Legal Advice Blog: Legal Advice, Case Insights, & Local Law Information

I admit it.  I am a Days of Our Lives junkie.  It’s my guilty pleasure.  A mindless escape from reality.  My way relax and reset at the end of the day.  While my “Days” obsession has ebbed and waned over the years, it’s been in full force recently as new writers took over and returned Days to the old Days, bringing back old favorites such as Bo, Steve a/k/a “Patch” and Shawn Douglas and reuniting the super-couples of “Bo and Hope” and “Steve and Kayla”.  I don’t know about my fellow resident Days junkie (AHEM . . .Corey Pietranton), but if the current story line that is setting Bo up to die of a brain tumor isn’t just a publicity stunt to increase ratings (and it is garnering huge publicity and ratings), I may just be done with Days once and for all. There can be no Days for me without “Bo and Hope”.  They are what got me hooked and why I always end up going back when I’ve taken a “Days break”.   I was in sixth or seventh grade when I really became hooked on Days.  That year at our end of the year school picnic someone (not sure who or why) hooked up an old TV in the shelter to watch Days because it was going to be a “can’t miss” episode.  Although I don’t remember the specific episode, I know it involved Bo and Hope.  I’m thinking it was part of the storyline where he rescued her from her wedding to the evil Larry and they escaped on the back of his motorcycle.  Regardless, for a bunch of girls in their pre- to early-teens, it was the ultimate in romance.  My Days obsession started that summer.  At 1 p.m. every day, no matter what we were doing, my friends and I gathered in front of the TV at someone’s house to watch Days.  Once school started again in the fall, our Days watching was limited to sick days and holidays; but, as someone recently commented, it’s never hard to pick back up on Days characters and storylines even if you haven’t watched it in years. I’ve stopped watching Days many times over the years.  Hope dropped in a vat of acid and presumed dead.  Done.  But I came back.  When Marlena was possessed and turned into a demon.  Done.  But I came back.  “Alien” children arriving in Salem in a pod.  Done.  But I came back.   A bunch of supposedly dead characters coming back after being held captive on an island. Done.  But I came back.  Years may have passed, but eventually I always came back.  Usually, all that would have to happen is for me to turn Days when I had the rare day off from work and find a storyline involving Bo and Hope, Jack and Jennifer (before they killed Jack yet again) or Sami and whomever she maybe with at that time.  Once I saw these characters back on the screen, I would just have to see what happens and start recording it again.  Other characters may come and go and I could care less.  These core characters, however, would always suck me back in. It may all be over now for good if the current Bo dying of a brain tumor storyline plays out and they actually kill off Bo.  Days’ executive producer recently announced that any character killed after November 1 would be dead for good without a potential for an eventual resurrection from the dead through a kidnapping or amnesia storyline or some other bizarre reason for being “presumed dead”.  I’m sorry, but you just can’t reunite Bo and Hope for a few weeks only to kill Bo forever.  Bo and Hope were the reason I started watching Days.  Bo and Hope are what kept bringing me back.  I can’t speak for my fellow Days’ junkie (AHEM…Corey), but without the possibility of Bo and Hope, my Day’s days just may be over and I will be looking for a new mindless, guilty pleasure.

