Office: Summit County Common Pleas Judge
Age: 57
Residence: Fairlawn, OH
Email: VoteJudgeMichael@gmail.com
Website: Facebook
Occupation: Municipal Court Judge
Education: J.D., University of Akron (1986)
Work Experience: 13 years as a Judge, 7 1/2 years as a part-time Magistrate, and 32 years of legal experience
Family: Married with 1 child
Affiliations: Many. Please refer to my LinkedIn page for more information
Endorsements: Ilene Shapiro, Summit County Executive, Kristen Scalise, Summit County Fiscal Officer, Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan, Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters, Barberton Mayor Bill Judge
Bar Association Ratings: Good
(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years):
13 years as a Municipal Court Judge. Elected in 2005, re-elected in 2011 and in 2017. Presiding Judge of Akron Municipal Court (2018, 2013 & 2010) 9 years as Presiding Judge of the Domestic Violence Specialized Docket 5 years as Co-Presiding Judge OVI Court Program 7 1/2 Years Part-Time Magistrate
2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
I am a legal professional with 32 years of experience. I maintained a full-time litigation practice for 19 years prior to being elected as a judge in 2005. While maintaining a full-time practice, I also served as a part-time magistrate for 7 1/2 years, and as an outside mediator for the Equal Employment Opportunty Commission. I have also been a servant leader in the community, volunteering for many community organizations, and serving on many non-profit boards of trustee. My recent community experience includes being a member of the Rotary Club of Akron, the Summit County Criminal Justice Advisory Board, Co-Chair of the Women in Law Section of the Akron Bar Association, President of the Ladies of St. George, and as a Trustee of Tri-County Independent Living Center, an advocacy group for mentally and physically challenged individuals. My years of experience as a servant leader in our community, my years of legal experience, and my years of judicial experience make me the best qualified person to be Judge of the Summit County Common Pleas. Because when it comes to experience, my experience makes a difference. Experience Matters. Please vote on Nov. 6th.
(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I am running for this particular seat because the judge who occupies it will retire at the end of this year, and I am the best qualified person in my race to be a Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge. Experience Matters, and I am the only elected Judge running in this election cycle. I have been a municipal court judge for the past 13 years. Experience Matters. Because a judge who is a servant leader in the community with more than 30 years of legal experience, and 13 years of judicial experience matters. I serve as the presiding judge of the Akron Municipal Court Family Intervention Court program and have served our community in this capacity for the past 9 years. It is a program targeted at breaking the cycle of generational domestic violence. The seat that I seek is for the vacancy to be created when Judge Gallagher retires at the end of this year. Judge Gallagher is the presiding judge of the Common Pleas Domestic Violence program. My primary consideration is to continue the Common Pleas Domestic Violence Program next year should I win on Nov. 6th.