Cleveland Law Library Weblog

Summary of En Banc Decisions Issued by the Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals Available from 2010 Through July 2011

As part of helping someone with appellate research this week, I came across a great summary of en banc decisions from the 8th District Court of Appeals for the period 2010 through July 2011. Although the Court provides a disclaimer that the summaries are not legal advice or opinions, some of the summaries are actual journal entries issued by the Court. Click here for a link to a location for accessing full text opinions of the Court.

Rules Change Oct. 1st for Practice Before Ohio Supreme Court

A reminder from the Ohio Supreme Court indicates that the following procedural changes will take effect on October 1st for practice before the Court:

• Changes to Rule 1.2 that specify a motion for pro hac vice admission (mandatory for out-of-state attorneys) shall follow the requirements of sections a-e of Gov. Bar R. XII(2)(A)(6), including the required affidavit.
• Changes to Rule 2.2 that establish that the time to appeal to the Supreme Court is tolled (placed on hold) pending the outcome of a sua sponte en banc (consisting of all members of the court) consideration by an appeals court.
• Changes to Rule 8.5 that require copies of jurisdictional memoranda and merit briefs to be single-sided and reduce the number of copies required for jurisdictional memoranda, complaints in original actions and evidence in original actions.
• Changes to Rule 18.3 that requires the Clerk to notify all parties or counsel upon the filing of a certified question of state law.

Click here to find the text of the new rules, which will eventually be posted to the Court's Rules of Court page.

Cleveland-Marshall Law School to Open High-Tech Trial Courtroom

Having raised almost all of the funds it had hoped, Cleveland-Marshall is opening a brand new, $1 million dollar trial courtroom with high-tech like that used in the local federal district courthouse. CSU plans to use the room to educate students about the trial process and rent the room to lawyers and jury consulting firms who want to conduct mock trials and/or practice witness testimony. Apparently, naming rights are still available for the room itself and several components of the room, including the judge's chambers and the jury deliberation room. Interestingly, this room is unique among Ohio law schools and rare across the country, but Jones Day's Cleveland office has a trial courtroom of its own that it uses for practicing for oral arguments, among other things.

Ohio Supreme Court Issues New Oral Argument Guide for Lawyers

The Ohio Supreme Court has just issued a new 16-page Guide for Counsel Presenting Oral Arguments before the Court. The Guide contains information on who may argue cases, preparing for oral argument, timing on when to arrive at court, court etiquette, effective presentation skills, tips for responding to questions, managing your time, courtroom partcipants, and opinion releases. The Guide also contains a map of the Courtroom and a list of all of the justices. All in all, it is a handy one-stop shop for key information on presenting an argument before the court.

Ohio Supreme Court Getting ready for Annual Update to Civil, Appellate, Criminal and Juvenile Rules

The Ohio Supreme Court is getting a head start on annual updates to the rules governing civil, appellate, criminal and juvenile practice in Ohio. Through November 2nd, the Court is accepting comments on proposed changes which would include rules on official transcripts for appeal, oral argument scheduling, magistrate qualifications, and rules for juvenile proceedings. Click here to read the Court's press release, which contains a link where you can read the text of the proposed rules.

Court Filings in Ohio Are Down, Especially Traffic Cases

This year's Ohio Courts Statistical Summary from the Ohio Supreme Court shows that case filings are down eight percent (8%). The largest decrease appears to be in traffic cases, the fines from which fund the Cuyahoga County Law Library, and all other county law libraries in Ohio.  In contrast to a decrease in traffic cases, the numbers for breach of contract, non-tort civil cases and domestic violence cases are all up. Click here to review the actual statistics. Click here to read the Court's Press Release.

National Center for State Courts Issues 2010 Edition of Future Trends in State Courts

The National Center for State Courts has just released its 2010 edition of Future Trends in State Courts. According to the Press Release, the focus of this report looks at "court reengineering"-which evaluates court operations with the goal "to improve processes and save money while increasing efficiency and maintaining service levels to the public." The report gives concrete examples of states that are tackling this project through changes in service structures, technology and much more.  While part of the study reports that the recession is impacting court activity in Ohio, it also indicates that litigants are finding more and more help finding legal information from their local libraries. Significantly, the report also indicates that Ohio is planning to implement appellate court e-filing in the next 2-3 years. Both Steve Hollon, the Administrative Director of the Ohio Supreme Court, and Chris Davey, Ohio Supreme Court Director of Public Information, played major roles in creation of the report.

8th District COA Amends Procedural Rules

Yesterday, the 8th District Court of Appeals in Cuyahoga County amended Local Rules 18(B) and 22(A) governing filing failures and entry of judgment, respectively, and added new Local App. R. 26 on en banc consideration. New Rule 26 supersedes former Local Appellate Rule 25.1. Click here for the text of the current rules.

Judge Sean Gallagher Served as a Visiting Judge in the Ohio Supreme Court

Earlier this week on July 6th, local appellate Judge Sean Gallagher served as a Visiting Judge in the Ohio Supreme Court. He and Fourth District Judge William Harsha took over for Chief Justice Brown and Justice Cupp in the case of Bd. of Trustees of the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation v. Boyce (Case No. 2010-0118).

All 8th District Decisions Are Now Journalized Upon Release

All 8th District Court of Appeals decisions are now going to be journalized as of the date of their release. The Court made this change to reflect changes the Ohio Supreme Court made to its rules of procedure and appellate filing deadlines.