I recently had the pleasure of spending a relaxing weekend in Cumberland, MD, a place I have driven by more times than I can count over the years, hurriedly en route to the east coast beaches. Little did I know how much this little city had to offer. The Rocky Gap Casino Resort is a lovely retreat overlooking manmade, Lake Habeeb. The dam was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1970, and Rocky Gap State Park formally opened on July 17, 1974. The lake offers three public beach areas with outdoor seating/fire pits, boating (no gasoline powered engines), swimming, canoeing/kayaking, and fishing. Unfortunately, due to cool temperatures and high winds, we did not get to delight in the outdoor amenities the resort has to offer, however, the scenery was breathtaking. Only a few miles away we found Canal Place in downtown Cumberland, which is rich with history and quaint little shops, restaurants and a Cheris Wine Store (which is right up my alley). Here, you can take a ride on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, explore the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, or bike and hike on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail. Saturday evening, I had my first ride on a real vintage diesel locomotive. It was one of the “Saturday Night Specials”, which was a three-hour murder mystery evening excursion performed by Random Acts: The Murder Mystery Company. Although you have the option to dine on the train ride, we opted for old fashioned pizza at a local eatery beforehand and chose to sit in the “party car” where there is parlor seating (claiming to be the most comfortable seating on the train), where one can partake in their favorite alcoholic beverages. There, I opted for a wonderful bottle of wine from the Cheris Wineries, all-the-while enjoying the show, participating in a conga line and meeting some really nice/fun people. All in all, it was a very enjoyable get away!

On a recent visit to Charleston, my family and I had the great pleasure of visiting the West Virginia State Museum, located at the Capitol Complex.  Now, as a life-long West Virginian, I am fairly embarrassed to admit that I had never visited the Museum in all of my 42 years on this planet. In fact, I wasn’t even all that aware of the museum.  Fortunately for me, however, I have a wife who grew up in the area, has a life-long passion for West Virginia history and wanted to expose our children to the rich cultural underpinnings of the great state in which they live.  And I have to say that I cannot think of any better place to learn about West Virginia and all it has to offer. To say I was highly impressed with the state museum would be a gross understatement. I’ve always been a big fan of museums and like to try and visit at least one each time I visit a big city. I have been to the Smithsonian museums, the Museum of Natural History and the Guggenheim in New York City and a host of other museums throughout the country, and I would put our state museum up there with any of them.  The 2009 renovations have catapulted the West Virginia State Museum into the ranks of one of the nicest and most interesting museums I have ever had the pleasure of exploring.  From the rich geological underpinnings of our little part of the globe, to the history of America’s wars and the American labor movement, the state museum offers something for everyone with ties to West Virginia. The interactive features of the state museum offer a rich, tactile experience that stays with you long after you’ve left. The design and layout of the museum offer diverse education about West Virginia’s community, identity and character as it relates to the topography, citizens and culture of our state.  The museum contains something called the Showpath, which is an indoor, dynamic walking tour that helps bring West Virginia history to life through recreations of pivotal events and places in the state’s past.  Featuring first-person accounts, artifacts, elaborate sets and even a walk through a coal mine, the Showpath is one of the museum’s most vibrant features.  But the tour hardly ends there. As packed as the Showpath is with artifacts and other interactive features, it is also Buttressed by “Discovery” and “Connection” rooms that allow visitors to go much deeper in their learning about the topics featured on the Showpath. The Museum also features a gallery of changing exhibits in the lobby that features popular West Virginia topics. I’d be willing to bet that even the most knowledgeable scholars regarding West Virginia history will find something new to learn and experience at the state museum. For myself, who has spent essentially my entire life in the Wheeling area, I was fascinated to learn things about Wheeling, a city prominently featured in the museum, that I had never heard before.  Beyond that, the museum does a fantastic job of educating visitors about all the reasons we fondly refer to West Virginia as “Wild and Wonderful”.  Walking the Showpath and exploring the other parts of the museum made me very proud to be a West Virginian, and we can’t wait to return. I would urge anyone looking for something to do next time you’re in Charleston to put the state museum at the top of your list.  But carve out plenty of time. The West Virginia Culture center advises it will take up to 26 hours to read ever display and watch every documentary in the museum.  And if you’re at all like me, once you get a taste of what the museum has to offer, you’ll find yourself wanting to stay all day.

