State ex rel. Ames v. Summit Cty. Court of Common Pleas (Slip Opinion), 2020 Ohio 354

National Collegiate Student Loan Trust 2007-2 sued Clarisa Ames in Summit County Court of Common Pleas in October 2017.
In July 2018 Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands dismissed the case without prejudice for failure to effect service under Civ.R. 4(E).
In November 2018 Judge Rowlands granted National Collegiate’s Civ.R. 60(B)(1) motion, reinstated the case, and ordered service within 14 days (despite the one-year service period in Civ.R. 3(A) having passed).
Ames filed a petition for a writ of prohibition in the Ninth District, arguing the judge lacked jurisdiction to reinstate and to extend the service deadline beyond Civ.R. 3(A).
The Ninth District dismissed Ames’s petition under Civ.R. 12(B)(6). While this appeal was pending, Judge Rowlands dismissed National Collegiate’s action again in July 2019 for failure to serve.
The Ohio Supreme Court concluded the controversy was moot because the underlying case has been dismissed and adjudicating the prior reinstatement would produce only an advisory opinion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial court had jurisdiction to reinstate a case and extend service time after the one-year Civ.R. 3(A) period had run	Ames: Reinstatement and extended service time were jurisdictionally unauthorized because Civ.R. 3(A)’s one-year service period had expired	Judge Rowlands/Summit County: Case later dismissed; there is nothing left to prohibit (mootness)	Court: Moot. Dismissed appeal; refusal to decide past jurisdictional question because that would be advisory

State ex rel. West v. McDonnell, 139 Ohio St.3d 115 (2014) (rule that courts generally may not consider matters outside the complaint on a Civ.R. 12(B)(6) review, with limited exceptions)
State ex rel. Nelson v. Russo, 89 Ohio St.3d 227 (1999) (extrinsic evidence may show mootness)
Pewitt v. Lorain Corr. Inst., 64 Ohio St.3d 470 (1992) (mootness may be proved by evidence outside the complaint)
State ex rel. Richard v. Wells, 64 Ohio St.3d 76 (1992) (courts may consider evidence submitted on appeal to determine mootness)
State ex rel. Everhart v. McIntosh, 115 Ohio St.3d 195 (2007) (judicial notice of trial-court entries is appropriate in mootness analysis)
State ex rel. Gaylor, Inc. v. Goodenow, 125 Ohio St.3d 407 (2010) (definition of mootness: issues no longer live or parties lack legally cognizable interest)
Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969) (constitutional mootness principles regarding "live" controversy)
State ex rel. Wilkinson v. Reed, 99 Ohio St.3d 106 (2003) (circumstances where prohibition can prevent future unauthorized jurisdiction or correct past unauthorized acts)
State ex rel. Calvary v. Upper Arlington, 89 Ohio St.3d 229 (2000) ("capable of repetition, yet evading review" exception requirements)