The Northern District of Ohio Advisory Group (the Advisory Group) had its origin in the early 1990’s as part of the Judicial Conference of the United States’ effort to implement the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA). A CJRA advisory group was established in this district, and many others throughout the country, to facilitate modernization and improvement of the federal court system.  The CJRA advisory group developed, recommended and helped popularize the Differentiated Case Management Plan (DCM) and various Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) options which the Court has used since 1992, and provided information to the Court on issues ranging from proposed changes to federal and local rules, magistrate utilization, litigation costs and continuing legal education.

The success of the CJRA advisory group caused the Judicial Conference of the United States to recommend that the various district courts continue to use their advisory groups as a way to maintain open dialog on case management and other matters of interest to the bench and bar. Consequently, the Court formed the Northern District of Ohio Advisory Group (the Advisory Group) in 1999 with the mission of providing information on matters of interest to the Court and to assist in the implementation of Court adopted programs such as electronic filing and the electronic courtroom projects. The Advisory Group is also charged with bringing to the attention of the Court matters of interest to the bar and the community.

While the Advisory Group has been appointed by the Court, the views of the Group and its individual members are their own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of either the Court or its individual judges. 

Members of the Advisory Group consist of the following: Click here for the membership roster

• The U.S. Attorney (or her representative)
• The Federal Defender (or his representative)
• 3 individuals appointed by the chief judge (including one designated as chair)
• 2 individuals appointed by each district judge (both active and senior)
• 1 individual appointed by each magistrate judge
• 1 representative of the Federal Bar Association
• 1 representative from each law school in the district (CWRU, CSU, Akron, Toledo, Ohio Northern)

Meetings of the Advisory Group are held twice each year, but various committees meet throughout the year. The committees consider matters specific to the subject of the committee and present proposed recommendations to the entire Advisory Group at one of the semiannual meetings. Upon majority approval, formal recommendations are adopted and presented to the Court for consideration. At this time, there are no recommendations currently pending.

In order to further its mission and serve as a link to the Court, the Advisory Group welcomes suggestions regarding matters to be considered and presented to the Court. Suggestions can be submitted to the Advisory Group by sending an e-mail to one of the committee chairs.

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