Ohio

Electronic Notice of Appeal Accepted Only if Appellate Court has Local Rule Permitting Electronic Filing

By Cleveland Law Library

In Louden V. A.O. Smith Corp., Slip. Opinion 2009-Ohio-319, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld a decision of the Eighth District Court of Appeals dismissing a case as untimely filed after the appealing parties first tried to file their notices of appeal electronically.  The parties relied upon a case management order issued in asbestos cases in Cuyahoga County requiring documents to be filed electronically to argue that the cases were filed within the thirty day period provided for in App.R. 4.  The parties later filed paper notices of appeal outside the thirty day period. Electronic filing is permitted in Appellate Courts pursuant to App.R. 13.  However, in Sup.R. 27, the Supreme Court has set forth the procedure for appellate courts to follow before electronic filings may be accepted by the courts of appeal.  The Eighth District Court of Appeals has not submitted a proposed local rule to the Supreme Court's Commission on Technology and the Courts for review as required by Sup.R. 27.  Without a proper local rule in place by the court of appeals, an order by the trial court can not provide for electronically filing a notice of appeal.

Full post as published by Cleveland Law Library Weblog on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).