Child number four.  She’s is the most adorable little 6-year-old gal you could ever meet and she keeps us on our toes. Why in the world would anyone put an object in their ear or nose? Generally, this is seen more from a child of a younger age, but my youngest daughter has hyperactivity disorder, which essentially affects her ability to manage her impulse control.  There are some times when this condition can be challenging and we recently faced one of those challenges. Now that all is said and done that all is well, I reflect to find a few chuckles in the situation. Shauney had been complaining that her ear was bothering her intermittently over two days and confessed that she had put something in it.  Somehow she could not remember when or what, though. It was Tuesday, Oct. 27, and my husband decided he was going to take Shauney to Med Express.  I received the call from him explaining something bright green was in her right ear. The bad news was they couldn’t get it out.  So, off to the local emergency room.  I hopped in my car to meet up with them. When I walked in, I couldn’t tell if Shauney was fearful because she knew “the talk” was coming from me about putting things in her ears, and believe me, talks like this have happened numerous times…I am pretty sure she knew I was not very happy.  Or maybe the apprehension of what was coming next in the emergency department may have gotten the better of her. After attempting to remove this object to no avail, an ENT was contacted.  It was decided that Shauney would keep the object in her ear for the night and we would consult with the specialist in the morning for probable surgical removal. The next day, yep – outpatient surgery.  She was already the second child he had seen that very morning with a foreign object in the ear! While at the hospital, Shauney had been seen several times, registered here and registered there.  We answered the same questions over and over again, and patience was wearing thin.  She has no problem letting anyone know when she is getting tired and bored with the same thing. After all, she is a girl on the go.  It was apparent that she was becoming a bit frustrated with the people, all the questions, and the lectures that almost everyone decided they had to instill upon her over and over again. And then the comedy show began. Outpatient surgery registration.  Her middle name is Rose.  R-o-s-e.  She spelled the name and then finishes by saying, “It’s a silent ‘E’.” Other questions were posed to my daughter and jokingly the woman asked her if she worked? The response.  “Yes, I do.  I work at Bordas & Bordas.  I only type for them sometimes though.”  My daughter’s face was stone serious and the woman didn’t quite know how to respond. Fast forward…she was now donning her hospital gown, wait, wait, and wait some more. She sang the entire soundtrack from the “ Frozen” movie and talked in her not so quiet voice for the next four hours until it was time for her procedure.  She even chuckled at one point as if to challenge the anesthesia because she said there is no way it can just make her sleep.  After all, it was daylight!  Want to bet? About 35 minutes later, I was called back to the recovery room because my little angel was waking up.  She was bright eyed and bushy tailed, and just wanted out so she could get to McDonald’s. Of course the question that plagued us all was what in the world did she put in there to begin with?  So, after being assured my sweet pea was doing just fine, I asked the question. The recovery nurse, with somewhat of a grim look on her face and trying very hard to hold back her own smile, handed me a denture cup and proceeded to tell me to take a look.  They found and removed THREE OBJECTS.  Two teeny beads and a plastic earring back.  It’s a wonder the child could even hear. Praise God there was no damage affecting her hearing.  As Shauney viewed the treasures in the cup, she very nonchalantly says, “Oh yeah, that’s right. I did put those in my ear at Nanny’s ( Grandma’s) house.”  She never could tell us why, though. This brings me to some thoughts about how you can do everything you know possible to teach your children and offer guidance about choices and try to keep them out of harm’s way, but there is no failsafe secret.  When you are a parent raising a child that has additional health and/or mental conditions – there are special needs of so many kinds out there - those choices are not always able to be thought through by your little one. It can be an exhausting and seemingly endless at times because you are constant high alert. Thankfully, our situation turned out the way it did, but to all the parents out there in similar circumstances, I know it’s tough at times, so hang in there.  The fact that we cannot wrap them in bubble wrap is the reality.  May all your little ones be safe when you are right there and when you are not.

