Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals’ decision in Ohio Bell Telephone Co. v. Central Transport, Inc., 2011-Ohio-6161 emphasizes that a party to a lawsuit desiring enforcement an arbitration clause should raise its right to arbitrate early, often and clearly because failure to do so may result in a waiver of that right.

Kentucky and Ohio courts follow the “American Rule” under which a prevailing litigant may not recover its attorney fees from the losing party. However, both states recognize two major exceptions. First, a party may recoup its attorney fees if provided for by the terms of the contract or negotiable instrument that is the subject of the lawsuit. Second, numerous federal and state attorney fee-shifting statutes entitle victorious parties to such collection.

Unless a written contract provides otherwise, the interest rate applicable to a money judgment issued by an Ohio court accrues at a rate determined annually by the Ohio Tax Commissioner. On October 14, 2011, the Tax Commissioner announced that the interest rate applicable to judgments issued in 2012 will be three percent (3%), annually.