Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Filing Rules

A fee application submitted to the Court’s Finance Department must include a copy of the signed and filed Entry of Appointment.

If the Civ.R. 26 Conference results in an amended case management schedule, the parties must provide a proposed modifying entry.

The separate pro se signature exhibit must be clearly marked as accompanying the proposed order and include the case's complete name and caption.

When requested under Local Rule 16, counsel must file a joint pretrial statement by the final pretrial conference date.

Every motion, including a motion for default judgment, must include a certificate of service and counsel’s phone number and email address in the signature block.

The administrative record must be filed by week 4.

Court documents signed electronically are deemed filed as of the date and time the Clerk receives them through the e-Filing System.

The pretrial statement must be filed three days before the final pretrial conference.

A filing submitted to the Clerk's Office may take as long as three days to reach Chambers.

If the required certification is missing or unacceptable, the dispositive motion will be overruled and the case scheduled for trial within 90 days.

Counsel must promptly call the staff attorney to report that a case has settled.

The court is amenable to conducting status and pretrial conferences by telephone unless personal appearance is necessary.

Trial Counsel or unrepresented parties should always leave their cell phone numbers with the 5A Staff Attorney.

Court staff may not engage in unilateral ex parte communications or provide legal advice.

The staff attorney may be contacted by phone regarding pending civil matters, civil settlements, and requests for a status conference.

After assignment, the trial judge may reassess a party's ability to pay and order payment of all or part of the costs.

The Clerk’s electronic filing for a paying pro se litigant requires payment of the applicable deposit or filing fee.

Before August 1, 2012, notices of appeal were required to be filed in paper form with the Franklin County Clerk of Courts under App.R. 3.

Every CQE application must first be submitted through the ODRC electronic database.

Electronic motions for continuance are not accepted.

Electronic motions for continuance are not accepted in criminal cases.

Electronic motions for continuance are not accepted.

When settlement or dismissal occurs within two days or less before arbitration, the settlement and dismissal entry must include an order for payment of arbitrator fees identifying each arbitrator’s name, address, and amount due.

A pro se litigant who supplied an email address receives electronic notification and service.

A Joint Final Pretrial Statement must be emailed to the 5A Staff Attorney simultaneously with filing it with the Clerk.

After filing a restraining-order motion, counsel must notify the opposing parties, and known attorneys, of the hearing date and time.

Copies should be emailed to the Court (please call chambers for the appropriate email address).

Exhibits filed in multiple parts must be clearly labeled to identify the part of the submission they contain.

Civil court documents must be double-spaced, but footnotes, indented quotations longer than two lines, and headings may be single-spaced.

Exhibits must be attached, correctly labeled, and complete; inaccurate or omitted exhibit citations will be disregarded, and the Court will not independently locate missing evidence or correct citations.

Without prior leave, the Court may disregard portions of a motion, memorandum, or brief exceeding Local Rule 12's page limits.

Each filed motion's signature block must include a working email address and phone number.

At any party's request, an arbitration hearing must be continued when a motion objecting to arbitration referral remains undecided.

A civil trial continuance requires a written motion and should be requested well before trial, absent a true emergency; stipulations alone are insufficient.

A request to change, extend, or continue even one case-schedule date or deadline must be made by a motion to amend the entire schedule.

Continuance requests should be made as soon as possible and will be granted only for good cause.

Unless there is a true emergency, a trial continuance motion must be written and should be filed well before the final pretrial conference.

Counsel seeking to amend the case schedule should consider the applicable presumptive trial deadlines, comply to the best of their ability, and consult other counsel about conflicts before approaching the Court.

Parties must make reasonable pre-motion efforts to resolve discovery disputes before filing discovery motions.

Before filing a discovery motion, counsel must make reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute, and a single email is insufficient.

Before filing any discovery motion, counsel must make reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute independently.

Parties are encouraged, but not required, to contact the Staff Attorney and request a status conference before pursuing discovery-related motion practice.

Reply memoranda and briefs, including administrative appeals, may not exceed seven pages, must address only matters in rebuttal, and will not be considered without prior leave of the Court if they exceed seven pages.

Counsel ordinarily should edit tightly and remain within the Local Rule 12 page limits.

Supporting and opposing memoranda or briefs, including administrative appeals, may not exceed 15 pages excluding supporting documents unless the Court grants prior leave.

The Court may disregard memorandum pages exceeding Local Rule limits unless prior leave to file longer documents was obtained.

The Court may disregard memorandum pages exceeding the Local Rules limits unless it granted prior leave to file a longer document.

A courthouse or courtroom body-worn-camera recording may not be released externally without advance review by the Administrative Judge or designee, and any recording containing confidential, exempt, or privileged material requires that official's consent for release.

Documents may be filed under seal only after the Court has entered a prior sealing order.

For motions needing immediate action, parties should first confer and, if possible, file a joint or unopposed motion with a proposed entry.

Evidentiary material may not be filed with a reply memorandum or at oral argument without prior leave of court.

Do not file multiple versions of the same document. Please email the Court’s staff attorney if a motion or document needs attention. The filing of multiple version of the same thing bogs down our system, causing decisions to take longer.

Exhibits should, to the extent possible, be bundled with the motion or brief to which they apply.

A duplicate of the receivership plan and report must be submitted to chambers.

Pertinent deposition transcripts must be filed with the Clerk's Office and a courtesy copy delivered to the court at least 14 days before trial.

Counsel must present the original paper cognovit note to chambers for review before the judge signs the proposed judgment entry.