Two weeks ago, Pennsylvania's voters elected Democratic Judges Christine Donohue, David Wecht and Kevin Dougherty to the Supreme Court, giving the party a five to two majority for the first time since 2009. The Washington Post called such results "one of the biggest court shake-ups in recent history." It was the first time three seats on the high court were open in an election.  Two seats were open because of the resignations of former justices.  In 2013, a Republican was convicted of using her taxpayer-paid staff to do political work and, in 2014, a Democrat implicated in a pornographic email scandal. The third seat became vacant when former Chief Justice Ronald Castille was forced to resign after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, said the Democratic victories on the high court and two more on the mid-level appellate courts are indications that Pennsylvania voters want changes in their state government. The election results could influence the way that Pennsylvania's districts are drawn.  When the next census occurs in 2020, the United States Government will go through the process of "Reapportionment," which is the apportioning (or proportional division) of congressional seats (435 for the U.S. Congress since 1911) among the 50 states according to their relative population.  Based upon the new census data, the state general assemblies will go through the process of "Redistricting,” which is the re-drawing of congressional districts within each state, according to the number of seats they were apportioned. The party that controls the Supreme Court gets to appoint the chair of the state's five-member redistricting commission.  Thus, the court's vote is tie-breaking, as the other commission members are comprised of two Democrats and two Republicans.  The State Supreme Court is also the final word on redistricting maps. Pennsylvanians who take issue with the redistricting commission's decision can sue, and the Court gets to hear and rule on those appeals. Depending on where the lines are drawn, Democrats could take back the majority of U.S. congressional seats in next year's elections. So why can redistricting be controversial.  According to a very interesting article published by Loyola Law School, the location of district lines decide which voters vote for which representative. Changing the lines may change the relevant voters, and can change the identity, allegiance, and political priorities of a district's representative, and of the legislative delegation as a whole.  Interestingly, since the birth of our country, politicians have attempted to change district lines to affect political power.  For example, Patrick Henry, who opposed the new Constitution, tried to draw district lines to deny a seat in the first Congress to James Madison, the Constitution's primary author. Henry ensured that Madison's district was drawn to include counties politically opposed to Madison. The attempt failed, and Madison was elected -- but the American "gerrymander" had begun.

When I decided some years ago to stop coloring my hair and let my gray shine through, people were aghast!  I thought it was a great idea – I didn’t have to spend a fortune at the hairdresser or spend a significant amount of time coloring my hair myself.  How did the idea that gray hair was bad ever get started? I did some research and discovered that people have colored their hair for one reason or another for thousands of years.  That being said, in the 1950’s only about 7 percent of women colored their hair.  In that era the stigma was that women who colored their hair were of poor moral character, if you get what I mean!  In 1955 history was changed when the Clairol ad came out stating:  “Does she or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.”  The next Clairol enticement for hair coloring was:  “If I have only one life . . . let me live it as a blonde.”  The last knockout punch was the Clairol jingle that is now firmly entrenched in history:  “Is it true blondes have more fun?”  As a side note, the woman who wrote all of these slogans was Shirley Polykoff who was one of only five women in history ever inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame! Consider this ad that was printed in 1943: WOW!  So that’s how it all got started – makers of hair dye – specifically Clairol!  It’s amazing what we can be convinced of. There has now been a reversal of the idea that gray hair is unattractive.  The new trend is to have “Granny” hair!  Young women are stripping the color from their hair and dyeing it all sorts of stunning silver shades!  Check out this website to see some of the gorgeous gray haired young ladies. It’s actually nice to know that gray hair isn’t just for old geezers like me!!

