Justia Civil Procedure Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing Appellant's petition for writs of mandamus and procedendo against Ashtabula County Court Judge David A. Schroeder, holding that Appellant had an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law.Appellant filed a petition seeking a writ of mandamus ordering Judge Schroeder to grant his motion to vacate a trial court's judgment denying his motion for the return of his fine and court costs and seeking a writ of procedendo compelling Judge Schroeder to provide the clerk of courts with proper certification of the total amount of money to be returned to Appellant. The court of appeals dismissed the petition. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because Appellant had an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law Appellant's request for extraordinary relief in mandamus and procedendo was barred. View "State ex rel. Davies v. Schroeder" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court awarding Appellee costs to recover the cost of procuring deposition transcripts after an discrimination lawsuit was resolved on summary judgment, holding that Ohio Rev. Code 2303.21 does not provide statutory authority for a party to recover the cost of deposition transcripts used in support of a motion for summary judgment.Appellant sued Appellee for age discrimination. Over the course of litigation the parties took five depositions. Appellee filed a motion for summary judgment citing to the transcripts of the depositions in support of its motion. The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment. Thereafter, Appellee moved to recover the cost of procuring the deposition transcripts pursuant to section 2303.21. The trial court granted the motion. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the statute does not allow the expense of procuring deposition transcripts to be taxed as a cost. View "Vossman v. AirNet Systems, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals denying Appellant's motion for relief from a judgment dismissing his mandamus action against the Ohio Adult Parole Authority and the Bureau of Sentence Computation (collectively, the APA), holding that the court of appeals properly denied Appellant's motion for relief from judgment.In his complaint for a writ of mandamus Appellant, an inmate, alleged that he should have been eligible for parole in 2019 but that the APA had his first hearing scheduled for 2024. The court of appeals dismissed the complaint after adopting the recommendation of the magistrate. Appellant then filed a motion for relief from judgment. The court of appeals denied the motion, ruling that Appellant was barred from asserting that the court of appeals committed any error in adopting the magistrate's decision. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant's propositions of law were either waived or without merit. View "State ex rel. Franks v. Ohio Adult Parole Authority" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing Appellant's complaint for a writ of prohibition and dismissed as moot the motions Appellant filed in connection with the complaint, holding that the court of appeals correctly dismissed the complaint.In his complaint, Appellant sought to vacate charging orders and receivership orders concerning his membership interests in two limited liability companies, asserting that the orders exceeded the authority of Henry County Court of Common Pleas Judge John Collier. The court of appeals dismissed the complaint, concluding that Judge Collier did not patently and unambiguously lack jurisdiction to enter a charging order or to appoint a receiver. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because Judge Collier had subject matter jurisdiction to enter a charging order and to appoint a receiver, Appellant did not show that the judge patently and unambiguously lacked jurisdiction. View "State ex rel. Kerr v. Collier" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed this appeal from the court of appeals' dismissal of Appellant's petition for a writ of prohibition against Summit County Court of Common Pleas and Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands, holding that this cause was moot.National Collegiate Student Loan Trust 2007-2 filed a civil action against Appellant in the court of common pleas. Judge Rowlands demised the case without prejudice and then reinstated the case after considering National Collegiate's motion for relief from judgment. Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of prohibition alleging that Judge Rowland lacked jurisdiction to issue the order reinstating the case. The court of appeals dismissed the petition for failure to state a claim. Appellant appealed. Judge Rowlands claimed that the appeal was moot because, during the pendency of the appeal, she dismissed National Collegiate's case a second time. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the cause was moot and that no exception to the mootness doctrine applied. View "State ex rel. Ames v. Summit County Court of Common Pleas" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court found Larry Greene in contempt for failing to provide records under the terms of an existing peremptory writ of mandamus and imposed a sanction of $1,000, holding that Greene failed to meet his obligations under both Ohio's Public Records Act and the peremptory writ of mandamus issued by this Court.When Jerone McDougald was an inmate at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) he sent a public records request to Greene, SOCF's public records custodian. When Greene did not provide copies of the requested document McDougald filed an action for a writ of mandamus. The Supreme Court granted a peremptory writ. Later, the McDougald filed a motion asking that Greene be held in contempt for court for withholding the requested document. The Supreme Court held that Greene failed to meet his obligations, found him in contempt of court, and imposed a sanction, which the Court stayed to allow Greene the opportunity to purge the contempt in a manner outlined by the Court. View "State ex rel. McDougald v. Greene" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's order confirming the sale of Homeowners' property after the trial court entered a foreclosure decree in favor of Bank, holding that the foreclosure decree was a final, appealable order.Homeowners challenged the trial court's entry of a foreclosure decree in favor Bank. The court of appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of a final, appealable order because the foreclosure decree did not state the amounts owed to two other lienholders. During the appeal, Homeowners' property was sold at a sheriff's sale. Homeowners' second appeal challenged the trial court's order confirming the sale of the property. The court of appeals concluded that the law-of-the-case doctrine required adherence to its earlier decision that the foreclosure decree was not a final, appealable order, and therefore, the trial court had no authority to confirm the sale. The Supreme Court reversed and reinstated the trial court's confirmation of sale, holding that the foreclosure decree against Homeowners was a final, appealable order that fully addressed the rights and responsibilities of all parties. View "Farmers State Bank v. Sponaugle" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing Appellant's petition for a writ of mandamus to compel Appellee, Judge Megan E. Shanahan of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, to provide public records relating to his incarceration, holding that Appellant improperly sought records under the Public Records Act rather than the Rules of Superintendence.Appellant was convicted of aggravated burglary, abduction, and rape. Appellant later filed motions seeking the inspection and release of public records relating to his case. Judge Shanahan denied the motions, noting that Appellant could access all publicly available records through the clerk of courts. Appellant then filed his petition for a writ of mandamus. The court of appeals dismissed the writ, concluding that since Appellant was incarcerated, a sentencing court must first determine that the court records were necessary to support a justiciable claim. The Supreme Court affirmed but on different grounds, holding that the court of appeals erred in applying the Ohio Public Records Act, Ohio Rev. Code 149.43, to Appellant's records request and that the court of appeals correctly dismissed the case. View "State ex rel. Husband v. Shanahan" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied as moot Relator's complaint seeking a writ of mandamus against Larry Greene, the administrative assistant for the warden of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, to compel the production of public records, holding that Relator was not entitled to mandamus because he received the documents that he requested.After Relator, an inmate, submitted a public-records request he filed a complaint for writ of mandamus against Greene. Eight days later, Relator was provided with copies of the requested records. Greene filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that Relator filed to attach certain documents to the complaint. Three months late, Relator filed a motion asking the Court to consider the affidavit and exhibits attached to his complaint as substantive evidence. The Supreme Court (1) denied the writ of mandamus as moot; (2) denied Relator's demand for statutory damages and court costs on the merits; and (3) denied Relator's motion to have the attachments to his complaint accepted as service as moot. View "State ex rel. Martin v. Greene" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied Appellee's motion to dismiss Appellant's appeal from the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) that denied Appellant's claim for property-tax exemption for several parcels of land it owned, holding that Appellant timely perfected its appeal.As support for its motion to dismiss, Appellee argued that because Appellant did not initiate service by certified mail within the thirty-day period prescribed by Ohio Rev. Code 5717.04 for filing its notice of appeal, the Supreme Court must dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court rejected Appellee's argument, holding that section 5717.04 does not state a timeline for the certified-mail service of the notice of appeal on the appellees, and it is not disputed that the notice of appeal was properly served on Appellee by certified mail. View "The City of Upper Arlington v. McClain" on Justia Law