Serving Notice

July 27, 2012

Serving Notice

LISA ESCHLEMAN will be the new executive director for the Ohio Center for Law Related Education, replacing Deborah DeHaan who directed the centers program for 13 years. OCLRE operates the Ohio Mock Trial Competition as well as We the People, Government in Action, Youth for Justice, and the Law and Citizenship Conference. It is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization with the mission to improve society by developing citizens empowered with an understanding of our democratic system. The Center is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, the Ohio State Bar Association, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation. OCLRE board members are Pierce Reed, Gary Daniels, Pamela Vest Boratyn, Deborah DeHaan, Lisa Eschleman, President Marion Smithberger and Secretary Thomas Friedman. (Board members not pictured are Lee Belardo, Richard Dove, and Daniel Hilson)

JOSHUA D. BOREAN has joined Roetzel as an associate attorney, focusing his practice on the representation of corporate and other business clients in all areas of business strategy, development, and corporate governance. He is admitted to practice law in Ohio, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

The total number of new cases filed in Ohio courts in 2011 reached a 10-year low, according to the annual Ohio Courts Statistical Summary. For the third consecutive year, the total number of new cases (2,710,144) decreased last year. While the number has fluctuated over a decade, the 2011 total represents a 21 percent decrease from a high of 3,421,193 in 2002. Total new traffic filings in municipal and county courts (1,173,672) remained the primary contributor for the overall decline, as this category also bottomed out at a 10-year statistical low. New traffic cases in juvenile court (44,834) also dipped to a 10-year low. These results and others are contained in the 2011 report released this week by the Ohio Supreme Court.

DID YOU KNOW?– June 1953, the Columbus Bar Association approved its first minimum fee schedule. After an exhaustive study (1959) by the Lawyers Economic Betterment Committee, the Association approved and distributed a new minimum fee schedule, widely acknowledged as one of the best schedules ever published. Charged with the responsibility of keeping the minimum fee schedule up to date, the Committee determined that the 1959 schedule did not require revision, and the Association reprinted the schedule (1962) with the notation that the ABA committee on professional ethics and several courts held that regularly charging lesser fees that suggested in a minimal schedule is or may be “unprofessional conduct.” The hourly rate for office consultations, research and briefing, and other services not otherwise covered -- $20.

Answering phones at Channel 6 last week for Six on Your Side were MARK KITRICK, DOUGLAS RIDDELL and MARIANNE SHARP BERNARDO. If you would like volunteer to participate in “Ask an Attorney,” Wednesday evening, 5-7pm, contact Marion Smithberger at 614/340.2070. All calls are confidential.