For decades, Ohio has had an unusual (and controversial) precedent that has allowed its citizens to make legal challenges without having to demonstrate that they have themselves been harmed by the situation they are litigating against. Back in 1999, it was established in State ex rel. Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers v. Sheward, 1999-Ohio-123. Slip Opinion No. 2024-Ohio-5667, that citizens may litigate issues of public importance without they themselves directly having been party to any harm done by the situation. This has been known as the “public right” exception.
Under this “public right” exception, Ohio citizens have brought (and attempted to bring) lawsuits about issues that they see as potentially damaging to other citizens now or in the future, whether or not they themselves can be counted among those who could potentially be harmed. It has allowed the courts in Ohio to consider the potential impact of policies and actions before harm has been done, or while harm is being done to others with concern to the public interest.
In December, after hearing an appeal from an Ohio citizen who brought a tax case to the court under this “public right” exception, the Ohio Supreme Court decided that the citizen did not have legal standing, thereby effectively nullifying this exception going forward.
This brings Ohio in line with other US States (and, in fact, most places in the world) which require that a person or entity must have been harmed by an action or practice in order to file a lawsuit related to that action or practice. In other words, just because something might seem wrong, or incorrect, might be causing harm to someone else, or might have the potential to cause future harm, does not mean that you can file a lawsuit regarding it.
How Does this Affect Ohio Citizens?
In most cases, it doesn’t. Most Ohio citizens were probably not aware of this precedent and its subsequent legal exceptions, so it won’t matter to most people that this has now been overturned. Importantly, this does nothing to reduce your ability to file a lawsuit in the case of actual harm done to you by another party – this precedent specifically related to cases where NO demonstrable harm had been done. If you or someone in your family has suffered an injury or other damages due to the negligence of others, you still have all of the same rights to seek compensation in those cases (whether they be from car accidents, workers compensation claims, dog bites, or any other type of injury or damages).
What changes since this precedent has now been overturned is that you aren’t able to bring a lawsuit against a situation just because you can foresee that it could be problematic, or that you can see or imagine that someone else might be harmed by it – you, yourself, have to demonstrate injury or harm (and if you have been injured by the actions or negligence of others, you can, as always contact a personal injury lawyer to learn more about your rights).
What To Do if You Have Been Injured or Harmed
The overturning of the Sheward precedent will not impact your ability to seek compensation for physical injury or material damages in Ohio. If you are located here in Cincinnati, and you or your family are in need of advice or representation regarding legal matters, especially personal injury, workers compensation or auto accident injuries, give us a call here at Clements, Taylor, Butkovich & Cohen LPA. We can advise you on your rights and on how to best proceed from a legal perspective.