Your lawyer can choose between where the accident happened and where the other driver lives.
That’s the short answer in Ohio, anyway. There can be exceptions.
As a general rule, a lawsuit can only be filed where the accident happened or where the person who caused the injury lives. So if your car accident happened in Clermont County, Ohio and the other driver lives in Clermont County, with a few exceptions, the lawsuit must be filed in Clermont County, Ohio.
Here’s one exception. If the other driver was driving somewhere for his employer when the accident happened, you probably want to sue the employer too. You can sue the employer where it does business if that business led to the accident.
Here’s another exception. If you and the other driver are from different states, you might want to sue in the Federal District Court where the other driver’s from, or where the accident happened.
This is something that lawyers spend a lot of time thinking about, because there is often a choice as to where to file the lawsuit.
A few years ago I sued a county sheriff when his deputy hurt my client, without justification. The injury happened, of course, in the sheriff’s county.
I like and trust the judges in the sheriff’s county – but I worried that they might feel political pressure to rule in favor of the sheriff if a key issue came up.
But a sheriff’s or a police officer’s intentional violation of a person’s rights violates federal law – so one choice was to file suit in United States District Court in Cincinnati. This was a third exception!
Guess where I filed the lawsuit.
The U.S. District Court Judge was very fair, and I think he told the other side that he would not throw out my lawsuit.
The case settled, and my client was happy.
I have also filed lawsuits in federal court for auto accidents, for truck accidents, to get money from an insurance company for copyright violations and for stealing business secrets.
I have been a lawyer over 30 years. I file every lawsuit where I think I can get the most money for my client. If you have a personal injury case in Cincinnati, Ohio or if you want to know the best place to file the lawsuit, talk with an experienced Cincinnati Injury Attorney about the case. Call me, William Strubbe, at 513-621-4775.
Because all situations are different, and because there may be other facts pertaining to your case that I don’t know about, you should not rely on this answer for legal advice. I am not your attorney, and no lawyer client relationship has been formed.
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