VOTE411 Voter Guide

In addition to my years of judicial experience, I bring nearly two decades of non-judicial legal experience across criminal, civil, probate, domestic relations, juvenile, and immigration law through government, nonprofit, and private practice. This breadth has given me a strong understanding of how the law affects people and how courts serve the community.

As an Assistant Prosecutor, I worked closely with victims and law enforcement, reinforcing my commitment to public safety and accountability. In private practice and as a senior attorney at Catholic Charities, I represented individuals navigating complex legal systems, including vulnerable populations, while managing high-volume caseloads and supervising legal teams.

I was born and raised in Summit County and worked in my family’s small businesses, where I learned the value of hard work, communication, and fairness.

These experiences shape my approach as an impartial judge who understands both the law and the people it serves.

I am running for the General Division of the Court of Common Pleas because Summit County is my home, and I am committed to ensuring that the justice system serves this community with fairness and integrity. This court handles serious matters that affect families, public safety, and people’s futures, and those decisions must be made with care, fairness, and sound judgment.

Throughout my career, I have seen the court system from every side and understand how deeply court decisions affect victims, defendants, families, and the community. Those experiences have reinforced the importance of a courtroom where people are heard and treated with respect.

I am seeking this role because I believe the law must be applied consistently, without outside influence. My goal is to serve as a fair, steady, and impartial judge who earns the public’s trust through thoughtful decision-making.

Courts today face increasing caseloads, delays, and the challenge of ensuring that people can understand and participate in the process. Efficiency is important, but it cannot come at the expense of fairness.

Having worked in high-volume courts, including as a federal judge in the Department of Justice, I have seen how preparation, organization, and consistency directly impact both outcomes and public confidence. Judges must manage dockets effectively, issue timely rulings, and maintain a respectful, orderly courtroom.

Courts must also improve communication with the public. Clear procedures and thoughtful use of technology can help people better understand the process and reduce delays.

By focusing on efficiency, consistency, and fairness, courts can meet these challenges while strengthening public trust.

One of the greatest obstacles to justice arises when individuals do not understand the legal process or believe the system is influenced by factors outside the law. When that happens, confidence in the justice system is weakened.

Throughout my career, I have worked with people from all walks of life, each bringing different circumstances and perspectives into the courtroom. In those moments, I have seen how important it is for people to feel heard and respected. These experiences have shown me that justice depends not only on access, but on trust in the process.

For that reason, courts must ensure that every person has a meaningful opportunity to be heard while remaining neutral and free from political influence. Judges must decide cases based solely on the facts and the law. By communicating clearly and applying the law consistently, courts can promote fairness and strengthen public confidence.

I have been a lawyer and a judge for more than 30 years. Prior to becoming a judge in 2011, I was in the private practice of law for nearly two decades, where I practiced in business and civil litigation, appellate advocacy, and employment law. I appeared before many courts, including the Supreme Court of Ohio and the federal appellate courts. I began my career as a judicial law clerk for the Court of Appeals of Ohio, Ninth Appellate District.

I have also served as an adjunct professor of legal writing at the University of Akron School of Law and am a published co-author of a legal treatise, Ohio Motions in Limine: Evidence Exclusion Guide.

For more than 20 years, I have been selected by the Supreme Court of Ohio to grade the Ohio bar examination, and am now a member of the Board of Bar Examiners, which is responsible for developing, administering, and grading the Ohio bar examination.

I have held this seat for more than 15 years and have built a reputation as a fair, independent, and impartial judge. I believe that everyone who comes before the Court deserves to be heard, respected, and treated equally. With years in the courtroom and thousands of cases handled, I understand the responsibility this role carries and the importance of steady, experienced leadership on the bench. I believe the people of Summit County deserve competence, efficiency, courtesy, intelligence, and respect and hope to have the opportunity to continue to bring those values to this important position.

Access to the Courts and to justice continues to be a challenge to our community. Numerous factors contribute to impeding individuals from accessing the legal system. Those include the volume of cases and the shortage of court-appointed counsel. Each judge in the general division of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas currently handles twice the average number of cases that are heard by similar judges across Ohio. With fifteen years of experience, I have learned to handle cases efficiently, while continuing to give each case the attention and fairness that it requires. The shortage of lawyers qualified to represent low-income individuals contributes to delay in resolving cases. I have and will continue to encourage lawyers to get involved in representing these individuals and will work with the Ohio Public Defender's Office to remove the barriers that prevent lawyers from doing this important work.

In addition to the factors discussed above, citizens face complex and expensive procedures which pose barriers to justice and prolong legal proceedings. Parties to civil cases, and both victims and defendants in criminal cases, must navigate complicated procedures and delays in reaching a conclusion to their cases. Public defenders and legal aid providers often carry caseloads too large to handle timely and efficiently, while private representation may be prohibitively expensive for many individuals. Despite these structural problems, to the extent that I am able, I always try to assist both represented and unrepresented individuals in understanding proper procedure and what to expect in Court.