Ohio Makes Significant Amendments To Rules Of Civil Procedure

Recent amendments to the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure will affect the timeline of court proceedings throughout the state.  Notably, Ohio now has uniform motion deadlines to streamline processes.  The amendments became effective July 1 and serve to eliminate confusion regarding deadlines and other requirements.

The Supreme Court of Ohio, in the amendments, has chosen to do away with varying local rules and implement uniform statewide deadlines.  The amendment to Rule 6 of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure establishes a twenty-eight-day deadline for service of responses to motions for summary judgment and a fourteen-day deadline for service of responses to all other motions.  A movant’s reply to a response to any motion may be served within seven days after service of the response.  Rule 56 has been amended to explain that all materials in support of a summary judgment should be served with the motion itself.

Motions for purposes of trial, such as a motion in limine, must be filed at least twenty-eight days prior to the trial, while motions for purposes of a hearing must be served no later than fourteen days prior to the hearing.  Importantly, Rule 6 allows courts to modify the summary judgment and motion deadlines for good cause.

Attributed to advancements in technology, the amendments update the language about interrogatories, document productions, and requests for admission should be presented.  Rather than referencing “word processing” and “computer disk,” Rule 33, 34, and 36 now state that the discovery must serve an electric copy on a shareable medium in an editable format.  The discovery process has moved forward in tandem with technological advances, thus making it necessary to update the 2004 version of the relevant Rules.

These changes should result in a more streamlined and effective system.  Attorneys licensed in Ohio should educate themselves on these amendments to ensure compliance in future proceedings.

 

*Kevin Hoskins is a partner with DBL Law, practicing civil litigation, employment and labor and administrative law. His practice focuses on cases involving business disputes, zoning issues, product liability claims and job-related claims, including Title VII discrimination and retaliation. DBL Law is a full-service law firm with offices in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Louisville.

*DBL Law Summer Associate Brianna Vollman contributed to this article.