Changes to the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure

The 2023 changes to the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure include amendments to multiple rules governing discovery. Ohio R. Civ. P. 26(F) was amended in 2020 to require parties, 21 days before the scheduling conference with the court, to confer about issues affecting discovery, to make or to arrange for initial disclosures, and to develop a discovery plan. The 2023 amendment to Ohio R. Civ. P. 26(F) allows courts to adopt local rules eliminating this requirement for cases where little or no pretrial discovery is anticipated. For cases not excepted from the requirements of Ohio R. Civ. P. 26(F), a party’s failure to participate in a conference or in drafting the discovery plan is grounds for sanctions. The 2023 amendments to Ohio R. Civ. P. 37(C)(2) specifically authorizes the court to sanction the noncomplying party, including ordering the noncomplying party to pay the reasonable expenses and attorneys’ fees caused by the failure and imposing other sanctions against the noncomplying party or its counsel, such as striking a pleading, dismissing the action, entering default judgment against the disobedient party, etc.

The 2023 amendments also include changes to depositions of corporate representatives under Ohio R. Civ. P. 30(B)(5) that are similar to the changes made to Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6) in 2000. Ohio R. Civ. P. 30(B)(5) now requires the party serving the notice or subpoena and the organization to confer (either before or promptly after the notice or subpoena is served) in good faith about the matters for examination. If a party fails to confer in good faith, Ohio R. Civ. P. 37(C)(2) authorizes the court to sanction the party in the same manner as a party who fails to comply with the conference and discovery plan requirements of Ohio R. Civ. P. 26(F).

The changes to these Rules reflect the general desire of the courts for litigants to work together on issues involving discovery, and provides the court with a hammer to ensure party compliance