Our cases in the news

Newburgh Heights Mayor Trevor Elkins and four Newburgh Heights village councilpeople have filed a scorching lawsuit against News Channel 5. They allege that a November story by reporter Jonathan Walsh was false and defamatory.

A complaint filed Thursday morning in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas contends that the story, and the defamation therein, represents a “calculated and perverse political smear” against Elkins, a rising star in the County Democratic Party.

AKRON, Ohio – A Summit County judge on Monday issued a ruling that lifted a gag order and granted access to court lawsuit that accuses the personal-injury firm Kisling, Nestico and Redick of defrauding clients.

The Ohio Supreme Court has sided with referendum backers in the Quicken Loans Arena renovation deal case, ruling that City Council Clerk Pat Britt had no authority to reject 20,000+ signatures that sought a referendum on the city of Cleveland’s legislation related to the deal.

In what attorneys are calling a victory for state policies against child abuse and a vindication for the First Amendment, Ohio’s Eighth District Court of Appeals upheld the trial victory of a former student and former employee of the Chagrin Falls-based English Nanny & Governess School.

Alternative weekly newspaper Cleveland Scene has settled a First Amendment lawsuit it brought last month against the Downtown Cleveland Alliance over the removal of 26 of its distribution boxes in the city’s main business district.

Former clients of personal injury law firm Kisling, Nestico and Redick have sued, alleging the firm took kickbacks from other companies and charged clients for investigations that never happened.

AKRON, Ohio – A lawsuit seeking class-action status in Summit County accuses personal-injury law firm Kisling, Nestico and Redick (KNR) of defrauding clients injured in car accidents by receiving kickbacks from chiropractors.

The suit is filed on behalf of former KNR clients Member Williams, Naomi Wright and Matthew Johnson, the complaint in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. It accuses the law firm—known for its “Hurt in a car…Call KNR!” ads—and owners, Alberto Nestico and Robert Redick, of working with chiropractors who cold-called people “in the wake of painful car accidents when the clients are at their most vulnerable,” offering free transportation to a chiropractic clinic.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) has paid a $45,000 settlement to a Lakewood woman who accused an RTA police officer of using excessive force in a wrongful 2015 arrest.

The day after the end of the N.B.A. finals, I walked into the Cleveland office of Peter Pattakos. An ebullient lawyer, a sports fan and an Akron native, he helped lead the battle against the sin-tax extension. Ask a question, and he’s off at a sprint. …

A jury in the case against the English Nanny and Governess school found for the plaintiffs this week, awarding $392,750 plus attorneys’ fees for Christina Cruz and Heidi Kaiser ($150,000 compensatory and $168,750 punitive for Cruz, and $20,000 compensatory and $54,000 punitive for Kaiser).