State ex rel. Buck v. Maloney, 102 Ohio St.3d 250 (OH 6/9/2004)
Decision Date | 09 June 2004 |
Docket Number | Case No. 2003-2021. |
Parties | The State ex rel. Buck, Appellant, v. Maloney, Judge, Appellee. |
Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Mahoning County, No. 02 CA 237, 2003-Ohio-5309.
Comstock, Springer & Wilson Co., L.P.A., and Margo Stoffel Meola, for appellant.
Montgomery, Rennie & Jonson, Ralph E. Burnham and Hope A. Smith, for appellee.
{¶1} In 1996, Kimberly Johnson retained appellant, Marshall D. Buck, an attorney licensed to practice law in Ohio, to represent her in matters relating to the death of her husband, Alan J. Withers. During his representation of Johnson, Buck settled a wrongful-death claim without the approval of the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division. Buck's wife, attorney JeAnne Longenhagen,1 was counsel of record for the Withers estate.
{¶2} On October 8, 2002, appellee, Judge Timothy P. Maloney of the probate court, found that both Buck and Longenhagen had "hindered, delayed, and obstructed the administration of" several estates, including the Withers estate. Judge Maloney concluded that Buck's settling the wrongful-death claim without court approval had been "plainly unlawful as contrary to O.R.C. Chapter 2125, Superintendence Rules 70 and 71 and various of the Local Rules of Court." Based on his findings, Judge Maloney removed Longenhagen from the Withers estate case and barred Buck and Longenhagen from serving as counsel in any new proceeding in the probate court:
{¶3} (Capitalization sic and footnote omitted.)
{¶4} On December 13, 2002, Buck filed a complaint in the Court of Appeals for Mahoning County. Buck sought a writ of prohibition to prevent Judge Maloney from barring him from practicing law in the probate court. In March 2003, Judge Maloney moved to dismiss Buck's prohibition complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Civ.R. 12(B)(6). After Buck responded, the court of appeals granted Judge Maloney's motion and dismissed the prohibition complaint under Civ.R. 12(B)(6).
{¶5} This cause is now before this court upon Buck's appeal as of right.
{¶6} Buck asserts that the court of appeals erred in dismissing his prohibition action. The Civ.R. 12(B)(6) dismissal of Buck's prohibition complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted was justified if, after presuming the truth of all factual allegations of the complaint and making all reasonable inferences in Buck's favor, it appeared beyond doubt that Buck could prove no set of facts entitling him to the requested extraordinary writ of prohibition. See State ex rel. Conkle v. Sadler, 99 Ohio St.3d 402, 2003-Ohio-4124, 792 N.E.2d 1116, ¶ 8.
{¶7} Applying this standard to Buck's claim, we hold that Buck's prohibition claim is meritorious. Section 5(A)(1), Article IV of the Ohio Constitution grants this court general supervisory power over the courts of Ohio, and we have "guarded our general supervisory power over the court system from encroachment by the lower courts." State v. Steffen (1994), 70 Ohio St.3d 399, 409, 639 N.E.2d 67. In Melling v. Stralka (1984), 12 Ohio St.3d 105, 12 OBR 149, 465 N.E.2d 857, a municipal court issued an order prohibiting city solicitors, law directors, municipal and county prosecutors, and their assistants from representing defendants in criminal matters in the municipal court. We held that the judge had lacked authority to issue the order because it was, in effect, a Disciplinary Rule limiting the ability of certain attorneys to practice law before the court and Disciplinary Rules were within the exclusive jurisdiction of this court:
{¶8} (Emphasis added.) Melling at 107, 12 OBR 149, 465 N.E.2d 857.
{¶9} Similarly, in State ex rel. Jones v. Stokes (1989), 49 Ohio App.3d 136, 138-139, 551 N.E.2d 220, the court of appeals granted a writ of prohibition to prevent municipal court judges from barring an attorney from appearing in municipal court, holding that the order barring the attorney usurped our exclusive jurisdiction over attorney discipline:
{¶10} See, also, In re Karasek (1997), 119 Ohio App.3d 615, 630-631, 695 N.E.2d 1209 ( ); Catholic Social Serv. of Cuyahoga Cty. v. Howard (1995), 106 Ohio App.3d 615, 619-620, 666 N.E.2d 658 ( ).
{¶11} Based on the foregoing precedent, Judge Maloney acted without jurisdiction by prohibiting Buck from practicing law in "any new case or proceeding" before the probate court.
{¶12} The court of appeals relied on Sup.R. 78(D) to conclude that Judge Maloney did not patently and unambiguously lack jurisdiction to issue the order barring Buck from practicing law in the probate court. This reliance, however, is misplaced. Sup.R. 78(D) authorizes probate courts to bar attorneys from representing new clients, but it applies only to attorneys representing fiduciaries who are delinquent in filing an inventory, account, or guardian's report, and even then, the bar can last only until all of the delinquent pleadings are filed:
{¶13} "The court may issue a citation to the attorney of...
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