Ohio · Slip and fall · Updated
Slip and fall cases in Ohio: the rules and the lawyers
The deadline to file, the fault rule and the other Ohio rules that matter for a slip and fall case, each with the law it comes from. This is general information, not advice about your case.
We don’t list firms in Ohio that take slip and fall cases yet.
At a glance
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · Not legal advice
If you were partly at fault
Barred above 50%
In Ohio, if you are found more than 50% at fault, you generally can’t recover. If not, what you get is cut by your share2.
Firms we list
0 firms
None yet for slip and fall cases.
Know this first
Step 1: Two years to file in court
2 years(1 for medical mistakes)
In Ohio, most injury lawsuits must be filed in court within two years1. The clock usually starts on the day you were hurt. The law says the claim begins “when the injury or loss to person or property occurs”1.
Some illnesses from exposure work differently. Examples are asbestos, toxic chemicals, and some drugs and medical devices. For those, the clock starts when a doctor tells you the illness is linked to the exposure. If you should have known sooner, it starts then1.
If someone died, a claim for the death must be filed within two years after the death3. The person in charge of their estate brings it, for the family3. Wrongful death: the basics explains these claims.
The list of Ohio deadlines below gives the exceptions with the statute text.
The law, as written
Some claims have different or shorter deadlines. Ask any firm you call which one applies to you.
Personal injury2 years
In Ohio, “an action for bodily injury or injuring personal property shall be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues”1. Except for the exposure claims listed in the statute, the claim accrues “when the injury or loss to person or property occurs”1.
More detail
For bodily injury from exposure to hazardous or toxic chemicals, ethical drugs or medical devices, chromium, defoliants, DES or asbestos, the Ohio claim accrues when the plaintiff is informed by competent medical authority of the related injury, or should have known of it with reasonable diligence, whichever comes first1. Product liability claims are also subject to a ten-year statute of repose with exceptions1.
Wrongful death2 years from death
In Ohio, “a civil action for wrongful death shall be commenced within two years after the decedent's death”3. The action is brought in the name of the decedent's personal representative3.
More detail
Wrongful-death claims involving a product liability claim have their own repose and accrual rules3.
If the state, a city, a county or a school district was involved
Step 2: Claims against the state or a city
- The State of Ohio: 2 years, and a step firstClaims against the state go to the Court of Claims. They must be filed within two years, or a shorter period if one applies4.
Suing the state can rule out suing its worker
Filing in the Court of Claims usually gives up any claim against the state worker for the same act. There are exceptions, for example if the worker acted out of malice or recklessly5. Ask a lawyer before you file.
The law, as written
Claims against political subdivisions2 years; no statutory notice of claim
In Ohio, an action against a political subdivision for injury, death or loss to person or property “shall be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues, or within any applicable shorter period of time for bringing the action provided by the Revised Code”6. That period is tolled under the minority and unsound-mind statute6.
More detail
R.C. 2744.04 sets no pre-suit notice-of-claim requirement. It does require that the complaint demand judgment for the damages the trier of fact finds but “not specify in that demand any monetary amount for damages sought”6.
Claims against the state (Court of Claims)2 years
In Ohio, civil actions against the state in the Court of Claims “shall be commenced no later than two years after the date of accrual of the cause of action or within any shorter period that is applicable to similar suits between private parties”4. The period is tolled under R.C. 2305.164.
More detail
For injury, death or loss “contemplated in sections 9.821 to 9.83 of the Revised Code”, the claimant must first attempt to have the claim compromised by the office of risk management or satisfied by the state's liability insurance, and no action may be filed in the Court of Claims until that is done4. The time from submission of the claim until compromise, satisfaction or the state's written notice is not counted against the limitations period4.
Filing in the Court of Claims “results in a complete waiver of any cause of action, based on the same act or omission, that the filing party has against any officer or employee”, unless the court finds the conduct manifestly outside the scope of employment or malicious, in bad faith, or wanton or reckless5.
Good to know
Step 3: If you were partly at fault
In Ohio, your damages (the money for your harm) are cut by your share of the fault7. If your share is greater than everyone else’s put together, you get nothing2. That count includes people who were not sued7.
