Ashley v. Kevin O'Brien & Assocs. Co., L.P.A.

Citations

• 2023 Ohio 4677

Syllabus

Trial court did not err in denying defendants-appellants' motion for sanctions against plaintiff-appellee and her former attorneys or in denying defendants-appellants' motion to disqualify the trial court magistrate. The magistrate held that defendants did not establish that plaintiff engaged in frivolous conduct by filing her complaint for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Although defendants filed objections to the magistrate's decision on the motion for sanctions, they did not identify any particular findings of fact or conclusions of law to which they objected, and they did not file a transcript of the sanctions hearing or an affidavit of the evidence presented to the magistrate. The trial court appropriately adopted the magistrate's factual findings and overruled objections thereto without further consideration, because defendants did not support their objections in the manner prescribed in Civ.R. 53(D)(3)(b)(iii). And the trial court did not abuse its discretion in applying the law to the magistrate's findings of fact. Finally, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying defendants' motion to disqualify the magistrate because defendants failed to support their motion with evidence, and defendants' arguments did not overcome the presumption of integrity afforded the magistrate.