Regulation UPL 200 - Case Management; Practice and Procedure 201.Case Schedule.(A)Standard case-schedule deadlines. After assignment of the Hearing Panel, the secretary of the Board, in consultation with the panel chair, shall issue a case-scheduling order to all parties or their counsel as set forth in this regulation. The case schedule shall be served on the parties no more than seven days after the time to plead or otherwise defend the complaint has elapsed. The case schedule establishes normal deadlines for certain case events, but may be adjusted at the discretion of the panel chair: Initial Telephone Status Conference | Within 40 days after assignment |
Disclosure of Witnesses | 56 days prior to hearing date |
Hearing Date | Within 150 days after assignment |
Discovery Cut-off | 28 days before hearing |
Documentary Evidence Cutoff | 30 days before hearing, unless otherwise agreed/ordered |
Exchange Proposed Exhibit List/Exhibits | 21 days before hearing |
Objections to Proposed Exhibits | 14 days before hearing |
Prehearing Statement/Briefs | 14 days before hearing |
Response to Objections to Proposed Exhibits | 7 days before hearing |
File stipulations | 7 days before hearing |
(B)Optional case-schedule deadlines. At the discretion of the panel chair, the following events may be added to the case schedule: Dispositive Motion Deadline
Motions on Preliminary or Procedural Issues Deadline
Decisions on Motions
Supplemental Disclosure of Witnesses
Final Prehearing Conference
(C)Time limits not jurisdictional. Time limits set forth in this regulation are not jurisdictional. Failure by the Board to meet the time guidelines set forth in this regulation shall not be grounds for dismissal of a complaint. (D)Private-remedy disclosure. On receipt of notice that an underlying complainant or individual is seeking a private remedy pursuant to R.C. 4705.07(C)(2), the secretary shall designate the case accordingly and inform the panel chair, who may accelerate the case-management schedule and hearing date.202.Pleadings and Motions; Dispositive Motions(A)Motions. Within the time permitted for an answer to the complaint, the respondent may file any motion appropriate under Civ.R. 12, supported by a brief and affidavits, if necessary. A brief and affidavits, if appropriate, in opposition to such motion may be filed within fourteen days after service of such motion, unless a shorter or longer period is ordered by the chair of the Board or the panel chair. Unless directed otherwise by the panel chair, any reply to the brief in opposition shall be filed within ten days of the filing of the brief in opposition. Three days shall be added to the prescribed time periods when the motion or responsive brief is served by mail. No oral hearing will be granted, and rulings of the Board will be made in writing by the chair or vice-chair of the Board or any commissioner designated by the secretary of the Board. All motions shall be made in accordance with Gov. Bar R. VII and this regulation.(B)Extensions of time. For good cause shown, the Board chair or, after appointment of a panel, the panel chair may grant extensions of time for the filing of any pleading, motion, brief, or affidavit, either before or after the time permitted for filing. No extension of time need be requested or granted to file a consent-decree agreement before adjudication by the Board as set forth in Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 13(C).(C)Dispositive motions. Any motion, including but not limited to a motion for summary judgment, a motion for judgment on the pleadings, or a motion to dismiss, that seeks to determine the merits of any claim or defense as to any or all parties shall be considered a dispositive motion. A voluntary dismissal under Civ. R. 41 is not a dispositive motion for purposes of this regulation. All dispositive motions shall be filed no later than the date specified in the case schedule. Pursuant to Civ. R. 56(A), leave is granted in all cases to file summary-judgment motions between the time of service of the complaint and the dispositive-motion date, unless the panel chair orders otherwise. If a dispositive-motion date was not established in the initial case schedule, leave of the panel chair must be obtained pursuant to Civ.R. 56(A). Parties shall file their summary-judgment motion at the earliest practical date during the pendency of the case.(D)Withdrawal of counsel. Counsel seeking to withdraw from a pending case shall file a motion to withdraw. In the case of counsel for the respondent, the motion shall include a certification that a copy of the motion to withdraw has been provided to the respondent and that withdrawing counsel has complied or will comply with the applicable requirements of Prof. Cond. R. 1.16. The panel chair may conduct a hearing or phone conference before ruling on the motion.203 Filings; Required Number of Copies; Exhibits; Manner of Service. (A) General. All pleadings, motions, briefs, stipulations, consent-decree agreements, certificates of nonregistration, and other documents shall be filed with the Board and contain a certificate of service. The certificate of service shall include a statement that service has been made on the opposing party, the manner of service, whether the document has been served on the panel, and, if so, the manner of service. Service by certified mail is hereby waived by the Board and may be waived by the parties or their counsel.(B) Filing. Complaints shall be filed with the Board as required by Gov. Bar R. VII. All other documents shall be filed with the Board in the form of the original document, plus one copy.