- Damages the court finds
- $100,000
- Your share of the fault: 20%
- You recover $80,000
- Your share of the fault: 50%
- You recover $50,000
- Your share of the fault: 60%
- You recover nothing
These numbers only show how the percentages work. They are not typical amounts. At 50% your share is not greater than the others’ 50%, so you still recover half. At 60% it is greater than their 40%2.
This rule doesn’t apply when someone hurt you on purpose8.
This is one reason not to guess about fault, or agree to a version of events, when an insurance company asks. Talking to the other driver’s insurance company has more on those calls.
The law, as written
Bar to recoveryBarred above 50%
In Ohio, if the plaintiff's percentage of tortious conduct “is greater than the sum of the percentages” attributed to all parties from whom the plaintiff seeks recovery plus all persons from whom the plaintiff does not seek recovery, “the court shall enter judgment in favor of the defendants”2.
If they were under 18
Step 4: If the injured person is a child
If the injured person was a minor when the claim arose, the clock waits.
- Medical claimsThe four-year outer limit for medical claims has an exception for minors9.
- Claims against the state or a cityThe same waiting rule applies to the two years for these claims64.
Don’t wait for the child to grow up
Evidence and witnesses fade. A parent or guardian can ask a lawyer about the dates now.
The law, as written
Minors and persons of unsound mindTolled until disability removed
In Ohio, a person who is “within the age of minority or of unsound mind” when an action listed in R.C. 2305.04 to 2305.14 accrues may bring it within the statutory period “after the disability is removed”10. Unsound mind arising after accrual tolls the period only while the person is adjudicated or confined as the statute describes10.
More detail
R.C. 2305.16 lists sections 2305.04 to 2305.14, not the wrongful-death statute in R.C. ch. 2125.
Next
Step 5: What to do with this
- Write down the datesThe day you were hurt, the day you found out about a medical mistake, and anything an insurance company, government body or hospital sent you.
- Ask a lawyer about your factsThese rules have exceptions that depend on details. Find injury law firms in Ohio, listed A–Z or by distance, never ranked.
- Ask each firmWhich deadline applies to me, do I need to send a notice or settle with the state first, and by when?
More Ohio rules
This page keeps to the rules that matter most for a slip and fall case. The Ohio page has all of them.
Injured in Ohio: all deadlines and rules
Other case types in Ohio:
After a slip and fall: the general guide
What to do after you fall on someone else’s property: get care, report it, keep a record, and learn the questions that decide a premises case, including falls on public property and at work.
How to check a lawyer’s license in Ohio
Each state keeps a public list of lawyers. Before you hire anyone, look the lawyer up by name and read what the listing says about their license. If it isn’t clear, call the office that keeps the list.
Search the Supreme Court of Ohio’s list of lawyersLink checked 8 Nov 2026
How we list firms
How we list firms
We don’t rank firms. Listing is free and doesn’t depend on buying anything.
Firms are listed for free, in A–Z order, when they say they take slip and fall cases. Every fact shows its source and date. We don’t recommend lawyers, and we don’t pass on your details.
