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(A) Election of Administrative Judge
The scheduling of a case for hearing or trial will be at the direction of the assigned judge or magistrate.
Attorneys who persistently request continuances and extensions may be ordered by the administrative judge to submit detailed calendar information to the assigned judge for the purpose of scheduling and shall be required to provide substitute counsel. (B) Failure to Answer
A divorce or legal separation case shall be deemed to be “uncontested” unless an answer, motion or stipulation for leave to plead, is filed within 28 days of completion of service. If a defendant appears at the uncontested hearing, the assigned judge, in the judge’s discretion, may go forward with the hearing, may accept testimony or evidence from the defendant, or may continue the hearing to allow the defendant time to file an answer.
(C) Hearing or Trial Date
(1) Pursuant to Civ.R. 75(K), no action for divorce, annulment, or legal separation may be heard and decided until the expiration of 42 days after service of process or 28 days after the service of a counterclaim, which may be designated a cross-complaint, unless the plaintiff files a written waiver of such 28 day period.
(2) Pursuant to R.C. 3105.64, no action for dissolution of marriage will be heard less than 30 days or more than 90 days after the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage, except in the case of a conversion from a divorce action or in the case of a successful collaborative family law process.
Spouses who have successfully completed a collaborative family law process in accordance with R.C. 3105.43 may request an immediate hearing by filing a Notice of Collaborative Process with Request for Expedited Hearing contemporaneously with the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage. The notice with request must be signed by both parties and counsel and must include telephone numbers for both parties and their counsel. Failure to do so will result in the hearing being scheduled more than 30 days after the filing.
(3) Notice of any pretrial, case management conference, hearing, or trial date will be sent by electronic mail to all counsel of record or mailed to the parties, if not represented by counsel, no less than 14 days before the day set for pretrial, case management conference, hearing, or trial. The court may shorten the notice time if required by statute or rule, by agreement of both parties or counsel, or in its discretion.
(Effective July 1, 1991. Amended effective September 30, 1991; June 1, 1993; February 14, 1994; December 11, 2000; December 1, 2002; February 1, 2005; August 14, 2009; July 1, 2010; March 15, 2011; May 22, 2013; November 1, 2014; December 22, 2014; January 19, 2017; May 2, 2018; July 27, 2020)