(C) Copies. A party who files or presents exhibits for use at a hearing shall provide or have available sufficient copies for use at the hearing by the opposing party, witnesses, and each member of the hearing panel.(D) Completion of Service. If service of any document by certified mail is refused or unclaimed, the secretary may make service by ordinary mail evidenced by a certificate of mailing. Service shall be considered complete when the fact of mailing is entered in the record, provided that the ordinary-mail envelope is not returned by the postal authorities with an endorsement showing failure of delivery.(E) Service by Other Means. The panel chair may order the service of documents on the panel by electronic or other alternative means. Any order of the panel chair shall not relieve a party from filing documents with the Board as contained in this regulation.(F) Electronic Filing, Service, and Required Respondent Email Address. (1) Filing of electronic documents shall be made by emailing the documents to UPLFilings@sc.ohio.gov. All documents filed in this manner shall include an email at which the filing party may be contacted and electronically served.(2) Any document filed electronically pursuant to this regulation shall meet all requirements of Gov. Bar R. VII and these regulations.(3) A document filed electronically pursuant to this regulation shall be submitted as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.(4) Filing documents electronically pursuant to this regulation does not alter any filing deadlines imposed by Gov. Bar R. VII or these regulations.(5) Once good service of a complaint has been made upon a respondent pursuant to Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 11, except where noted otherwise in Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 11 or in these regulations, service of subsequent filings may be completed by the parties electronically by emailing the filing to other parties. All electronic filings shall contain a certificate of service.(6) All answers filed by respondents shall include a working email address at which the respondent may be contacted and electronically served with future filings.204.Voluntary Dismissal. Following the filing of the complaint, the relator may not voluntarily dismiss the complaint without leave of the panel chair. A motion to voluntarily dismiss shall include a memorandum setting forth the basis for the dismissal and, if required by the panel chair, supporting affidavits, depositions, or documents. The panel chair may conduct a hearing on the motion to dismiss and may require the testimony of witnesses and production of documents. 205.Prehearing Procedure.(A)Prehearing conference. Within forty days of the appointment of a hearing panel, the panel chair shall conduct a prehearing conference with the parties and counsel of record. At the discretion of the panel chair, the panel chair may hold a prehearing conference by telephone and may continue the hearing from day-to-day. The pre-hearing conference shall accomplish the following objectives: (2) Determine the necessity for any amendment to the pleadings;(3) Establish a discovery timetable;(4) Identify anticipated witnesses and the need to exchange reports of anticipated expert witnesses;(5) Identify and arrange for the exchange of copies of anticipated exhibits;(6) Discuss the possibility of a consent-decree agreement, obtaining stipulations of fact, and obtaining stipulations regarding the admissibility of exhibits;(7) Such other matters as may expedite the hearing;(8) Confirmation of the final hearing date and venue.(B)Order. At the conclusion of the prehearing conference, the panel chair may enter an order setting forth the action taken and the agreements reached, which shall govern the subsequent course of proceedings. The order of the panel chair shall be subject to modification sua sponte or for good cause.(C)Hearing date. The panel chair shall establish a hearing date in consultation with the parties and other panel members. The hearing date shall be no more than one-hundred-fifty days following the appointment of the panel, unless adjusted by the panel chair under UPL Reg. 201(A).(D)Subpoenas and orders for testimony; depositions.(1) The Board shall issue a subpoena on application of an authorized investigator pursuant to the investigation of allegations of the unauthorized practice of law on behalf of a certified unauthorized-practice-of-law committee, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the Attorney General, a respondent, or an authorized representative of the relator by submitting a praecipe to the Board. A notice of a subpoena issued to a person other than the subject of an investigation into allegations of the unauthorized practice of law need not be provided to the subject of that investigation unless probable cause has been found. On the finding of probable cause, any subpoena issued during the investigation of the alleged misconduct shall become public and available for disclosure on request, with the exception that personal identifiers on the subpoena shall be redacted pursuant to Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 6(D) and Sup.R. 45(D). A motion to quash a subpoena issued under this section shall be filed with the Board. If the motion to quash is filed before the appointment of a hearing panel, the motion shall be ruled on by the chair or vice-chair of the Board. If a hearing panel has been appointed, the motion to quash shall be ruled on by the panel chair.