Waldron v. Keshishian

Summary

The Ninth District Court of Appeals of Ohio affirmed a Lorain County Juvenile Division judgment involving discovery sanctions imposed personally against an attorney in a child-support proceeding. The court held that the attorney forfeited challenges to the sanctions by failing to timely move to set aside the magistrate’s order and rejected the cumulative-error argument.

Holdings

1. A challenge to a nondispositive magistrate's order must be presented through a motion to set the order aside filed within ten days; absent a timely motion, all arguments other than plain error are forfeited on appeal. Because Camargo did not timely challenge the May 12, 2025, sanctions order and did not argue plain error, her first four assignments of error were forfeited.
2. The cumulative-error doctrine did not warrant reversal because civil cases do not typically employ the doctrine and, in any event, the doctrine requires multiple errors; Camargo had not established multiple cognizable errors.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Camargo's challenges to the magistrate's discovery-sanctions order were forfeited because she did not timely move to set the order aside.
2. Whether the trial court violated Camargo's due process rights in imposing or enforcing the discovery sanction.
3. Whether the attorney fees awarded as a sanction were caused by a discovery violation.
4. Whether reliance on unsworn testimony and an incomplete record precluded meaningful appellate review.
5. Whether cumulative error required reversal.

Disposition

affirmed