LaSalle Institutional Realty Advisors, L.L.C. v. Nantucket on Montgomery Road, Ltd.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Ohio granted an affidavit of disqualification against Judge Richard S. Sheward based on an improper ex parte conversation with opposing counsel concerning substantive matters in the underlying real-estate litigation. The court held that the communication warranted disqualification because it demonstrated grounds for concern about impartiality and created an appearance of impropriety.

Holdings

1. An ex parte communication between a judge and opposing counsel that permits counsel to continue arguing issues still in controversy outside the presence of opposing counsel constitutes grounds for automatic disqualification.
2. A judge must be disqualified when an ex parte conversation with opposing counsel creates an appearance of impropriety such that a reasonable and objective person aware of the conversation would harbor serious doubts about the judge's impartiality, even without evidence of actual bias, prejudice, or a disqualifying interest.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the judge's ex parte conversation with opposing counsel addressed substantive matters in the underlying case and therefore constituted grounds for disqualification.
2. Whether the ex parte conversation created an appearance of impropriety requiring the judge's disqualification even absent proof of actual bias or prejudice.

Disposition

other