July 15, 2010
Judicial College Offers Three Days of Courses for Magistrates
Close to 200 magistrates from across the state are attending three days of instructional courses designed for them by the Supreme Court of Ohio Judicial College.
The 2010 Magistrate Practice program provides magistrates with educational opportunities that range from the basic “nuts and bolts” to more sophisticated and complex approaches to individual areas of law.
The juvenile practice area seminar included a presentation on juvenile competency and related legislation, information about House Bill 10, the Department of Youth Services’ release authority reform and a case law update.
Magistrates practicing in probate will learn about unique guardianship issues such as marriage, voting, gifting and driving; the use of guardians ad litem in guardianship cases; and settlement issues.
Domestic relations practitioners will receive an update on the relocation law, child passport issues and using Web conferencing to conduct virtual visitations.
Magistrates working in municipal and county courts and in the general division of common pleas courts could also choose a course on damages that covered tort and contract cases, the collateral source rule, joint and several liability, and many other topics.
The Judicial College also offered half-day sessions open to all jurisdictions centered on electronic legal research and decision writing. Magistrates learned about general research techniques and Internet research using Casemaker, Westlaw and LexisNexis. The writing presentation included rules of writing, breakout sessions to work on crafting decisions specific to their jurisdictions and a panel discussion about the lessons learned.
Contact: Chris Davey or Bret Crow, 614.387.9250.