Welcome to the D&B Blog

Workers Comp for Work-at-Home Injuries

18 Mar 2019

Work-at-Home Injuries: Who Pays the Bills? In a modern, technology-driven world, “workplace” doesn’t necessarily mean what it once did. An increasing number of workers operate from somewhere other than a desk or workstation on the employer’s premises. That new flexibility...

Sillouette of Woman Praying - Sanctuary Church

Woman Leaves Ohio Sanctuary Church a Legal Resident

14 Mar 2019

In January, a Mexican woman who had been residing in a Columbus, Ohio sanctuary church for months left the building as a legal resident. The woman, being called Angelica in the press to protect her identity, was the first person...

What is Wrongful Termination Under Ohio Law?

11 Mar 2019

“Wrongful termination” refers to the unlawful termination of an employee. While a wrongful termination suit may be based on any one of many different possible legal violations, it is important to note that not every unfair termination is grounds for...

Employment Law: Understanding the FMLA

07 Mar 2019

By Kristen M. Kraus Partner Many people feel that it is illegal to terminate an employee who missed work due to illness. While this may be true some of the time, it is not always the case. Only those employees...

Personal Bankruptcy Basics: The Homestead Exemption

04 Mar 2019

When clients who are struggling financially approach the personal bankruptcy lawyers at Dworken & Bernstein, one of the questions they often ask is: “If I file for personal bankruptcy protection, can I keep my home?” For a great number of...

Major Life Events and Estate Planning

27 Feb 2019

As estate planning lawyers, whenever someone asks us “do I need a will?”, our answer is almost always “yes.” In fact, in our experience by the time someone asks us the question, starting an estate plan is long overdue. In...

Ohio Becomes Latest State to Allow Electronic Notarization

18 Feb 2019

By Joshua J. Strickland Associate The Ohio Notary Public Modernization Act What You Need to Know At the end of 2018, Ohio enacted Senate Bill 263, the Ohio Notary Public Modernization Act which authorized online or electronic notarizations and made sweeping...

Leveraging Ohio’s Bad Check Laws to Your Advantage

14 Feb 2019

The Non-Criminal Approach to Bounced Checks By Erik L. Walter – Partner Nothing is worse than having a customer make a payment for goods or services only to find out that the check issued has insufficient funds and “bounces.” ...

Dog Bite Injuries and Liability in Ohio

11 Feb 2019

Dog bite injuries are surprisingly common, in Ohio and around the country. Many of the approximately 4.5 million dog bites suffered in the U.S. each year are relatively minor. However, hundreds of thousands of people are treated for dog bites...

misclassification of employees as independent contractors

Independent Contractors & Workers’ Comp Benefits in Ohio

07 Feb 2019

Can Independent Contractors in Ohio Get Workers’ Compensation Benefits? The short answer is “DEPENDS”—the Ohio workers’ compensation system protects employees who are injured or contract illnesses on the job. An “employee” under Ohio Workers’ Compensation law is a term...

Immigration hearings delayed by Govt shutdown

Government Shutdown Delays Immigration Hearings

03 Feb 2019

The federal government shutdown impacts citizens, businesses, and state and local governments in many ways. Federal workers are furloughed or working without pay, national parks are unattended and deteriorating, food safety inspections have been suspended, and many government services are...

Ohio ‘Use Tax’ and the Cincinnati Reds Bobbleheads

29 Jan 2019

By Jodi Littman Tomaszewski Partner “. . . And This One Belongs to the Reds.” While the Cincinnati Reds may not have won many games on the field this year, they did hit a home run with the Supreme Court...

Employment Law – Overtime Compensation

22 Jan 2019

By Kristen M. Kraus – Partner Perhaps one of the most confusing and complex areas of employment law deals with the payment of overtime. Most attorneys and even lay people understand that an employer is required to pay an employee...