Sources
Where the legal facts on this page come from
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10“(A) Except as provided in division (C) or (E) of this section, an action based on a product liability claim and an action for bodily injury or injuring personal property shall be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues. Except as provided in divisions (B)(1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of this section, a cause of action accrues under this division when the injury or loss to person or property occurs. (B)(1) For purposes of division (A) of this section, a cause of action for bodily injury that is not described in division (B)(2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section and that is caused by exposure to hazardous or toxic chemicals, ethical drugs, or ethical medical devices accrues upon the date on which the plaintiff is informed by competent medical authority that the plaintiff has an injury that is related to the exposure, or upon the date on which by the exercise of reasonable diligence the plaintiff should have known that the plaintiff has an injury that is related to the exposure, whichever date occurs first. (2) … a cause of action for bodily injury caused by exposure to chromium in any of its chemical forms accrues upon the date on which the plaintiff is informed by competent medical authority … whichever date occurs first. (3) … a cause of action for bodily injury incurred by a veteran through exposure to chemical defoliants or herbicides or other causative agents, including agent orange, accrues upon the date … whichever date occurs first. (4) … a cause of action for bodily injury caused by exposure to diethylstilbestrol or other nonsteroidal synthetic estrogens, including exposure before birth, accrues upon the date … whichever date occurs first. (5) … a cause of action for bodily injury caused by exposure to asbestos accrues upon the date … whichever date occurs first. (C)(1) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (C)(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) of this section or in section 2305.19 of the Revised Code, no cause of action based on a product liability claim shall accrue against the manufacturer or supplier of a product later than ten years from the date that the product was delivered to its first purchaser or first lessee who was not engaged in a business in which the product was used as a component in the production, construction, creation, assembly, or rebuilding of another product.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2315.35“After the court makes its findings of fact or after the jury returns its general verdict accompanied by answers to interrogatories as described in section 2315.34 of the Revised Code, the court shall diminish the total amount of the compensatory damages that would have been recoverable by an amount that is proportionately equal to the percentage of tortious conduct determined under section 2307.23 of the Revised Code that is attributable to the plaintiff. If the percentage of the tortious conduct determined to be attributable to the plaintiff is greater than the sum of the percentages of the tortious conduct determined to be attributable to all parties to the tort action from whom the plaintiff seeks recovery plus all persons from whom the plaintiff does not seek recovery in this action, the court shall enter judgment in favor of the defendants.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2315.35
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2125.02“(A) Except as provided in this division, a civil action for wrongful death shall be brought in the name of the personal representative of the decedent for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse, the children, and the parents of the decedent, all of whom are rebuttably presumed to have suffered damages by reason of the wrongful death, and for the exclusive benefit of the other next of kin of the decedent. … (F)(1) Except as provided in division (D)(2) of this section, a civil action for wrongful death shall be commenced within two years after the decedent's death. (2)(a) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (F)(2)(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g) of this section or in section 2125.04 of the Revised Code, no cause of action for wrongful death involving a product liability claim shall accrue against the manufacturer or supplier of a product later than ten years from the date that the product was delivered to its first purchaser or first lessee …”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2125.02
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.16“(A) Subject to division (B) of this section, civil actions against the state permitted by sections 2743.01 to 2743.20 of the Revised Code shall be commenced no later than two years after the date of accrual of the cause of action or within any shorter period that is applicable to similar suits between private parties. (B) If a person suffers injury, death, or loss to person or property, as contemplated in sections 9.821 to 9.83 of the Revised Code, the person or the representative of that person or of the estate of that person shall attempt, prior to the commencement of an action based upon that injury, death, or loss, to have the claim based upon that injury, death, or loss compromised by the office of risk management in the department of administrative services or satisfied by the state's liability insurance. No action for any such claim shall be filed in the court of claims until the person, the representative of that person, or the estate of the person asserting the claim has complied with this division. … (D)(1) The period of limitations prescribed by division (A) of this section shall be tolled pursuant to section 2305.16 of the Revised Code. (2) If a person suffers injury, death, or loss to person or property contemplated by sections 9.82 to 9.83 of the Revised Code, if the person … is required by division (B) of this section to attempt to have the claim … compromised by the state or satisfied by the state's liability insurance prior to commencing an action …, and if the person … complies with that division prior to the expiration of the applicable period of limitations prescribed by division (A) of this section …, the period of time commencing with the submission of the claim to the state for the purposes of compromise or liability insurance satisfaction and ending with the state's compromise of the claim, the satisfaction of the claim by the state's liability insurance, or the provision of the written notice described in division (B) of this section shall not be computed as any part of the period within which an action based upon that injury, death, or loss must be brought.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.16