Are you one of the millions of Americans who think that the hotdog is a sandwich? If you answered yes to this question, well, I have bad news for you. You are wrong, and clearly cannot be trusted. Look people, let’s just make this easy and use the logic of calling something what it really is. I’ll begin by making a list of items and you let me know what they all have in common. · Ham sandwich · Grilled cheese sandwich · Tuna fish sandwich · Peanut butter and jelly sandwich Hopefully you can see that here in America, when something is a sandwich, we call it as such. You wouldn’t ask someone to grab you a hotdog sandwich, would you? I didn’t think so. If that is not good enough, let us hear what the good people who define things for a living have to say on the matter. Sandwich noun 1. An item of food consisting of two pieces of bread with meat, cheese, or other filling between them, eaten as a light meal. Are we now so brazen as to call the dictionary a liar? Just because something may resemble another item, does not make it so. Furthermore, the word sandwich as a verb has an important relevance in this discussion. Being sandwiched between something means to be caught between opposite and opposing forces. Similar to how meat and cheese is sandwiched between opposite and opposing pieces of bread. When you alter that meat-bread relationship, whether it be by hinging the bread or wrapping it, you completely change the dynamic and thus the fundamental nature of what “sandwichness” is. Finally, if all of that evidence is not enough to change your mind, over the weekend the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council stated in an official press release that “a hotdog is not a sandwich.” Common sense and decency has prevailed.

I have never had the privilege of wearing the uniform of the United States military.  I’ve never been to war; never had to pack a bag, kiss my wife and children good-bye, and head off to another side of the world to defend my country.  I’ve never faced an enemy determined to kill me, nor have I held a friend as the life drained out of his body on the field of battle.  I can’t begin to understand the pain of a parent whose child is killed in action, or the confused anguish of a toddler whose father will never come home. I know nothing of war.  What I do know is that today, nearly 100 years and 10 wars after the end of the War to End All Wars, our nation owes our veterans a debt we will never be able to repay. A few weeks ago, I had the honor of listening to Lt. George Bridgeman talk about some of his experiences as the pilot of a B-24 bomber during WWII.  In less than one year, Lt. Bridgeman went from a simple enlisted man who had never been up in an airplane to the pilot in command of a four engine, 5,000 horsepower aircraft with a crew of seven men.  He flew 35 missions through thick anti-aircraft fire, German fighter planes and cabin temperatures that reached 30 below zero.  He was 18 years old at the time.  As I listened to Lt. Bridgeman, now 90 years old, I thought of my father, who also served two and a half years in China, Burma and India during WWII as a member of the “Flying Tigers” of the Army Air Corps.  I also thought of my uncle, Manuel “Junior” Artimez, who was wounded in battle in Europe, and dealt with the pain of that injury for the rest of his life.  Like so many others from our area, these men, who were barely more than boys when they enlisted, left their homes and their families for years at a time for one purpose:  to defend their country.  The sacrifices they made, and the sacrifices made by the 21 million other veterans throughout the United States, are simply beyond my comprehension.  I can’t imagine living every minute of every day knowing that somewhere just over that next hill, somewhere just down the road, is an enemy soldier waiting to kill me.  Melodramatic?  Not for a veteran.  For a veteran, that was LIFE. Our veterans have defended our freedom 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.  They ask precious little in return, save perhaps for the gratitude of those who enjoy the freedom they have fought and died to protect.  Today, many of us will go out of our way to say “thank you” to a veteran.  It seems to me that simply speaking the words is not enough.  President John F. Kennedy once said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them.”  To live those words means to treat our veterans with dignity, respect, and admiration, not only on Veterans Day or Memorial Day, but on every single day of the year.  We can start by making sure our veterans are properly cared for once they leave the service.  It is a national shame that there are still veterans in our country who are homeless or without access to affordable medical care. The price of freedom is high, but it is a price our veterans were willing to pay.  Whether on the beaches of Normandy, the jungles of Vietnam or the mountains of Afghanistan, the call to defend our nation has never gone unanswered.  We all know how much we owe the men and women who have served our country.  We understand the enormous debt that can never be repaid.  