James P. Hanratty | Partner/Shareholder

James P. Hanratty

James P. Hanratty

Marshall Dennehey, P.C.

Personal Injury, Insurance, Lawsuit & Dispute, Construction, Litigation, Civil Rights, Products Liability

Experience: 59 years

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About James

James P. Hanratty joined MDWC&G as a shareholder 2006. He concentrates his practice in automobile insurance litigation, brain injury, products liability litigation, and construction litigation.

Jim began his career in an Akron, Ohio, plaintiff's personal injury litigation firm. However, since 1993, he has been a partner in two defense litigation firms. He brings to his practice the experience of well over 100 civil jury trials. He has tried matters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia involving medical malpractice, products liability, auto, construction, and premises liability claims.

Jim's recent successful representations have included:

  • A defense jury verdict in a tort/underinsured motorist suit directly against an insurance carrier where the plaintiff claimed brain injury and demanded $1.25 million.

  • Resolution of a tort action in which the plaintiff in an auto accident suffered a crush injury to her dominant hand that jeopardized her career as a dental hygienist in a case where the client had consumed alcohol before driving, the matter was settled for less than 20% of the initial $1.5 million demand after the plaintiff was shown to be less than credible on the witness stand.

  • Resolution of a wrongful death action against a manufacturer of a forklift for nuisance value ($5,000) by establishing that the incident was not caused by a defect in the product.

  • A jury verdict of approximately 10% of the prayer during trial and $100,000 less than the pretrial offer in a case brought by a young couple who were struck head on by a sleeping driver, causing multiple fractures of plaintiff wife's right leg and a fractured left wrist, and plaintiff husband suffered a head injury after striking his head on the windshield.

  • Resolution of a claim during trial of a dentist who, as a result of an auto accident, was left with neurological damage to her right arm. Economic experts claimed her professional loss due to the inability to practice dentistry was in excess of $3.4 million, but the case was settled during trial for approximately 24% of that number, due in large part to the cross examination of plaintiff's expert revealing several inconsistencies.

    With respect to industry group and professional representations, Jim's clients have included insurance carriers in direct actions involving coverage issues and underinsured/uninsured claims, hospitals in all aspects of hospital operation, manufacturers of construction equipment and industrial machinery in product liability matters, quarry operators, and oil and gas producers in products liability and general negligence matters.

    Jim is a frequent lecturer on trial advocacy and case handling, and he sits as Chair of the Trial Tactics Committee of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys (OACTA), a statewide defense organization. He is the former Chair of the Insurance Relations Committee of the OACTA, and as such, has been a speaker at several seminars directed toward the defense of civil matters. Jim has written two Amicus Curiae briefs for the Ohio Supreme Court on insurance-related matters.  In 2009, Jim was named an Ohio Super Lawyer.

    Outside of his practice, Jim is the President of the Atwood Ridge Condo Association, Chair of the Walsh University Advisory Board, and a member of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Stark County.

  • Admission

    Verified Florida

    2012

    Verified Pennsylvania

    1990

    Verified Ohio

    Verified U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

    Verified U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

    Verified U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida

    Verified U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio

    Verified U.S. District Court, Northern District of West Virginia

    Verified U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida

    Verified U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio

    Verified U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania

    Verified West Virginia

    Education

    Walsh University