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.02“(A)(1) The state hereby waives its immunity from liability … and consents to be sued, and have its liability determined, in the court of claims created in this chapter in accordance with the same rules of law applicable to suits between private parties, except that the determination of liability is subject to the limitations set forth in this chapter … Except in the case of a civil action filed by the state, filing a civil action in the court of claims results in a complete waiver of any cause of action, based on the same act or omission, that the filing party has against any officer or employee, as defined in section 109.36 of the Revised Code. The waiver shall be void if the court determines that the act or omission was manifestly outside the scope of the officer's or employee's office or employment or that the officer or employee acted with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2743.02
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2744.04“(A) An action against a political subdivision to recover damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property allegedly caused by any act or omission in connection with a governmental or proprietary function, whether brought as an original action, cross-claim, counterclaim, third-party claim, or claim for subrogation, shall be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues, or within any applicable shorter period of time for bringing the action provided by the Revised Code. The period of limitation contained in this division shall be tolled pursuant to section 2305.16 of the Revised Code. … (B) In the complaint filed in a civil action against a political subdivision or an employee of a political subdivision to recover damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property … the complainant shall include a demand for a judgment for the damages that the judge in a nonjury trial or the jury in a jury trial finds that the complainant is entitled to be awarded, but shall not specify in that demand any monetary amount for damages sought.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2744.04
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2315.33“The contributory fault of a person does not bar the person as plaintiff from recovering damages that have directly and proximately resulted from the tortious conduct of one or more other persons, if the contributory fault of the plaintiff was not greater than the combined tortious conduct of all other persons from whom the plaintiff seeks recovery in this action and of all other persons from whom the plaintiff does not seek recovery in this action. The court shall diminish any compensatory damages recoverable by the plaintiff by an amount that is proportionately equal to the percentage of tortious conduct of the plaintiff as determined pursuant to section 2315.34 of the Revised Code.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2315.33
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2315.32“(B) The contributory fault of the plaintiff may be asserted as an affirmative defense to a tort claim, except that the contributory fault of the plaintiff may not be asserted as an affirmative defense to an intentional tort claim.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2315.32
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.113“(A) Except as otherwise provided in this section, an action upon a medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic claim shall be commenced within one year after the cause of action accrued. (B)(1) If prior to the expiration of the one-year period specified in division (A) of this section, a claimant who allegedly possesses a medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic claim gives to the person who is the subject of that claim written notice that the claimant is considering bringing an action upon that claim, that action may be commenced against the person notified at any time within one hundred eighty days after the notice is so given. (2) A claimant who allegedly possesses a medical claim and who intends to give to the person who is the subject of that claim the written notice described in division (B)(1) of this section shall give that notice by sending it by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to any of the following: (a) The person's residence; (b) The person's professional practice; (c) The person's employer; (d) The business address of the person on file with the state medical board or other appropriate agency that issued the person's professional license. (C) Except as to persons within the age of minority or of unsound mind as provided by section 2305.16 of the Revised Code, and except as provided in division (D) of this section, both of the following apply: (1) No action upon a medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic claim shall be commenced more than four years after the occurrence of the act or omission constituting the alleged basis of the medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic claim. (2) If an action upon a medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic claim is not commenced within four years after the occurrence of the act or omission constituting the alleged basis of the medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic claim, then, any action upon that claim is barred. (D)(1) If a person making a medical claim, dental claim, optometric claim, or chiropractic claim, in the exercise of reasonable care and diligence, could not have discovered the injury resulting from the act or omission constituting the alleged basis of the claim within three years after the occurrence of the act or omission, but, in the exercise of reasonable care and diligence, discovers the injury resulting from that act or omission before the expiration of the four-year period specified in division (C)(1) of this section, the person may commence an action upon the claim not later than one year after the person discovers the injury resulting from that act or omission. (2) If the alleged basis of a medical claim, dental claim, optometric claim, or chiropractic claim is the occurrence of an act or omission that involves a foreign object that is left in the body of the person making the claim, the person may commence an action upon the claim not later than one year after the person discovered the foreign object or not later than one year after the person, with reasonable care and diligence, should have discovered the foreign object.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.113
