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Gary W. Kisling
of counsel
Areas of Practice
Workers’ Compensation, Premises Liability Cases, Personal Injury Cases, Motor Vehicle Accidents
Gary W. Kisling was born and raised in the countryside of southeastern Iowa. At an early age, he developed a strong sense of justice and anger toward injustice. Gary has now practiced law for over 37 years and is a founding partner of Kisling, Nestico & Redick. His broad legal experience and years of practice give him perspective and insight into helping people.
While in law school, Gary worked for one year as a judicial legal assistant in the Akron Municipal Court, then two years as a judicial legal assistant in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. It was in the Court of Common Pleas that Gary says he received his real legal education. In addition to legal research, writing memorandums, and draft opinions, Gary’s judge requested his presence during jury trials to assist with complex evidentiary issues. This gave Gary the opportunity to watch good and bad lawyers try cases and observe jurors’ reactions.
Gary went into private practice immediately following law school and tried his first jury trial in his second week of practice. He has since tried dozens of jury trials to verdict as lead counsel, and settled multi-million dollar cases. In addition to trying complicated and serious injury cases, he counts a jury verdict of nearly one million dollars in a soft tissue injury case as one of his most satisfying experiences.
Gary has also won cases in the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Ohio dealing with various issues including the unconstitutionality of the Ohio Workers’ Compensation subrogation statute, defeating sovereign immunity for a county-owned nursing home, lack of customer’s prior notice of a defective condition despite previous use in premises liability cases, the admissibility of an expert witness’s testimony based partially upon hearsay, and the limitation of the former doctrine of parental immunity in personal injury cases.
In addition to his law school education and other continuing legal education courses, Gary is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Institute of Trial Advocacy in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College at Thunderhead Ranch, Dubois, Wyoming. He has given presentations on personal injury trial practice and cross-examination of expert witnesses to other lawyers.
Professional Profiles and Reviews
Bar Admissions
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 1979
- Ohio, 1977
Education
- University of Akron School of Law, Akron, Ohio, J.D. – 1977
- University of Iowa , Iowa City, Iowa, B.A. – 1973 – Major: Political Science
Representative Cases
- Modzelewski v. Yellow Freight Systems, Inc., 102 Ohio St.3d 192 (The Ohio Supreme Court 2004)
- Starling v. MetroHealth Center Skilled Nursing, 1999 WL 685641 (The 8th District Court of Appeals 1999)
- Holl v. Montrose, Inc., 82 Ohio App.3d 644 (The 9th District Court of Appeals 1992)
- Banks v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 1987 WL 19456 (The 9th District Court of Appeals 1987)
- Cline v. Kline, 1985 WL 10762 (The 9th District Court of Appeals 1985)
Classes/Seminars
- Trial of The Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Case, National Business Institute, 2006
- Cross Examination of The Defense Expert in Medical Malpractice Cases, Summit County Trial Lawyer’s Association, 2000
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Ohio Association for Justice
- Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyer’s College, Dubois, Wyoming, 2000
- University of Virginia, Institute of Trial Advocacy, 1997
Professional Experience
- Kisling Legal Group, Founding Partner, 2004 – 2005
- Small Plaintiff Firm, Partner, 1989 – 2004
- Kisling Law Offices, Founding Partner, 1985 – 1989
- Emershaw, Shumaker, Lang & Kisling, Attorney, 1978 – 1985
- Summit County Court of Common Pleas, Judicial Legal Assistant, 1975 – 1978
- Akron Municipal Court, Judicial Legal Assistant, 1974 – 1975