At the very least, we must ensure that the gratitude and respect of our nation will last forever. To all area veterans and their families:  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Fall is my most favorite time of the year.  I love the smell of the crisp autumn air with all of the leaves changing to beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red.  I also enjoy all of the wonderful flavors of the season such as pumpkin spice and apple.  Fall means breaking out the warmer clothes such as sweaters and long pants and packing away the flip-flops and the shorts.  Some look at the season as the closure of the summer where all the fun warm activities must come to an end as preparation for the dreaded cold gloomy winter, which, I have to admit, was my view of the season when I was younger.  As I have gotten older, I have grown to appreciate the cooler days as opposed to the hot, hot summer sun when it is almost unbearable to be outdoors, and then there is having to run the air conditioner non-stop just to stay comfortable.  I can certainly appreciate putting on a jacket to be warm and cozy to enjoy a stroll through the park versus having to hit the local pool just to get cooled down. Besides the obvious seasonal changes, there are many other things to enjoy during the fall season.  The first thing that comes to my mind is baking.  Filling your home with the wonderful smells of delicious desserts such as apple and pumpkin pies and breads just to name a few.  Add some joy to your baking and have your children help.  It will be a fun experience for them and it gives you some special time with your little ones.  Decorating for fall with pumpkins and mums to freshen up the front porch and to add a more welcoming feel to your home for guests is another way to enjoy the season.  Doing a fall craft with the kids is also a great option.  I remember going outside and picking leaves of beautiful bright vibrant colors, placing them between two sheets of waxed paper and ironing them to seal the leaves.  Or perhaps you could make a fall wreath for the front door. So you see, fall does not have to mean the “calm before the storm”. There are plenty of ways to enjoy and embrace the cooler weather and make it fun for the entire family.

The New York Times recently published an article titled “ Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice.”  In this article, the authors examine the growing number of arbitration clauses used by large companies in their contracts with consumers.  The article states that “y inserting individual arbitration clauses into a soaring number of consumer and employment contract, companies like American Express devised a way to circumvent the courts and bar people from joining together in class-action lawsuits, realistically the only tool citizens have to fight illegal or deceitful business practices.  Over the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult to apply for a credit card, use a cellphone, get cable or Internet service, or shop online without agreeing to private arbitration.”  The article continued by providing a broad summary of certain key court cases on this issue. In the article, F. Paul Bland Jr. was quoted stating, “orporations are allowed to strip people of their constitutional right to go to court . . . Imagine the reaction if you took away people’s Second Amendment right to own a gun.”  Unfortunately, the previous quote rings true in the tristate region and in our firm’s cases.  Many times, people enter into contracts with arbitration clauses without actually reading the contract and realizing the significance of the agreement. While we run into arbitration issues in many of our practice areas, this is a topic very applicable to oil and gas leases.  Many times, arbitration clauses are in contracts where the consumer has very little, if any, negotiation power.  However, we have successfully negotiated arbitration clauses out of oil and gas leases.  Like many of the other issues I have discussed in oil and gas blogs, many people enter into oil and gas leases containing arbitration clauses without any knowledge that they are signing away their right to bring a claim in court and, instead, will be forced to address any future issues in arbitration.  By entering into a lease with an arbitration clause, an individual waives their right to have a jury hear their claims.  Furthermore, the cost of pursuing a claim through arbitration would likely be significantly higher.  Moreover, the arbitration clause may make bringing claims for smaller amounts of damages nearly impossible, as many arbitration clauses contain class action bans. I wrote this blog not only to raise awareness about the New York Times’ article and arbitration issues as a whole, but also to encourage people to have a complete understanding of all terms contained in an oil and gas lease before signing.  As I have stated before, some of the most difficult conversations I have with potential clients involve stating that we will not be able to take their case or help them receive the actual value of their mineral rights due to a lease that was entered into without full knowledge of the future implications.

