Kogan v. Weaver Const. and Roofing, L.L.C.

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 2323

Syllabus

Presumption of regularity; incomplete appellate record; trial transcript; trial exhibits; advisory jury; partial summary judgment; interlocutory order; merger; breach of contract; workmanlike manner; Consumer Sales Practices Act; CSPA; proximate cause; economic damages; affirmative defenses; unclean hands; equitable estoppel; waiver; liability of corporate officer; attorney fees; lodestar; prejudicial error; R.C. 1345.02(A); R.C. 1345.02(G); R.C. 1345.09(A); R.C. 1345.09(F)(2); Civ.R. 39(C)(1); App.R. 9; App.R. 9(C); App.R. 9(D). Judgment affirmed. Appellants failed to provide a transcript of the three-day bench trial, the trial exhibits, or an App.R. 9(C) or 9(D) substitute, requiring the appellate court to presume the regularity of the trial court's proceedings and its factual findings. The appellants could not rely on summary judgment materials because the partial summary judgment ruling was interlocutory, merged into the final judgment, and the trial court made independent findings after trial. The unclean-hands and estoppel defenses failed because they referenced litigation conduct rather than the underlying transaction and, in any event, the incomplete record prevented review of whether the defenses were maintained at trial. The proximate cause, economic damages, personal liability, and attorney fee arguments likewise depended on trial evidence not included in the appellate record. Any lack of detail in the attorney fee analysis could not be shown to be prejudicial to appellants without the missing trial transcript and exhibits.