New Ohio rules of practice and procedure effective July 1

On July 1, 2020, several notable amendments to the Ohio Civil Rules took effect, which are designed to make Ohio practice more in line with current federal practice.  For instance, Rule 4.7 now includes a provision for waiver of service of process and Rule 26(B)(3) now requires mandatory initial disclosures. In addition, the amendment to Rule 26(B)(1) narrows the scope of relevant discovery and adds a proportionality consideration to conform with the recently amended federal rule, which was designed to narrow the scope of discovery.  

Additionally, other changes have been made to appellate procedure, the Rules of Evidence, the Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Rules of Juvenile Procedure.