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It is December in Ohio, and naturally the snow is starting to fall. Many homeowners, myself included, are thinking to themselves “do I really need to shovel the sidewalk”? As you can imagine, this issue has been litigated and surprisingly the Supreme Court of Ohio has dealt with this issue head on.
In Brinkman v. Ross, 1993-Ohio-72, (1993) the Court held “that a homeowner has no common-law duty to remove or make less hazardous a natural accumulation of ice and snow on private sidewalks or walkways on the homeowner's premises, or to warn those who enter upon the premises of the inherent dangers presented by natural accumulations of ice and snow.” There is actually an impetus here not to shovel- note the use of the term “natural accumulation.” Arguably, if you shovel you might create an unnatural accumulation that could open you up to a negligence claim. In plain English, if you don’t shovel at all and someone falls on your property, you are probably not going to be found negligent for the fall. However, in the court of public opinion, your neighbors are probably going to think you're a jerk. There is a caveat here- depending on where you live, your city might have an ordinance requiring you to shovel and if you don’t, then you might get a fine. You’ve got to love the law. This information is intended to provide broad, general information about the law and is not intended to be legal advice. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from a licensed attorney. It is not often that you put together the words “Walmart” and “Good” with employee relations; however, a recent company policy appears to bring those two words together. Walmart, the largest public employer in the United States, recently announced the implementation of an app to allows its workers the ability to access a portion of their wages for hours they have already worked prior to payday. The ramifications of this change are huge because this policy will prevent many of employees from having to take “Payday Loans” and other debt traps to pay for essentials such as housing and food.
Payday Loans, and their astronomical annual percentage rates, hit Ohioans especially hard. The Pew Charitable Trusts published a 2016 Fact Sheet (available here www.pewtrusts.org) that provides that Ohio has the highest Payday Loan prices in the United States with an average annual percentage rate of 591%. Yes, that is not a typo. To discuss employment or consumer protection issues, contact Jesse Bowman at the law office of Alexander, Webb & Kinman (513-228-1100). Along with a Living Will, another important document that should be part of your estate plan is a Health Care Power of Attorney. This document allows you to name another person (your agent) to make health care decisions for you. This document becomes effective only when your attending physician determines that you have lost the capacity to make informed health care decisions. Lack of capacity (or “incapacity”) should not be confused with “incompetency” which requires a judicial determination. While incapacity is required to make health care decisions on your behalf, a Health Care Power of Attorney also allows you to grant authority to your agent to obtain your protected health care information immediately upon executing the document and at any future time.
This document is important because it allows you to name a person that you trust and understands your wishes to make health care decisions on your behalf. Such wishes include your personal and religious values which are unclouded by personal feelings or influence from family and friends. This document provides you with a voice for critical decisions when you are unable to advocate on your own behalf. To discuss creating a Healthcare Power of Attorney, contact Jesse Bowman at the law office of Alexander, Webb & Kinman (513-228-1100). This information is intended to provide broad, general information about the law and is not intended to be legal advice. Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from a licensed attorney. |
Authors
Attorneys Jesse Bowman; Max Kinman; Chris Alexander: David Wagner Archives
February 2020
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