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.16“Unless otherwise provided in sections 1302.98, 1304.35, and 2305.04 to 2305.14 of the Revised Code, if a person entitled to bring any action mentioned in those sections, unless for penalty or forfeiture, is, at the time the cause of action accrues, within the age of minority or of unsound mind, the person may bring it within the respective times limited by those sections, after the disability is removed. When the interests of two or more parties are joint and inseparable, the disability of one shall inure to the benefit of all. After the cause of action accrues, if the person entitled to bring the action becomes of unsound mind and is adjudicated as such by a court of competent jurisdiction or is confined in an institution or hospital under a diagnosed condition or disease which renders the person of unsound mind, the time during which the person is of unsound mind and so adjudicated or so confined shall not be computed as any part of the period within which the action must be brought.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.16
- Ohio Rev. Code § 4509.101“(A)(1) No person shall operate, or permit the operation of, a motor vehicle in this state, unless proof of financial responsibility is maintained continuously throughout the registration period with respect to that vehicle, or, in the case of a driver who is not the owner, with respect to that driver's operation of that vehicle.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 4509.101
- Ohio Rev. Code § 4509.01“(K) "Proof of financial responsibility" means proof of ability to respond in damages for liability, on account of accidents occurring subsequent to the effective date of such proof, arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, in the amount of fifty thousand dollars because of bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident, and in the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars because of injury to property of others in any one accident.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 4509.01
- Ohio Rev. Code § 3937.18“(A) Any policy of insurance delivered or issued for delivery in this state with respect to any motor vehicle registered or principally garaged in this state that insures against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury or death suffered by any person arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle, may, but is not required to, include uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages. (B)(1) For purposes of any uninsured motorist coverage included in a policy of insurance, an "uninsured motorist" is the owner or operator of a motor vehicle if any of the following conditions applies: (a) There exists no bodily injury liability bond or insurance policy covering the owner's or operator's liability to the insured. (b) The liability insurer denies coverage to the owner or operator, or is or becomes the subject of insolvency proceedings in any state. (c) The identity of the owner or operator cannot be determined, but independent corroborative evidence exists to prove that the bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death of the insured was proximately caused by the negligence or intentional actions of the unidentified operator of the motor vehicle. For purposes of division (B)(1)(c) of this section, the testimony of any insured seeking recovery from the insurer shall not constitute independent corroborative evidence, unless the testimony is supported by additional evidence. … (C) If underinsured motorist coverage is included in a policy of insurance, the underinsured motorist coverage shall provide protection for insureds thereunder for bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death, suffered by any insured under the policy, where the limits of coverage available for payment to the insured under all bodily injury liability bonds and insurance policies covering persons liable to the insured are less than the limits for the underinsured motorist coverage. Underinsured motorist coverage in this state is not and shall not be excess coverage to other applicable liability coverages, and shall only provide the insured an amount of protection not greater than that which would be available under the insured's uninsured motorist coverage if the person or persons liable to the insured were uninsured at the time of the accident. The policy limits of the underinsured motorist coverage shall be reduced by those amounts available for payment under all applicable bodily injury liability bonds and insurance policies covering persons liable to the insured. … (H) Any policy of insurance that includes uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages may include terms and conditions requiring that, so long as the insured has not prejudiced the insurer's subrogation rights, each claim or suit for uninsured motorist coverage, underinsured motorist coverage, or both uninsured and underinsured motorist coverages be made or brought within three years after the date of the accident causing the bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death, or within one year after the liability insurer for the owner or operator of the motor vehicle liable to the insured has become the subject of insolvency proceedings in any state, whichever is later.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 3937.18
- Ohio Rev. Code § 4549.02“(A)(1) In the case of a motor vehicle accident or collision with persons or property on a public road or highway, the operator of the motor vehicle, having knowledge of the accident or collision, immediately shall stop the operator's motor vehicle at the scene of the accident or collision. The operator shall remain at the scene of the accident or collision until the operator has given the operator's name and address and, if the operator is not the owner, the name and address of the owner of that motor vehicle, together with the registered number of that motor vehicle, to all of the following: (a) Any person injured in the accident or collision; (b) The operator, occupant, owner, or attendant of any motor vehicle damaged in the accident or collision; (c) The police officer at the scene of the accident or collision. (2) In the event an injured person is unable to comprehend and record the information required to be given under division (A)(1) of this section, the other operator involved in the accident or collision shall notify the nearest police authority concerning the location of the accident or collision, and the operator's name, address, and the registered number of the motor vehicle the operator was operating. The operator shall remain at the scene of the accident or collision until a police officer arrives, unless removed from the scene by an emergency vehicle operated by a political subdivision or an ambulance. (3) If the accident or collision is with an unoccupied or unattended motor vehicle, the operator who collides with the motor vehicle shall securely attach the information required to be given in this section, in writing, to a conspicuous place in or on the unoccupied or unattended motor vehicle.”Read the source: Ohio Rev. Code § 4549.02
This is general information, not legal advice.