Court issues decisions in two BOR appeals

I normally don't cover Board of Revision appeals relating to ad valorem taxes. It's a somewhat esoteric area of law, and while many firms, including ours, had very active BOR practices from about 2007 to 2012 (when the economy had taken a downturn and property values were low) most BOR activity has significantly leveled off in recent years.

I do note, however, that today the Court held that a purchase from a "real estate mortgage investment conduit" after foreclosure constituted a "forced sale" under R.C. 5713.04, and that as a result such a sale is not indicative of the true value. The case is Lunn v. Lorain County BOR.

In Musto v. Lorain County BOR, the Court affirmed the BTA's retention of the auditor's value of a parcel. Justice O'Neill, joined by Justice Pfeiffer, dissented, arguing that the BTA abused its discretion in refusing to continue or delay the hearing so that the property owner's appraiser, who had apparently mistakenly went to the wrong building, could attend and testify.

Attorney's fees in contingency cases

In William E. Weaner & Associates v. 369 West First Street the Second District was asked to reduce a fee award on the grounds that the award exceeded the amount that would have been paid to the law firm under its contingency fee agreement. It declined to do so.

Burnham v. Cleveland Clinic - Supreme Court limits prior holding restricting appellate jurisdiction

Yesterday the Supreme Court issued its decision in Burnham v. Cleveland Clinic, holding 6-1 that an order compelling the production of attorney-client privileged material is immediately appealable. This is good news. That such an order is appealable might seem obvious at first blush, but it was very much in doubt after the Court's holding last year in Smith v. Chen.

Opinions in brief

Quick summaries of five decisions released by the Supreme Court on December 7 and 8.

Hague Service Convention authorizes service by mail

The First District has weighed in on a district split regarding whether the Hague Service Convention permits service of a complaint and summons by regular mail, and finds that it does.

Third District: parking lot hole is open and obvious

Honestly, this decision is unremarkable except for its name: Howard v. Meat City, Inc. "Meat City" sounds delightful.

Brief filed: Fisher v. Doe

In October I criticized the First District's decision in Fisher v. Doe because it declined to adopt and apply the Dendrite test, which provides rules for when an anonymous speaker can be unmasked. Doe has appealed the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, and today Tom Haren and I filed an amicus brief in support of jurisdiction, on behalf of our client Alexandria Goddard. Alex was the blogger who earned fame (or, perhaps, notoriety) in 2012 for investigating and blogging the social media posts made by students attending a party at which two Steubenville High School football players raped a teenaged girl.

Our brief can be read here. In it Tom and I urge the Court to recognize that both the Ohio and US Constitutions protect the rights to speak anonymously and remain anonymous, and that the Dendrite test is best suited to protecting those constitutional rights, while still allowing for meritorious claims to proceed. Most importantly, Dendrite requires plaintiffs to make a showing of merit before unmasking the anonymous speaker. Any rule that allows unmasking before a demonstration of the existence of a meritorious claim improperly prioritizes a common law claim (defamation) over a constitutional right (anonymity).

The plaintiff's response to the jurisdictional briefs is due in January.

Update: the Court has declined jurisdiction in the case.