Inquiring Minds Want to Know

We received a good question from a community member and as many of you are interested in this topic, we figured we'd share the answer with everyone! The LC Site (formally UMCH Site) lawsuit has made some progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done before there is a resolution to this case. BWF will be following this case closely and welcome any questions you may have.

Question submitted to BWF:

Hello, do you know what is going to happen now that a ruling in the case has happened? See the ruling here. Looks like the City wins on all counts except the takings claims. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/ohio/ohsdce/2:2022cv01775/267161/37/

Response & Update:

Thanks, this is a really good question. The answer is yes and no, as with many things legal.

First, the easy part - it's always difficult to predict which way a judge will rule based on a case that hasn't been litigated yet. So, if the question is "Did the city win or lose?" then the answer is we don't know yet, and we won't even be able to speculate until the case goes through more procedural steps.

However, we do know exactly what those steps are. First, for understanding, as you note a number of LC's claims have been dismissed. There are two claims remaining: as you point out, the partial takings claim; and then a claim under the Ohio Constitution's Article I, Section 19, which is the Ohio Constitution's Takings Clause (this is first mentioned in a footnote, note 9, on page 22). So those two issues will be the ones litigated in the coming months.

Before that, though, the parties must undergo court-ordered mediation (a standard step for cases like this). That was just recently scheduled and will occur on May 16th. If the parties settle the case at that point we're done - no further litigation is needed. But if they do not, we'll be following the court's current schedule (always subject to modification).

Currently, the schedule looks like this:

· May 16 - mediation, as noted above

· June 1 - deadline to amend pleadings or join additional parties

· June 15 - primary expert report

· August 1 - rebuttal expert report

· September 15 - close of discovery

· October 16 - dispositive motion deadline

Hopefully, that helps answer your question! Let us know if you have follow-ups and we'll do our best to help answer.