For a variety of reasons, legal clients frequently prefer to use their out-of-state counsel for matters litigated before the Ohio Supreme Court or other Ohio tribunals. For these attorneys seeking to appear in Ohio courts and affiliated local counsel, the end of the calendar year – and the beginning of the next one – can come with harsh reminders about the timely need to renew pro hac vice registrations.
Continue Reading Pro hac vice pro tip: Ohio Supreme Court requires annual renewal

OHIO APPELLATE INSIGHTS /stats

In our last feature on Ohio Supreme Court statistics, we put numbers behind the question, “How long will it take for the Ohio Supreme Court to decide on a discretionary appeal, or jurisdictional?” If you have not had the opportunity to read that post, we were surprised to learn criminal cases were being decided faster.
Continue Reading Putting numbers behind Ohio Supreme Court jurisdictional decisions: What percentage of cases are being accepted?

Attorneys frequently navigate choppy waters between the presumption of openness that applies to court proceedings and the insistence of their clients to file a number of documents under seal to maintain the secrecy of information relevant to the proceedings.
Continue Reading Ohio Supreme Court grants writs to expose sealed affidavit, prevent use of pseudonym

OHIO APPELLATE INSIGHTS /stats

The Ohio Supreme Court has a few great mysteries. A recurring one is how long you’ll have to wait to determine whether your case will be accepted as a discretionary appeal.
Continue Reading Putting numbers behind Ohio Supreme Court jurisdictional decisions: How long do they take?

Let’s face it — the practice of law can be very frustrating at times. Attorneys address unreasonable demands from opposing counsel, tight deadlines, impossibly broad discovery requests, and other issues that escalate stress levels and trigger emotions. A recent decision from the Ohio Supreme Court in Cleveland Metro. Bar Assn. v. Morton presents a cautionary tale about a frustrated attorney’s intemperate assertions in a Memorandum in Support of Jurisdiction filed in that Court.
Continue Reading Counsel beware of intemperate assertions in briefs; First Amendment may not save you from discipline

It’s a generally understood concept that case law interpreting the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure applies equally to the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure—except in one main area: motions to dismiss. In Maternal Grandmother v. Hamilton Cty. Dept. of Job & Family Servs., the Ohio Supreme Court was tasked with addressing one question: Had a grandmother of an abused and neglected child sufficiently pleaded her claim against the Hamilton County agency tasked with the grandchild’s wellbeing to overcome statutory immunity? The case had been dismissed (and affirmed on appeal). On Nov. 23, 2021, the Supreme Court reversed.
Continue Reading Rethinking pleading standards: Is the Supreme Court finally ready to address Twombly and Iqbal?

Plurality opinions are frequently a bane of appellate practitioners. When there are four justices in agreement as to the outcome of the case, but not the rationale, the plurality opinion can leave good authority, but no binding precedent. In fact, without four justices joining the rationale, a plurality decision does not represent a “holding of the court,” as seen in Fed. Home Loan Mtge. Corp. v. Schwartzwald. Schwartzwald actually relied on the Ohio Constitution, Article IV, Section 2(A):

“A majority of the supreme court shall be necessary to constitute a quorum or to render a judgment.”

Continue Reading When holding is (possibly) not controlling: The Ohio Supreme Court uses new way to identify plurality opinions