Ohio Car Accident Lawyers

When information and facts surrounding a case are difficult to obtain, a person claiming to have a cause of action, or a person against whom a cause of action has been filed, may bring an action for discovery under Ohio Revised Code §2317.48. A discovery action allows such party to explore the strengths of the complaint or defense without subjecting the party to the potential penalties associated with frivolous lawsuits. When a person claiming to have a cause of action or a defense to an action commenced against him, without the discovery of a fact from the adverse party, is unable to file his complaint or answer, he may bring an action for discovery, setting forth in his complaint in the action for discovery the necessity and the grounds for the action, with any interrogatories relating to the subject matter of the discovery that are necessary to procure the discovery sought. Unless a motion to dismiss the action is filed under Civil Rule 12, the complaint shall be fully and directly answered under oath by the defendant. Upon the final disposition of the action, the costs of the action shall be taxed in the manner the court deems equitable.

Declaratory Judgments under Ohio Revised Code §2721.01 – This chapter allows parties to file suit to have the court determine the validity of a contract and/or the rights of the parties under the contract. This is the most effective tool for resolving disputes on the availability or amount of insurance coverage available. Effective September 24, 1999, however, a plaintiff who is not an insured under a policy cannot bring a declaratory judgment action against a third party’s insurer to determine if coverage is available for a claim until or unless a final judgment has been placed of record awarding the plaintiff damages against the insured. Thus, this tool is confined to first party claims – i.e. uninsured/underinsured, medical payments, homeowner’s claims, etc. 

Rule 26 of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure explains that It is the policy of these rules to preserve the right of attorneys to prepare cases for trial with that degree of privacy necessary to encourage them to prepare their cases thoroughly and to investigate not only the favorable but the unfavorable aspects of such cases. Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit. Information within this scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence to be discoverable.

Rule 26(B)2 states clearly that, “A party may obtain discovery of the existence and contents of any insurance agreement under which any person carrying on an insurance business may be liable to satisfy part or all of a judgment which may be entered in the action or to indemnify or reimburse for payments made to satisfy the judgment. Information concerning the insurance agreement is not by reason of disclosure subject to comment or admissible in evidence at trial.” To underscore this, Rule 26(3) states that without being served a discovery request, the parties must disclose for inspection and copying as under Civ. R. 34, any insurance agreement under which an insurance business may be liable to satisfy all or part of a possible judgment in the action or to indemnify or reimburse for payments made to satisfy the judgmen