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Rule 7 – Pleadings and Motions

May 14, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Ohio

(A) Pleadings. There shall be a complaint and an answer; a reply to a counterclaim denominated as such; an answer to a cross-claim, if the answer contains a cross-claim; a third-party complaint, if a person who was not an original party is summoned under the provisions of Civ. R. 14; and a third-party answer, if a third-party complaint is served. No other pleading shall be allowed, except that the court may order a reply to an answer or a third-party answer.
(B) Motions.

(1) An application to the court for an order shall be by motion which, unless made during a hearing or a trial, shall be made in writing. A motion, whether written or oral, shall state with particularity the grounds therefor, and shall set forth the relief or order sought. A written motion, and any supporting affidavits, shall be served in accordance with Civ.R. 5 unless the motion may be heard ex parte.
(2) To expedite its business, the court may make provision by rule or order not inconsistent with these rules for the submission and determination of motions without oral hearing upon brief written statements of reasons in support and opposition.
(3) The rules applicable to captions, signing, and other matters of form of pleading apply to all motions and other papers provided for by these rules.
(4) All motions shall be signed in accordance with Civ. R. 11.

Ohio. Civ.R. 7

Effective:July 1, 1970; amended effective July 1, 1984; July 1, 2014; July 1, 2015; amended April 24, 2019, effective July 1, 2019.

Proposed Staff Notes (2019 Amendment)

Division (B)(2)

Division (B)(2) of the rule is amended to ensure that any local rule or order of the court relating to the submission and determination of motions is not inconsistent with the provisions of any other Rule of Civil Procedure (e.g., Civ.R. 6 ).

Proposed Staff Note (July 1, 2015 Amendment)

Rule 7(B) is amended by eliminating the reference to a “notice of hearing” which is no longer required by Civ.R. 6(B).

Staff Note (July 1, 2014 Amendments)

Rule 7(C) abolishing demurrers is deleted, corresponding to the 2007 deletion of former Federal Rule 7(c). Demurrers are unknown in Ohio modern practice, having been replaced in 1970 by Civ. R. 12(B)(6) with the adoption of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure. As the 2007 Federal Advisory Committee Note stated: “Former Rule 7(c) is deleted because it has done its work.”