The Supreme Court of Ohio annual report - Supreme Court - State of ...

task force met four times during 2007, under the direction of its chair,
retired Judge Thomas F. Bryant.
The board received 37 requests for advisory opinions and issued
seven opinions on ethical questions arising under the Rules of
Professional Conduct, Code of Judicial Conduct, Rules for the
Government of the Bar, Rules for the Government of the Judiciary and
the Ohio ethics law.
In 2007 the board began rendering advice as to the application
of new Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct. The board has issued
325 advisory opinions since it was given such authority in 1987. All
advisory opinions are available on the Court’s Web site. The ABA/
BNA Lawyer’s Manual on Professional Conduct reported and discussed
five of the board’s advisory opinions. In addition to advisory opinions,
Staff Counsel Ruth B. Dangel issued 19 staff letters addressing various
ethical issues. The board’s legal staff responded to more than 1,700
telephone inquiries from judges, lawyers, reporters and members of
the public regarding ethics, lawyer discipline and judicial campaign
conduct issues.
The board’s staff assisted the certified grievance committees in
documenting requests for reimbursement of all disciplinary-related
expenses, both on a quarterly and annual basis.
The board, in connection with the University of Akron’s law
school and the Ohio State Bar Association, sponsored two statewide
disciplinary seminars for certified grievance committees and interested
lawyers. The board’s legal staff also taught five courses on campaign law
and ethics required of Ohio judicial candidates under Canon 7 and two
courses for attorneys in public practice.
The board participated in 34 continuing legal education programs
for board members, Ohio justices and judges, their spouses, foreign
judges, lawyers, judicial candidates, public employees, court personnel
and law students.
In November 2007, the Supreme Court hosted the commemoration
of the creation of the board with an event of celebration at the Ohio
Judicial Center. Dennis W. Archer, former President of the ABA,
delivered the keynote address, and the Supreme Court recognized the
50-year history and dedicated work of the present and former members
of the board (see story on page 18).
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