A few months ago, I wrote about how the application of Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act should soon gain more certainty.  That was because the Ohio Supreme Court had before it several cases which should clarify the more contentious disputes surrounding the application of the law.  One step towards that certainty was taken in the recent Slip Opinion issued in Chesapeake Exploration, LLC et. al., v. Buell et al. case.  The decision came out on November 5, 2015.  The case actually came to the Supreme Court on certified questions of law from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.  Even though the case was pending in Federal Court, the issues involved are Ohio substantive state law issues.  As such, the Federal Court is required to interpret and apply Ohio law.  Often times, when the answer to a question is not clear under state law or a new issue has been brought up, Federal Courts can certify specific questions of law to state supreme courts to have the highest court in the state determine the issue and tell the Federal Court what the law is.  That is what happened in this case. The important questions that the Ohio Supreme Court was asked to resolve for the Federal Court were: 1. Is the recorded lease of a severed subsurface mineral estate a title transaction under the ODMA, Ohio Revised Code 5301.56(B)(3)(a)? 2. Is the expiration of a recorded lease and the reversion of the rights granted under that lease a title transaction that restarts the twenty-year forfeiture clock under the ODMA at the time of reversion? The Court was asked to decide, therefore, whether the recordation of an oil and gas lease executed by a severed mineral owner is a “savings event” that would prohibit the abandonment of oil and gas rights under the ODMA.  It was also asked to decide if the expiration of such a lease, which results in the reversion of any rights provided under a lease back to the Grantor, is a “savings event.” The decision was not unanimous on the various points, but the holding of the Court is that oil and gas leases which have been recorded in the Recorder’s office are, in fact, title transactions.  Those leases then qualify as “savings events” which prohibit abandonment under the ODMA.  Two dissenting judges would have found that a lease by itself is not a “savings event” as a specific “savings event” is already applicable for the actual production or withdrawal of minerals.   The Court ruled, however, that the unrecorded expiration of one of those recorded lease agreements is not a title transaction and does not preclude abandonment under the ODMA.  The Court was unanimous on that point. Interestingly, the Court may have telegraphed its thinking on another issue soon pending before it.  The Court stated that “the unrecorded expiration of an oil and gas lease does not constitute a saving event under R.C. 5301.56(B)(3)(a) that would restart the 20-year clock.”  (Italics added.) Do the words “restart the 20-year clock” mean that the Court would be inclined to find a rolling 20 year look back period rather than one specific 20 year window as some argue under the 1989 version of the act?  The Court will hopefully resolve that issue soon as arguments in the Eisenbarth v. Ruesser matter are set for November 17, 2015.  One of the issues in that case is whether a fixed or rolling 20 year abandonment period is to be applied under the 1989 version of the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act. We will continue to keep you updated as the Ohio Supreme Court continues to resolve the myriad of questions involving the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act.  If you have questions about your rights under the Ohio Dormant Mineral act, don’t hesitate to give us a call for a free consultation.

So, what’s the status on the birds? I know for a few months now, there has been a lot of talk about how the avian flu has affected turkeys, which ultimately places us in a position of facing shortages and high prices. I understand that we continue to experience the effects of the flu outbreak because there were limited eggs and the efforts to get these back to acceptable means for human consumption can be very time consuming.  Let’s hope the situation is not amplified by the flu returning once the cold weather sets in.  Nonetheless, all of it is just in time for Thanksgiving. I was recently at the Cheesecake Factory and they weren’t offering turkey burgers at this time because of this epidemic.  So, with Thanksgiving around the corner, I wonder if this poses a concern, especially for those who may have a difficult time purchasing a turkey for dinner anyway.  Now there may be an additional cost that very well may be incurred.  Turkey may be the side dish for some families. Although I am not clear on how or why the tradition to eat turkey on Thanksgiving ever came about, although nice, it really doesn’t matter.  The idea of gathering in large sums as a family to eat turkey and give thanks is a wonderful thing, but as far as I am concerned, pizza would work just fine, too. You see, some people may gather around the dinner table and be thankful for the turkey on their plates, while others are just thankful for those sitting at their table.  With or without the turkey, it’s what you make of the day, so have whatever meal you can enjoy as a family and enjoy your family!