(2)(i) A foreign unauthorized-practice-of-law authority, pursuant to the law of that jurisdiction and where the issuance of the subpoena has been duly approved, if such approval is required by the law of that jurisdiction, may request that a subpoena issue for use in an unauthorized-practice-of-law proceeding. The secretary shall issue such a subpoena on request as provided in this regulation.(ii) A subpoena issued pursuant to this regulation may compel the attendance of witnesses and production of documents in the county where the witness resides, is employed, or as otherwise agreed by the witness. Service, enforcement, and challenges to such subpoenas shall be as provided in Gov. Bar R. VII and this regulation.(3) In furtherance of unauthorized-practice-of-law proceedings in this state, a relator or respondent may apply for the issuance of subpoenas in another jurisdiction pursuant to the rules of that jurisdiction.(4) To compel the testimony of a witness at the hearing, requests to issue subpoenas pursuant to Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 2(D) shall be made in writing and filed with the secretary no later than twenty-one days before the date on which a complaint has been scheduled for hearing.(5) Requests for orders for deposition testimony pursuant to Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec, 2(E) or issuing subpoenas for that purpose pursuant to Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 2(D) shall be made in writing and filed with the secretary no later than thirty days before the date on which the hearing has been scheduled.(6) Depositions taken in unauthorized-practice-of-law proceedings shall be filed with the Board as prescribed in Civ.R. 32. This requirement shall not apply to depositions taken as part of an investigation into the unauthorized practice of law.(E)Stipulations and witnesses. The parties shall prepare and serve on the secretary, with a copy to opposing counsel, no later than seven days before the assigned hearing date, the following:(1) Stipulations of fact or law, if any. However, stipulations may be filed at any time after the seven-day deadline with leave of the panel chair. In addition, the following apply to stipulations of fact or law filed with the Board: (i) If relator and respondent stipulate to facts and so request, the panel chair may cancel a scheduled hearing and deem the matter submitted in writing;(ii) Notwithstanding the agreement of relator and respondent on stipulations of fact or law, neither the hearing panel nor the Board shall be bound by any joint recommendation of the parties. The panel shall retain discretion to make a recommendation to the Board, and the Board shall retain discretion to make a final recommendation to the Supreme Court on a finding of the unauthorized practice of law and the appropriate penalty.(2) A listing of all witnesses to be called by the parties at the hearing, with a brief summary of expected testimony;(3) A listing of all exhibits expected to be offered into evidence, excepting exhibits expected to be used only for impeachment, illustration, or rebuttal.(F)Motions. At least thirty days before the hearing date, all other motions, other than dispositive motions, pleadings, filings, or hearing briefs intended to be offered at the hearing shall be served on the secretary and opposing parties. A response to any motion, brief, or other filing shall be served according to UPL Reg. 202(A).(G)Documentary evidence. All documentary evidence to be offered at the scheduled hearing shall be served on the secretary and adverse parties or their counsel at least thirty days before the hearing, pursuant to Gov. Bar R. VII, Sec. 12(C), unless the parties or their counsel agree otherwise, or the hearing panel otherwise orders, but in no event shall such evidence be provided less than seven days prior to the assigned hearing date.(H)Additional exhibits and witnesses at hearing. At the hearing, each party, with the approval of the panel chair and for good cause shown, may: (1) Offer additional exhibits and file additional pleadings;(2) Supplement the list of witnesses to be called;(3) Call such rebuttal witnesses as may be necessary, without prior notice to opposing parties.206.Continuances.(A) The panel chair may grant a continuance of a hearing date for good cause shown. No party shall be granted a continuance of a hearing date without a written motion from the party or counsel stating the reason for the continuance. The motion shall be filed with the secretary no later than ten days before the date set for hearing but may also be filed at any later time with leave of the panel chair. If the motion is denied by the panel chair, the hearing shall proceed as scheduled.(B) Unavailability of witness. When a continuance is requested due to the unavailability of a witness at the time scheduled for hearing, the panel chair may consider the feasibility of permitting testimony pursuant to Civ.R. 32.207.Posthearing Procedure of the Panel and Board(A)Panel report. A Panel Report shall be submitted to the secretary within sixty days of the filing of the transcript for consideration at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board. The secretary, at the request of the panel chair, may extend the date for the filing of the Panel Report with the Board.(B)Final report. The Final Report of the Board shall be filed with the Court by the secretary no later than thirty days after the conclusion of the Board's review, approval, and adoption of all or part of the panel's Report. After consideration by the Board, the Board may grant the panel chair the authority to prepare and file the Final Report.(C)Time guidelines. Failure by the Board to meet the time guidelines set forth in these regulations shall not be grounds for dismissal of the complaint.Amended June 5, 2023, effective 7/1/2023.