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.
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Practice Pointers
Ohio Supreme Court grants writs to expose sealed affidavit, prevent use of pseudonym
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
Understanding supplemental authority at oral argument
If you prepare for oral argument enough times, eventually it will happen. Whether preparing directly for an argument or working on another matter, you will find a case that should have been included in your briefing. What do you do when you find such authority? …
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Counsel beware of intemperate assertions in briefs; First Amendment may not save you from discipline
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. …
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Sure, the order is ‘final,’ but is it a final appealable order?
Back in the late 1990s when I attended the University of Dayton School of Law, I had the opportunity to serve as an extern at Ohio’s Second District Court of Appeals for a few months. I remember the court administrator telling me that one focus of my externship would be helping the judges decide whether the appellants in newly filed appeals were appealing from final, appealable orders. I recall thinking to myself — naively —“How hard can that really be?” Little did I know how vexing that particular question would become not only during my externship, but also throughout my legal career. A recent (and split) decision from the Ohio Supreme Court in Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow v. Ohio State Board of Education (ECOT) illustrates just how tricky the concept of finality truly can be, and how judges can disagree sharply on whether or not a given order is both final and appealable under Ohio law. …
Continue Reading Sure, the order is ‘final,’ but is it a final appealable order?
Definitely don’t do this at oral argument
“You guys” is some easy vernacular for people of certain age groups (me included). But it should never be used to refer to the judges at oral argument.
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Last oral argument of 2020: The great cleanup time
The Ohio Supreme Court heard its last regularly-scheduled argument of 2020. We dive into the positives and negatives of pausing oral argument, and what that may mean for litigants.
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Continuing oral argument at the Ohio Supreme Court
The Ohio Supreme Court does not have a defined methodology as to when it will or won’t continue oral argument. Some recent examples are worth of further review.
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Ohio Supreme Court practice: Propositions of law in the memorandum in support of jurisdiction
In this post, we reveal the undisclosed secret to the most critical component of a Memorandum in Support of Jurisdiction to the Ohio Supreme Court.
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COVID-19 and Supreme Court extensions
The Supreme Court confronts a new request for delayed briefing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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