Davis v. Marcotte

951 N.E.2d 117, 193 Ohio App. 3d 102
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 15, 2011
DocketNo. 10AP-361
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 951 N.E.2d 117 (Davis v. Marcotte) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Marcotte, 951 N.E.2d 117, 193 Ohio App. 3d 102 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Tyack, Judge.

{¶ 1} This case is before the court as a result of an order of the Ohio Court of Claims barring attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger from serving as a counsel of record. [104]*104Counsel for Fieger have filed a notice of appeal on his behalf. Counsel for Jacqlyn Davis, on behalf of her son Brandon Davis, have also filed an appeal.

{¶ 2} Counsel for Fieger have presented six assignments of error for our review. Counsel for Davis have presented the same assignments of error. They are:

I. The Court of Claims of Ohio erred in granting defendant/third-party plaintiff/counter defendant St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center’s motion to revoke the pro hac vice admission of Attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger, abused its discretion and was arbitrary and unreasonable in finding that since his pro hac vice admission in 2004 as well as before the Court of Claims on April 23, 2007, appellant Fieger had engaged in a pattern of conduct in other courts which demonstrated that he was ill-suited for continued practice in this case.
II. The Court of Claims of Ohio erred in granting defendant/third-party plaintiff/counter defendant St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center’s motion to revoke the pro hac vice admission of Attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger, abused its discretion and was arbitrary and unreasonable in finding that appellant Fieger’s conduct in other cases established that he failed to act with a reasonable degree of propriety in Ohio and other jurisdictions.
III. The Court of Claims of Ohio erred in granting defendant/third-party plaintiff/counter defendant St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center’s motion to revoke the pro hac vice admission of Attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger, abused its discretion, and was arbitrary and unreasonable in finding that appellant Fieger had engaged in egregious misconduct which could taint or diminish the integrity of future proceedings before the Court of Claims of Ohio.
IV. The Court of Claims of Ohio erred in granting defendant/third-party plaintiff/counter defendant St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center’s motion to revoke the pro hac vice admission of Attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger, abused its discretion, and was arbitrary and unreasonable in applying the three, factors [sic] test of [State v. Ross (1973), 36 Ohio App.2d 185, 65 O.O.2d 316, 304 N.E.2d 396], which are used by a trial court to determine whether to grant a motion for pro hac vice admission, not whether to revoke a pro hac vice admission.
V. The Court of Claims of Ohio erred in failing to conduct a full evidentiary hearing before granting defendant/third-party plaintiff/counter defendant St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center’s motion to revoke the pro hac vice admission of appellant Geoffrey N. Fieger.
VI. The Court of Claims of Ohio violated appellants’ rights to due process, equal protection of the laws, and rights under the privileges and immunities clause and the commerce clause of the United States Constitution in granting defendant/third-party plaintiff/counter defendant St. Vincent Mercy Medical [105]*105Center’s motion to revoke the pro hac vice admission of Attorney Geoffrey N. Fieger.

{¶ 3} We initially must address the issue of whether Fieger, who was never a party in the case below, can now be a party in this appeal. Consistent with our past case law, we find that he cannot. See In re Elliot, 10th Dist. No. 03AP-1280, 2005-Ohio-2195, 2005 WL 1055798. The motion of appellees requesting that Fieger be dismissed as a party to this appeal is sustained.

{¶ 4} We now turn to the merits of the assignments of error filed on behalf of Jacqlyn Davis.

{¶ 5} The first three assigned errors are essentially the same, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion by revoking Fieger’s pro hac vice admission. We will address those three together, followed by the fourth and fifth assigned errors concerning the trial court’s error in applying a three-prong test set forth in State v. Ross (1973), 36 Ohio App.2d 185, 65 O.O.2d 316, 304 N.E.2d 396, and the trial court’s failure to hold an evidentiary hearing prior to revoking Fieger’s admission.

{¶ 6} First, however, we will address the sixth assignment of error, which argues that the trial court violated Fieger’s constitutional rights by revoking his pro hac vice admission. For the following reasons, we disagree, and we overrule the sixth assigned error.

{¶ 7} Regulation of the practice of law has always been left to the individual states, and without certain residency requirements, each individual state “ ‘would cease to be the separate political communit[y] that history and the constitutional text make plain w[as] contemplated.’” Supreme Court of New Hampshire v. Piper (1985), 470 U.S. 274, 282, 105 S.Ct. 1272, 84 L.Ed.2d 205, fn. 13, quoting Gary J. Simson, Discrimination Against Nonresidents and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV, 128 U.Pa.L.Rev. 379, 387 (1979); Leis v. Flynt (1979), 439 U.S. 438, 442, 99 S.Ct. 698, 58 L.Ed.2d 717. In addition to having residency requirements for the practice of law, many states also reserve other rights and privileges for their own residents — e.g., drivers’ licenses, the right to vote, and the right to hold public office. See, e.g., Dunn v. Blumstein (1972), 405 U.S. 330, 343, 92 S.Ct. 995, 31 L.Ed.2d 274; and Baldwin v. Fish & Game Comm. of Montana (1978), 436 U.S. 371, 383, 98 S.Ct. 1852, 56 L.Ed.2d 354.

{¶ 8} The above rules apply when considering states’ individual rules for admitting or licensing out-of-state attorneys, which is entirely separate from admission pro hac vice. Pro hac vice, of course, is the Latin expression meaning “for this occasion.” Black’s Law Dictionary (8th Ed. 2004). Since an attorney’s admission pro hac. vice is limited in duration, the requirements for admission are less stringent than those for permanent admission to the state bar. See Gov.Bar [106]*106R. I (general admission to the practice of law); cf. Gov.Bar R. XII (pro hac vice admission). It is common knowledge that gaining regular admission to the Ohio bar takes one year or longer to complete — there is a lengthy application, which requires several references, a comprehensive background check with fingerprinting, and two separate examinations, among other things. See generally Gov.Bar R.I. Such a lengthy application process would frustrate the purpose of an attorney trying to gain (more or less) immediate admission to practice in connection with a case already pending before an Ohio tribunal.

{¶ 9} The pro hac vice admission rules, on the other hand, are substantially abbreviated:

A tribunal of this state may grant permission to appear pro hac vice to an out-of-state attorney who is admitted to practice in the highest court of a[nother] state * * * and is in good standing to appear pro hac vice in a proceeding [in this state].

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Bluebook (online)
951 N.E.2d 117, 193 Ohio App. 3d 102, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-marcotte-ohioctapp-2011.