Parrish v. Jones

The Ohio Supreme Court recently decided a case that clarifies the law regarding will contest and probate litigation cases.

The court ruled that a judge cannot dismiss a case after the opening statement of the plaintiff unless the plaintiff’s opening statement indicates that the plaintiff cannot prove his case. This seems like it should not be a problem, but until now, if the plaintiff did not recite every important nuance of the case in an opening statement, an aggressive judge could dismiss the case without any evidence ever being presented. Now, such aggressive judges are being reeled in by the Ohio Supreme Court and a reasonable standard has been set that should let the evidence speak for the merits of the case, instead of how long and detailed an opening statement the plaintiff’s attorney gave. See, Parrish v. Jones 138 Ohio St. 3d 23, published March 3, 2014.