Louden v. A.O. Smith Corp.

902 N.E.2d 458, 121 Ohio St. 3d 95
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 4, 2009
DocketNos. 2007-1819 and 2007-1821
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 902 N.E.2d 458 (Louden v. A.O. Smith Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Louden v. A.O. Smith Corp., 902 N.E.2d 458, 121 Ohio St. 3d 95 (Ohio 2009).

Opinions

Lundberg Stratton, J.

I. Introduction

{¶ 1} The issue before us is whether a trial court’s case-management order that requires parties in asbestos cases to file trial court documents electronically also authorized those same parties to file a notice of appeal electronically. We hold that filing an appeal requires an appellant to present a paper copy of the notice of appeal to the clerk of the trial court, unless a rule of appellate procedure expressly permits the notice of appeal to be filed electronically. In the instant case, the court of appeals has not adopted any rule permitting such electronic filing. Because appellants did not timely file paper copies of their notices of appeal to the clerk, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals dismissing appellants’ appeals.

II. Facts

{¶ 2} Recognizing the proliferation of asbestos cases on its docket in 1998, the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas found that “current methods in processing, serving, and storing the paper will soon be inadequate.” Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Special Docket No. 73958, General Personal Injury Asbestos Case Management Standing Order No. 10, Regarding Adoption of the Complex Litigation Automated Docketing (CLAD) System (Jan. 26, 1998). To manage its asbestos docket more efficiently, the court issued a case-management order that adopted the Complex Litigation Automated Docket system (“CLAD”) provided by Lexis-Nexis for managing filings in asbestos cases. Id. In 2003, the court switched from the CLAD system to the “File & Serve” system, another electronic filing service provided by Lexis-Nexis. Special Docket No. 73958, Case Management Order to Implement Lexis-Nexis File & Serve in place of CLAD (June 2003). This second order is at issue in this case.

{¶ 3} Subsequent to the implementation of the File & Serve system, Bertha Louden and Mary K. Border (“appellants”) filed separate civil actions alleging that their husbands had contracted asbestos-related disease in the workplace.1 The court consolidated the two cases.

[97]*97{¶ 4} Appellees, Goulds Pumps, Inc., and Ingersoll-Rand Company, filed motions for summary judgment. On April 5, 2007, the trial court issued entries granting summary judgment to appellees.

{¶ 5} On May 4, 2007, appellants, using the File & Serve system, electronically transmitted notices of appeal to the clerk of courts for the trial court for the purpose of initiating an appeal of both summary judgments. However, the trial court clerk did not forward the notices to the Eighth District Court of Appeals.

{¶ 6} On July 24, 2007, appellants filed paper copies of their notices of appeal with the clerk of the trial court. This time, the clerk forwarded the notices to the court of appeals. However, the court of appeals sua sponte dismissed appellants’ notices of appeal as being untimely filed.

{¶ 7} We accepted this matter as a discretionary appeal.

III. Analysis

{¶ 8} Appellants assert the following proposition: “When the trial court has ordered that all filings must be submitted to the clerk electronically, a notice of appeal filed electronically in accordance therewith within thirty days of the entry of judgment satisfies the requirements of App.R. 3(A) and 4(A).” We disagree.

A. The Rides of Appellate Procedure Govern the Filing of a Notice of Appeal

{¶ 9} This court alone has the authority to “prescribe rules governing practice and procedure in all courts of the state.” Section 5(B), Article IV of the Ohio Constitution. Section 5(B) also provides that “[cjourts may adopt additional rules concerning local practice in their respective courts which are not inconsistent with the rules promulgated by the supreme court.” Pursuant to this authority, we have promulgated rules governing procedure in Ohio courts, including the Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Rules of Civil Procedure.

{¶ 10} Although a notice of appeal is filed with the clerk of the trial court, it is the Rules of Appellate Procedure that “govern procedure in appeals to courts of appeals.” (Emphasis added.) App.R. 1(A); see also State v. McGettrick (1987), 31 Ohio St.3d 138, 141, 31 OBR 296, 509 N.E.2d 378, fn. 5 (“Under ordinary circumstances, neither the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure nor the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure are applicable to cases on appeal; the Appellate Rules ‘govern procedure in appeals to courts of appeals from the trial courts of record in Ohio.’ App.R. 1; see, also, Crim.R. 1(C)(1) and Civ.R. 1(C)(1)”).

{¶ 11} App.R. 3(A) provides:

{¶ 12} “An appeal as of right shall be taken by filing a notice of appeal with the clerk of the trial court within the time allowed by Rule 4. Failure of an appellant to take any step other than the timely filing of a notice of appeal does not affect [98]*98the validity of the appeal, but is ground only for such action as the court of appeals deems appropriate, which may include dismissal of the appeal.” (Emphasis added.)

{¶ 13} App.R. 4(A) provides:

{¶ 14} “A party shall file a notice of appeal required by App.R. 3 within thirty days of the later of entry of the judgment or order appealed or, in a civil case, service of the notice of judgment and its entry if service is not made on the party within the three day period in Rule 58(B) of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure.” (Emphasis added.)

{¶ 15} The Rules of Appellate Procedure do not define the term “filing.” However, historically, “filing” occurs when a person manually presents a paper pleading to the clerk of courts. See, e.g., King v. Paylor (1942), 69 Ohio App. 193, 196, 23 O.O. 594, 43 N.E.2d 313 (“a filing can only be accomplished by bringing the paper to the notice of the officer, so that it can be accepted by him as official custodian”).

{¶ 16} Advancements in information technology, including electronic transmission of documents, are streamlining the practice of law. See Bryce A. Lenox, Personal Jurisdiction in Cyberspace: Teaching the Stream of Commerce Dog New Internet Tricks: CompuServe, Inc. v. Patterson, 89 F.3d 1257 (6th Cir.1996) (1997), 22 U.Dayton L.Rev. 331, 346 (by accepting the use of technologies such as the Internet and real-time audio and video, the “ ‘cyber-courthouse’ will no longer be a myth”). In light of this emerging technology, this court promulgated Rule 27 of the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio and amended numerous other procedural rules to address the use of information technology in Ohio courts. See Civ.R. 5, 11, and 73; Crim.R. 12; Juv.R. 8; App.R. 13 and 18.

{¶ 17} App.R. 13 states:

{¶ 18} “(A) * * * A court may provide, by local rules adopted pursuant to the Rules of Superintendence, for the filing of documents by electronic means. If a court adopts such local rules, they shall include all of the following:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
902 N.E.2d 458, 121 Ohio St. 3d 95, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louden-v-ao-smith-corp-ohio-2009.