BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — Cleveland is where Plevin & Gallucci was founded in 1971, and the main office at 55 Public Square remains the firm’s litigation hub. Cuyahoga County is also where Plevin & Gallucci secured the first-ever jury verdict under Ohio’s modern employer intentional tort statute (R.C. 2745.01), and where the firm served as co-lead counsel for two Ohio counties in the bellwether National Opioid Litigation. For Cleveland-area workers and accident victims, the result is access to a firm with deep local roots and a national litigation footprint.
Key Takeaways
- Plevin & Gallucci was founded in Cleveland in 1971 and has tried personal injury cases in Cuyahoga County for over five decades.
- The firm won the first-ever jury verdict under the modern version of Ohio R.C. 2745.01.
- Managing partner Frank L. Gallucci III served as co-lead counsel for two Ohio counties in the bellwether National Opioid Litigation in Cleveland.
- Cuyahoga County civil personal injury cases are heard in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas at the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland.
Bottom line: For Cleveland-area injuries, the question to ask any firm is not how long they have been in Cleveland but how often they have tried, not just settled, cases in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
Plevin & Gallucci was founded in 1971 by Frank L. Gallucci, Jr. in the back of his family’s Italian import store at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario streets in Cleveland. More than fifty years later, the firm’s main office at 55 Public Square is still the litigation hub for cases across Ohio. This article addresses how Cleveland-area personal injury, workers’ compensation, and employer intentional tort cases work in 2026, and why the firm’s Cuyahoga County trial record matters for clients in the region.
What injury cases are most common in Cuyahoga County?
Cuyahoga County’s injury-claim profile reflects an economy that mixes heavy manufacturing, world-class healthcare, and dense urban infrastructure. The firm’s Cleveland docket regularly includes the following case types.
Catastrophic workplace and intentional tort cases
Cleveland’s industrial base of steel, automotive parts, heavy fabrication along the Cuyahoga River corridor, and chemical manufacturing in the Flats, continues to generate the catastrophic workplace injury cases Plevin & Gallucci is best known for. These are the cases that raise the question of whether an employer’s intentional tort claim under R.C. 2745.01 is viable in addition to workers’ comp.
Medical malpractice
With the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and MetroHealth all anchored in Cuyahoga County, medical malpractice is a substantial portion of the firm’s Cleveland docket. These cases require both substantive medical expertise and specific procedural familiarity with the Cuyahoga County medical malpractice case-management orders.
Truck and motor vehicle crashes
I-71, I-77, I-90, I-271, and I-480 produce a steady volume of serious automotive commercial-vehicle crashes. Cuyahoga County’s share of these cases is significant, and many involve out-of-state motor carriers.
Nursing home neglect and abuse
Cuyahoga County has a high concentration of skilled nursing facilities, and Plevin & Gallucci handles nursing home neglect and abuse cases at facilities throughout the county.
“Plevin & Gallucci has tried personal injury and intentional tort cases in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas for more than fifty years — a continuous trial record that few Ohio plaintiffs’ firms can match.”
What makes Plevin & Gallucci’s Cleveland record distinctive?
Two specific results define the firm’s place in Cleveland legal history and continue to shape how it selects and tries cases today.
First-ever R.C. 2745.01 verdict
After the Ohio General Assembly enacted R.C. 2745.01 in 2005 to severely restrict employer intentional tort claims, Plevin & Gallucci was the firm that secured the first jury verdict under the new statute. The case, involving an electrical lineman injured because his rubber gloves and sleeves were not the “equipment safety guard” the firm argued they were — prevailed at trial in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas and at the Eighth District Court of Appeals before the Ohio Supreme Court reversed in Hewitt v. L.E. Myers Co. (2012). The result reshaped Ohio law on what counts as a safety guard.
National Opioid Litigation
Managing partner Frank L. Gallucci III served as co-lead counsel for two Ohio counties in the first bellwether trial of the National Opioid Litigation, held in Cleveland. That litigation has produced over $40 billion in settlements nationally, plus an additional $650.6 million verdict for the two Ohio counties involved. The case is the first to hold retail pharmacies responsible for their role in the opioid crisis.
Common misunderstanding
A long history in a market is not the same as a recent trial record in that market. The firms that lose ground in Cuyahoga County are usually the ones that have stopped trying cases. Plevin & Gallucci has continued to take Cuyahoga County cases to verdict — including under R.C. 2745.01 and at the Ohio Supreme Court level.
“Plevin & Gallucci was co-lead counsel for two Ohio counties in the first bellwether trial of the National Opioid Litigation — a case that produced over $40 billion in national settlements.”
Plevin & Gallucci’s position on Cleveland injury cases
Our position is that Cuyahoga County’s legal market rewards firms that actually try cases. The defense bar here is sophisticated, the bench is experienced, and the insurance carriers know which plaintiffs’ firms will and will not take a case to verdict. That fact alone affects settlement value before any motion is filed.
What most people get wrong
Many Cleveland-area injured workers assume the biggest local firms are the most experienced in their specific kind of case. In employer intentional tort work specifically, that is not true. Trial experience under R.C. 2745.01 is concentrated in a very small number of Ohio firms.
Our recommendation
If you suffered a serious injury anywhere in Cuyahoga County or northeast Ohio, the Cleveland office at 55 Public Square, Suite 2222 is available for free consultations. Call 216-861-0804 or 1-855-4-PLEVIN. Bring photographs, medical records, and the names of any witnesses to the first meeting if possible — that early evidence often determines whether a case becomes a serious civil claim or stops at workers’ comp.
— The Plevin & Gallucci Team
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Plevin & Gallucci’s Cleveland office?
The main office is at 55 Public Square, Suite 2222, Cleveland, OH 44113. Free consultations are available at 216-861-0804 or 1-855-4-PLEVIN. The office is open 8 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday with weekend appointments available.
Did Plevin & Gallucci really try the first case under Ohio’s new intentional tort statute?
Yes. After the 2005 enactment of R.C. 2745.01, Plevin & Gallucci secured the first jury verdict under the modern statute. The case prevailed at the trial court and at the Eighth District Court of Appeals before the Ohio Supreme Court reversed in Hewitt v. L.E. Myers Co. (2012).
My case may involve the Cleveland Clinic. Can Plevin & Gallucci still represent me?
Yes. Plevin & Gallucci handles medical malpractice cases involving every major Cleveland health system.
How long do I have to file a personal injury case in Cuyahoga County?
Ohio’s general personal injury statute of limitations is two years. Medical malpractice claims generally have a one-year statute with specific tolling and discovery rules. Workers’ compensation claims have a one-year deadline. These deadlines run independently and should not be assumed to be the same.
What is the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas?
The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, located at the Justice Center on Ontario Street in downtown Cleveland, is the trial court of general jurisdiction for Cuyahoga County. Personal injury and intentional tort cases arising in the county are filed there.
