Jurisdiction
The Supreme Court of Ohio on October 16, 2026, reciprocally suspended Jeffrey Christopher Keiffer for one year and one day after the Colorado Supreme Court imposed the same sanction, with six months to be served and the rest stayed on probation. Keiffer, registration number 0059409, last known in Lone Tree, Colorado, cannot resume Ohio practice until reinstated in Colorado.
The Supreme Court of Ohio on October 16, 2026, immediately suspended Akron attorney Ronald Scott Spears on an interim default basis after he failed to answer a Lorain County Bar Association formal complaint. The Chronicle Telegram reported the underlying allegations include soliciting nude photos from a client and failing to communicate in a custody matter.
Northwest Ohio law firms Marshall & Melhorn and RCO Law, formerly Robison, Curphey & O'Connell, will merge and operate as Marshall Curphey from January 1, 2027, according to a firm announcement published October 13, 2026 and reported by The Blade. The firms said the combination expands their resources and expertise while allowing more focused investment in technology and operations.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed House Bill 519 on Oct. 1, cutting Ohio's 38.5-cent gasoline tax and 47-cent diesel tax to one-hundredth of a cent per gallon for about 90 days starting Oct. 4. Retail and motor fuel dealers must pass the full reduction on to buyers. The act, passed Sept. 30 with an emergency clause, appropriates $725 million from the General Revenue Fund to replace lost revenue.
Pierson Ferdinand said on September 29, 2026, that it has passed 300 partners globally less than three years after its January 2024 launch, a milestone Artificial Lawyer also reported. The distributed firm has no associates and said it embeds AI tools including Harvey in place of junior leverage; it named five partners who joined in September in Columbus, London, Chicago and Atlanta.
A unanimous Sixth Circuit panel ruled that state regulators in Ohio and Tennessee can enforce gambling laws against Kalshi's sports prediction markets. Judge Gibbons wrote that Kalshi failed to prove event contracts are statutory swaps under CFTC exclusive jurisdiction, and alternatively held the Commodity Exchange Act does not preempt state gaming statutes. The court affirmed denial of an Ohio injunction and vacated Tennessee injunctive relief.
The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct published Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers and Judicial Officers: Ohio Ethics Guide at the Supreme Court of Ohio's request, Court News Ohio reported on June 30, 2026. The nonbinding guide applies the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Code of Judicial Conduct to AI use, covering verification, confidentiality, billing, candor to tribunals and judges' independent decision-making.
West Publishing's C-Track notified the public on September 2, 2026 that an unauthorized party obtained court-management files after activity discovered on June 30, 2026, with files obtained in March. The notice lists appellate and other courts in multiple U.S. states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and three Ontario courts. Confidential, redacted or sealed information may have been impacted at some courts; South Carolina's preliminary review found no PII so far in 2020-and-earlier appellate backups.