Johnson v. U.S. Title Agency, Inc.

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 4056

Syllabus

Title insurance, mechanic's liens, breach of contract, negligence, bad faith, law of the case, directed verdict, bifurcation, motion for new trial, exclusion of evidence, management of trial proceedings, trial court bias. Any mistake the trial court made in failing to follow the law of the case that Johnson was a third-party beneficiary to the closing instructions was harmless error. The trial court did not err in granting a directed verdict on Johnson's negligence claim because Johnson did not present sufficient evidence that the title insurer's failure to procure the proper insurance caused his damages. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in bifurcating Johnson's bad-faith claim from the trial on the rest of his claims. There was no cumulation of errors that deprived Johnson of a fair trial. The trial court did not err in excluding portions of video testimony. The trial court did not display such bias against Johnson so as to make fair judgment impossible.