Exemptions to ‘The American Rule’ in Ohio

10 Jan 2019

Obtaining a Judgment for Attorneys’ Fees for Prosecuting Claims and Defending Counterclaims By Jo A. Tatarko, Esq. Under ‘The American Rule’, litigants in most civil cases cannot recover their attorneys’ fees. However, there are exceptions. A party can seek to recover...

The Intersection of Divorce and Business in Ohio

27 Dec 2018

Running a business with your spouse or as a family may seem ideal when your relationship is healthy. But, when the relationship breaks down, sharing ownership of and responsibility for a business can be a minefield of emotional, professional, and...

tree cutting / tree trimming in Ohio law

To Cut or Not to Cut: That is the Question.

24 Dec 2018

By Erik L Walter – Partner Legal Aspects to Consider Before Cutting Trees While trees may be the most prized possession on someone’s land, they can also be one of the largest nuisances to others. Issues include falling leaves, falling...

Is Debt Settlement a Good Alternative to Bankruptcy?

20 Dec 2018

Nobody relishes the idea of filing for bankruptcy, so it’s no surprise that many people struggling with debt are eager to find a viable alternative. Unfortunately, people in difficult circumstances don’t always make a thorough, objective assessment when an option...

Unexpected Complications for Families of Undocumented Immigrants

17 Dec 2018

The challenges faced by undocumented immigrants in Ohio and around the country are well known: the inability to work legally, predatory employers who pay below-minimum-wage rates to workers with few options, lack of access to public benefits, and more. But,...

Workers Across Industries at Risk for Back Injury

13 Dec 2018

We think of work-related back injury in connection with jobs that require heavy lifting or labor, but the truth is that employees across a wide range of injuries and performing a wide range of jobs suffer work-related back injuries. The...

Worried about workers’ compensation benefits due to company insolvency

What Happens to My Workers’ Compensation Benefits if My Employer Shuts Down?

10 Dec 2018

A company shutdown can be jarring and disruptive for any employee, but most are free to file for unemployment compensation and begin a new job search. The prospect of an employer going out of business may be particularly alarming for...

Ohio Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits and Accrued Compensation

06 Dec 2018

Fortunately, fatal on-the-job injuries are relatively rare in Ohio. In the fiscal year 2017, just 155 of 97,931 claims filed with the state workers’ compensation fund involved a death. When an employee is killed at work or dies as the...

Suing for Unpaid Fees for Services Rendered

04 Dec 2018

By Juliana Timko Tindall – Associate Understanding the Process of Suing for Unpaid Fees for Services Rendered For the sake of making things easy, let’s say you are the owner of a landscaping company and someone hires you to do...

The Most Common Work Injuries May Surprise You

03 Dec 2018

When you think of work injuries, you probably picture something sudden and dramatic: a fall from a construction scaffold, a hand caught in a piece of machinery or a chemical burn. While all of those injuries can and do occur...

Employment Law Overview

28 Nov 2018

By Kristen M. Kraus – Partner Employment Law Considerations If you have ever reviewed a severance agreement on behalf of an employee, you have likely come across a series of acronyms like ADEA, ADA, ADAA, GINA, FMLA, WARN, OWBPA and...

Review of RBG: An Homage to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Legal Career

12 Nov 2018

By Jo A. Tatarko, Esq. I am a big fan of films about lawyers, such as To Kill A Mockingbird, Philadelphia, and My Cousin Vinny. But, RBG is in a category of its own. RBG is an homage to Ruth Bader...

The Cost of a Name: Common Trademark Pitfalls for Businesses

22 Oct 2018

By Steven Howard Roth Starting a business is often an exciting and fulfilling endeavor. Perhaps you came up with an amazing new, innovative or revolutionary product or service that you’re absolutely sure will be a huge success, or you’re simply acquiring...

The Little-Known “Parole in Place” Immigration Option

18 Oct 2018

Ohio Family’s Plight Spotlights Little-Known “Parole in Place” Immigration Option Ohio resident Juan Carlos Moncada is facing deportation proceedings, but that probably could have been avoided if the family had been aware of legal provisions intended to help the families...