Brad Hughes

Photo of Brad Hughes
Connect: Read more about Brad Hughes
Firm/Organization: Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP
Blogs: Banking & Finance Law Report, Employer Law Report, Oil & Gas Law Report, Technology Law Source

Latest Articles

On June 21, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released long-awaited new rules for commercial, non-hobbyist small unmanned aircraft (sUAS) operations. The FAA’s press release about the new rules in part 107 of the FAA regulations is available here. FAA’s three-page fact sheet about the new regulations can be found at this link, and a 53-page advisory circular, which provides additional guidance, can be found here. The fact sheet and advisory circular are…
We have spilled a lot of “digital ink” on this blog addressing how Ohio courts have confronted oil and gas disputes about Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act (DMA) and regulatory/zoning matters. As we noted previously, there are no less than five cases now pending before the Ohio Supreme Court about the DMA, presenting some 15 propositions of law. And the court still has not ruled on the long-pending Munroe Falls appeal, which addresses the…
Two centuries ago, the Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court “rode the circuit” on horseback across the State, holding court in Ohio’s many county courthouses. A bit of that tradition survives today under the Court’s Off-Site Court Program, which is held twice a year outside of Columbus in order to educate high school students and other Ohio citizens about Ohio’s judicial system. As the Court’s website explains, “When the Supreme Court holds court off-site,…
Last Spring, we discussed on this blog a trifecta of noteworthy lending cases pending before the Ohio Supreme Court. Today, the Court resolved one of them, and in doing so also resolved a certified conflict among Ohio’s appellate districts regarding whether Ohio’s Statute of Frauds bars a party from relying on an oral forbearance agreement to defeat a judgment that was entered pursuant to a written contract. The court’s unanimous opinion in FirstMerit Bank, N.A.…
On May 2, we reported here on a trifecta of noteworthy lending cases that were accepted for review by the Ohio Supreme Court.  One of the three cases discussed in that post, Corbett v. Beneficial Ohio, Inc., is a certified-question case from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, in which District Judge Rice asked the Ohio Supreme Court whether the State of Ohio recognized a cause of action for “wrongful attempted…
At the end of April, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed to hear three notable cases that readers of this blog may wish to monitor – or perhaps even participate in as amici curiae. First, the Court has agreed to resolve a conflict among Ohio’s appellate districts regarding whether the Statute of Frauds precludes a foreclosure defendant from asserting an oral forbearance agreement as a defense. Next, the Court has agreed to answer a question certified from federal…
Employer Law Report is pleased to introduce our readers to Brad Hughes, a partner in our Appellate Practice Group, who has written this guest blog article. Next term, the Supreme Court may resolve a split among the circuits about who qualifies as a “supervisor” under Title VII, which prohibits employers from engaging in race-based discrimination. Vance v. Ball State University, Supreme Court Case No. 11-556 (certiorari materials available here on ScotusBlog). As many readers of this…
On May 17, 2012, this blog reported on the oral arguments in PHH Mortgage v. Prater, a case from Clermont County, Ohio regarding the extent to which an internet website may (or may not) be constitutionally adequate notice of a sheriff’s sale. Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in favor of the mortgage company, reversing the court of appeals and holding that “constructive notice by publication to a party with a property…
On May 23, the Ohio Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in an appeal by PHH Mortgage Corporation that concerns whether a sheriff’s website can provide constitutionally sufficient notice of the date, time, and location of a sheriff’s sale of foreclosed property. Real estate lenders of all sorts will be interested in the outcome which has important implications for foreclosure proceedings. Nearly two decades ago, in Central Trust Co. v. Jensen, 67 Ohio St.3d 140 (1993), the…
Yesterday the Ohio Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal that addresses the extent to which a corporate merger may impact the surviving company’s ability to enforce restrictive covenants that its predecessor companies entered into with their employees. In Acordia of Ohio LLC v. Fishel et al., several Acordia employees (called the “Fishel team”) left the company in 2005 and began working with a competitor, Neace-Lukens. These employees had previously signed noncompete agreements with Acordia’s…