State ex rel. Mather v. Oda, 2023 Ohio 3907

Background

Plaintiff-relator Peter Mather and Assured Administration, L.L.C. sued homeowners; homeowners filed counterclaims including a request for attorney fees. The trial court granted summary judgment for the homeowners and awarded over $235,000 in fees and costs.
Mather appealed to the Twelfth District; the homeowners asked the court of appeals to remand for assessment of additional appellate/collection fees. The court of appeals affirmed and remanded only to allow a nunc pro tunc order adding Mather as a liable party.
The trial court entered the nunc pro tunc order; Mather paid the judgment. Months later the homeowners moved in the trial court for an additional $167,000+ in fees and expenses incurred in collecting the judgment and defending the appeal.
Mather filed an original action in the Ohio Supreme Court seeking a writ of prohibition to prevent the trial court from proceeding on the new fee request, arguing the trial court lacked jurisdiction after the limited remand and after payment.
This Court (1) denied motions to dismiss, (2) denied the homeowners’ motion for judgment on the pleadings, (3) partially granted Mather’s motion to strike two exhibits, and (4) granted a writ of prohibition preventing the trial court from entertaining the new fee request because the appellate mandate was limited to a nunc pro tunc order.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Mather)	Defendant's Argument (Common pleas court / Homeowners)	Held
Whether the trial court may adjudicate attorney fees that accrued after entry of the final judgment following a limited remand.	Remand was limited to a nunc pro tunc correction; court lost jurisdiction on appeal and regained only the limited authority in the mandate.	Post-judgment/appellate collection fees are collateral/ancillary and the trial court may consider them; mandate did not bar such relief.	Trial court patently and unambiguously lacked jurisdiction; mandate authorized only the nunc pro tunc ministerial act, so writ granted.
Whether Mather’s payment of the judgment independently deprived the trial court of jurisdiction to award additional fees.	Payment discharged the judgment and eliminated any basis for further trial-court proceedings.	(Respondents argued otherwise or did not make this the central defense.)	Court did not reach this alternative argument.
Motions on procedural/evidentiary matters (motion for judgment on the pleadings; motion to strike exhibits).	Homeowners’ procedural filings were improper and some exhibits lacked authentication.	Intervention made homeowners’ filings timely; several exhibits were previously authenticated or submitted by Mather; judicial notice inappropriate for two documents.	Denied motion to strike the motion for judgment; denied motion for judgment on the pleadings; granted in part and denied in part the motion to strike evidence (exhibits 6 and 7 struck; others allowed).

Key Cases Cited

Special Prosecutors v. Judges, 55 Ohio St.2d 94 (1978) (trial court loses jurisdiction on appeal except to aid the appeal)
Nolan v. Nolan, 11 Ohio St.3d 1 (1984) (mandate doctrine: lower courts must follow reviewing court’s mandate and may not extend or vary it)
State ex rel. Crandall, Pheils & Wisniewski v. DeCessna, 73 Ohio St.3d 180 (1995) (writ of prohibition appropriate to prevent lower court from ignoring a superior court’s mandate)
State ex rel. Sapp v. Franklin Cty. Court of Appeals, 118 Ohio St.3d 368 (2008) (if lack of jurisdiction is patent and unambiguous, relator need not show inadequacy of other remedies)
Cruz v. English Nanny & Governess School, 169 Ohio St.3d 716 (2022) (discusses when appellate-level fees may be awarded and the trial court’s authority to consider appellate fees)
Klein v. Moutz, 118 Ohio St.3d 256 (2008) (statutory authority can permit a trial court to tax appellate attorney fees as costs)
State ex rel. Fogle v. Steiner, 74 Ohio St.3d 158 (1995) (nunc pro tunc orders correct the record to reflect what the court actually decided)