Stark County Court of Common Pleas, General Division Filing Rules

Failure to comply with the deposition-filing rule may result in waiver of all objections.

Each trial brief must include a discussion of the controlling law.

One copy of all proposed trial exhibits and an indexed brief description of each exhibit must be furnished to the court at least two working days before trial.

Counsel must submit proposed OJI instructions, proposed language and legal citations for non-OJI instructions, and interrogatories one week before trial.

Counsel must exchange copies of all exhibits and exhibit indexes no later than two working days before trial.

Unless the court orders otherwise, depositions must be filed no later than one day before trial begins.

The agreed-upon statement of the case must be submitted to the court at least two working days before trial.

The court will hold a non-oral motion hearing on or after the day following filing of the reply brief unless the court orders otherwise.

Video-deposition transcripts and objection logs stating each objection and citing relevant authority must be filed no later than one week before trial.

A proposed Stipulated Protective Order should be filed within 30 days after issuance of the Court's Case Management Order.

When the Stark County Treasurer is not a party, the Clerk must deliver a copy of the complaint to the Treasurer but not a summons.

Proof that a media objection was sent to all interested parties must accompany the objection.

All parties must comply with Ohio Civil Rule 12(A)'s service deadlines for answers and replies.

Dispositive motions, responses, and replies must be served on opposing counsel by email.

Question-and-answer text must begin 15 spaces from the left margin, and speaker identifications must use uppercase letters.

Motions must be written, and the Court will not consider oral motions.

All exhibits must be marked before trial with official stickers, using numbers for plaintiff exhibits and letters for defendant exhibits.

Individual documents may be stapled in the upper-left corner, but multiple documents may not be stapled together or to their submission envelopes.

Exhibits must be marked before trial with official stickers, using party-specific numbers or letters and double letters when the defendant has more than 26 exhibits.

A party may obtain one stipulated extension of up to 30 days by filing a written stipulation approved by all counsel when no prior extension has been granted.

Trial date conflicts must be reported to the court as early as practicable.

Continuances for the trial date will not normally be granted.

An extension of time for filing a responsive pleading or brief or completing discovery requires a written motion and a particularized showing of good cause, optionally supported by a party stipulation.

Pleadings and other papers may be filed with the clerk by facsimile transmission subject to the rule’s conditions.

Proposed jury instructions and jury interrogatories must be sent electronically by email to Magistrate Lori Flowers at the stated email address.

Required court costs for a jury demand must be paid within five days of the standard pretrial order; unpaid jury demands will be struck and do not constitute a valid jury demand.

Required court cost deposits must be paid within five days after the order's entry.

Required court-cost deposits must be paid within five days of the order, with dismissal or striking of a jury demand possible for nonpayment.

Required court cost deposits must be paid within five days of the order's entry date.

Attorneys are encouraged to use the available courtroom technology and may contact Haley McKrill by phone or email to obtain court time for familiarization.

Attorneys are encouraged to use available courtroom technology and may contact Bailiff Scott Zehnder at (330) 451-7713 to arrange equipment familiarization.

A courtesy copy of the proposed jury-instruction materials should be emailed to the assigned magistrate.

One copy of all proposed trial exhibits and a descriptive exhibit index must be furnished to the court no later than two working days before trial.

Copies of the required trial documents must be delivered to chambers.

Dispositive motions, responses, and replies must be emailed to opposing counsel, with courtesy copies emailed to the court contact.

A fax transmission may not exceed 10 pages.

Support and responsive briefs are limited to 20 pages excluding appendices and tables of cases, reply briefs are limited to 12 pages, and the Court may grant a page increase on a showing of good cause.

Counsel must confer at least ten days before the final pretrial to determine whether factual or issue stipulations are possible.

After the clerk completes processing, the petitioner may move on Form 10-B to seal the confidential information sheet and Form 10-A.

Each fax cover page may cover only one pleading, and every pleading requires a separate cover sheet.