Cleveland Law Library Weblog

The State of Ohio Has Launched a New Site That Allow You to Track Agency Rule Changes and Receive Email Alerts

Ohio has launched a new website called RuleWatch Ohio that will allow you to track Agency Rules that affect you, your family, or your business. An OSBA News Release for the launch states that:

"RuleWatch Ohio allows individuals to track a specific rule they are interested in, or rules that cover a particular area of interest. By creating an account on the RuleWatch Ohio site, users can receive email alerts when there is activity on any of the rules they have selected."

Rule watchers may already be aware of the Register of Ohio online, which provides public notices of state Agency rule-making. However, RuleWatch Ohio proposes to be more user-friendly, and it may encourage more citizens to become involved in the rule-making process. 

Reorganized and Renumbered Ohio Supreme Court Rules of Practice Take Effect Today, 1/2/13

The Ohio's Supreme Court's newly reorganized and renumbered Rules of Practice take effect today, 1/2/13. According to the Court's news release:

"The reorganization presents a more logical ordering of the rules for attorneys and self-represented litigants that is intended to help them locate filing requirements..."

To help attorneys and pro se litigants find where the new rules are located and compare them to the old rules as necessary, the Court has prepared a handy, color-coded conversion chart.

Ohio Supreme Court Requests Comments on Proposed Changes to the Rules of Practice and Procedure (appellate, civil, criminal, juvenile and evidence)

The Ohio Supreme Court is requesting comments until November 13th on proposed changes to the Rules of Practice and Procedure, including appellate, civil, criminal, juvenile and evidence rules. According to the Court's news release,

"The proposed amendments concern changes to the rules of  appellate procedure, civil procedure, criminal procedure, juvenile procedure  and the Ohio Rules of Evidence.

Many of the proposed changes target inconsistencies, allow  for electronic means of service, remove outdated concepts, or move certain  rules to other sections that make more sense. There are, however, a few substantive  changes to existing rules.

• Proposed amendments to Civ. R. 4.4 and Juv. R. 16 would       make it clear that service by posting can be used in initial actions and       expand it to post-decree matters. In addition to the traditional “posting”       of a notice on the courthouse bulletin board, service would use the county       clerk of court’s website if it exists, although the amendments don’t       require electronic posting.
• Amendments to Civ. R. 10(D)(2) and Evid. R. 601 seek to       enhance the affidavit of merit requirement and clarify who qualifies as an       expert in a medical claim. The amendments distinguish between medical       malpractice cases and other medical, dental, optometric or chiropractic       claims. An amendment to Evid. R. 601 would require experts to have devoted       three-quarters of their professional time to active clinical practice at       the time of the event giving rise to the claim."

Click here to follow the link to view the text of the proposed amendments and for the address for the submission of comments.  Assuming no problems or changes occur, these proposed amendments would go into effect on July 1, 2013.

Changes Coming to Local Deposition Practice under Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Rule 13

The Judges of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court recently proposed amendments to Local Rule 13 governing deposition practice. Two of the major changes include limitations on the duration of a deposition and the types of objections that can be raised. The proposed amendments also identify the sources of possible sanctions (Ohio Civil Rules 26(C) and 37), which can include attorney fees. Click here to review the proposed changes. The Court Administrator is accepting comments on the changes until September 10, 2012. Send comments to:

Gregory M. Popovich
Court Administrator
Justice Center - 11th Floor
1200 Ontario Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113 

Ohio Supreme Court launches Court News Ohio, including a Facebook page and a Twitter feed.

The Ohio Supreme Court has gone even more high-tech with yesterday's launch of Court News Ohio, which includes a Facebook page and a Twitter feed. According to the Court's Press Release, Court News Ohio is a "multichannel, multimedia program covering news about the Ohio judicial system for the judiciary, legal community, and the general public."  Court news about programs, rule amendments, and judicial appointments will transition to these new venues. Online news will be found at courtnewsohio.gov, but the court will also publish a print publication called Court News Ohio Review. Court news will also be aired on CNO-TV in the Supreme Court's collection on the Ohio Channel. The Supreme Court's new Facebook page is aptly named Court News Ohio, and its Twitter feed is @courtnewsohio. The Court is posting videos for downloading or through a free podcast subscription on Apple iTunes. A video announcing Court News Ohio has already been posted at the Ohio Channel.

New Changes to Federal Criminal and Bankruptcy Rules Coming 12/1/12

According to a press release from our local federal district court, "the U.S. Supreme Court has approved and transmitted to Congress amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that will take effect on December 1, 2012 unless Congress takes action to reject, modify or defer them." Changes to the Federal Criminal Rules include:

• Criminal Rule 5 (specifies the place of the initial
  appearance for a defendant extradited to the U.S.)
• Criminal Rule 15 (authorizes the taking of
  depositions outside of the U.S. without the defendant being present in limited
  circumstances)
• Criminal Rule 37 (new rule articulating procedures
  for obtaining an indicative ruling)

Click here for information on these changes and changes to the Bankruptcy Rules.

Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals is Seeking Comments until May 18th on Proposed Amendments to Local Rules 3, 14, 21 and 45

The Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals is seeking comments until May 18th on proposed Amendments to Local Rules 3 (costs), 14 (extensions of time), 21 (oral argument) and 45 (fees for extraordinary writs). According to the Court's press release, comments on the proposed changes can be send to ulv@8thappeals.com until May 18th.

Lawyers Asked to Comment on Proposed Amendments to 6th Circuit Rules and IOPs

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit is proposing "comprehensive amendments" to both the 6th Circuit Rules and IOPs. Interested parties are being asked to email their comments to Leonard Green, Clerk, at ca06-rules_comments@ca6.uscourts.gov no later than July 12, 2012.

Cuyahoga County's Revised Domestic Violence Rule (Local Rule 26) Is Effective Today, 5/1/12

Today, May 1, 2012, is the effective date for Cuyahoga County Domestic Relation's Court's revised Domestic Violence Rule, Local Rule 26. The Court's website also provides access to domestic violence forms, information and FAQ's. All of the Court's Local Rules can be found on the Court's website.

Cuyahoga County Probate Court Posts New Mediation Rules

On September 23, 2011, the Cuyahoga County Probate Court posted changes to its mediation rules that affect Local Rules 11.1, 16.1 and 53.1. The new Rules can be found at this link on the Court's website. As we indicated in a prior post, the Probate Court began offering mediation services earlier this month.