Author: ctaylor1

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
Hamilton County Drug Court (2001-present) Hamilton County Municipal Court (1997)

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
I have spent my entire career in the courtroom. I started out after graduating Ohio State University Law School and passing the Ohio Bar exam in 1983 as a municipal court prosecutor. I was in the courtroom every day, and I helped victims of crime navigate the legal system. In 1988, I became a civil trial attorney for the City of Cincinnati where I practiced in both federal and state courts. In 1992, I was recruited to be a trial attorney for a large Cincinnati law firm where I supervised attorneys from all over the country as part of a major multi-state litigation. I also was appointed by the Supreme Court of Ohio to be one of the persons who wrote and graded the bar examination essay questions given during the Ohio Bar Exam. All of my pre-judicial experience was spent as either a criminal or civil courtroom attorney.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I am running for re-election to Hamilton County Drug Court to continue to help those who are charged with low-level felony drug offenses get the sobriety, tools and resources necessary to change their life. I have the compassion, patience, experience and leadership skills necessary to be effective. For the last 19 years it has been my full time passion to give people second chances, save lives, and offer hope to those in our criminal justice system who struggle with addiction.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
I have been a Judge in the Court of Common Pleas, General Division, for a year and a half.

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
Prior to becoming a Judge, I served as a prosecutor in the Common Pleas Court and I worked as a civil litigator, often in Common Pleas. As such, my experience as an attorney/practitioner exactly prepared me for the types of cases and matters that are now before me on a daily basis. In addition, prior to taking the bench, I volunteered with many local non-profit agencies in Cincinnati, which helped me to understand our underserved communities better, and how we can work to improve and rehabilitate, when appropriate.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I am running for this seat because I love being a Judge in the Court of Common Pleas. Everyday I get to work with our community to make things better, to offer help when possible, and to keep our families and businesses protected. In my time on the bench, I have earned the reputation for working hard and smart. It is my honor to serve Hamilton County and I hope to continue to do so.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
I currently serve as one of four Mahoning County Court Judges. I was appointed by Governor Dewine in March of 2018 and have sat on the bench for the last year and a half.

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
As a practicing attorney in the Mahoning Valley for 18 years, I bring a wide-ranging skill set and vast courtroom experience to the bench. My multi-county legal practice allowed me to see how our area courts can run efficiently, effectively and justly. Serving as both a public defender (10 years) and acting prosecutor, I understand our criminal justice system from every angle. My civil litigation experience has given me the experience and knowledge of the law that is needed to properly hear, understand and rule upon those civil cases assigned to me.

I have been a trusted member of the bar association having served for 10 years (2 as chairman) on the Trumbull County Ethics Committee, a committee that investigates and holds accountable lawyers who violate ethical rules. I have volunteered hundreds of hours assisting low income and underprivileged clients in the Mahoning Valley who otherwise might not have been able to access to our legal system. As a Guardian Ad Litem for hundreds of children I served as a voice for children in abuse, neglect and dependency cases. I understand the positive impact our Courts can have on children and families. I have also seen firsthand how the drug epidemic in our community has wreaked havoc on our families. While there is no easy answer to this problem, I have seen and experienced programs that work and those that don’t. I understand our Courts, our area’s unique challenges and run a Court that puts integrity and the rule of law at the forefront of all it does.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
My wife and our six children love this community! We want to see it continue to be a great place to live and raise a family. Our families and this community deserve a Court that they can trust. My Christian faith provides the back drop and foundation of who I am. Honesty, character and integrity are truths that I have been taught from a very young age. I have learned that integrity is not something you say you have, it is something you do. My life’s work reflects a dedication to seeking truth, to seeking what is good and just and seeking what is right. It is for these reasons I am seeking to retain my seat on the Mahoning County Court.

Since taking the bench, I have implemented many changes and programs to make the court function more efficiently, more cost effective and to directly deal with the drug/mental health problem that is gripping our area. Some of the simple things that we have done is that we begin court sessions on time. I understand that everyone’s time is important and so when we are scheduled to have a hearing, I am promptly on the bench. I have also implemented a program to limit the number of people, including police officers that are subpoenaed for non-trial court hearings. This has reduced the impact on witnesses having to miss work and has kept police officers out serving the community and not stuck in court. I have implemented a license recovery program that assists persons in getting their license reinstated and back on the road legally.

I have met with nearly every drug, alcohol, and mental health treatment provider in the area. I have closely evaluated treatment programs that work and those that don’t. This has enabled me to direct those who have become involved in the criminal justice system to the correct places for treatment. While I am a law and order judge, I do understand the drug epidemic and how it has exacerbated our problems. I am always looking for common sense solutions, but I am not afraid to use my power as a judge to punish offenders when necessary. I will continue to work diligently to make the court more efficient and effective.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
I have been elected President of the Hamilton County Board of Revision every year since becoming Hamilton County Treasurer. I have overseen approximately 95,000 quasi judicial Complaints involving Real Estate Valuations under the Ohio Revised Code. I have administered rules that treat all litigants and participants with dignity and respect. These Board of Revision cases are ruled on timely and efficiently and have involved Court of Appeal cases and Ohio Supreme Court litigation as well.

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
My legal experience makes me uniquely qualified to be a Judge in Hamilton County Court. I have served as counsel for many individuals and businesses facing severe financial problems. Further I have been teaching the Bankruptcy Course at Northern Kentucky University – Chase College of Law with my father since 2005. As an Attorney and an Instructor, I appreciate individual concerns. I regularly appear in front of Judges, and in my classes as well, I understand timeliness and practicality.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I am running for Judge in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas because I have the experience and skills for a most successful tenure. I have been active in our community for decades. I have served on the Boards of the Dan Beard Council Boy Scouts of America and its Executive Committee, the Stepping Stones Board and the Hamilton County Land Bank (President of the Board), just to name a few. I am an Eagle Scout and giving back time and energy to our community is most important.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
Acting Judge, Montgomery County Municipal Court, 2010-2014 Law Clerk for Judge David Sunderland, Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, 1998-1999 Staff Attorney for Judge James Brogan, Second District Court of Appeals, 1999-2002

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
I have been a civil litigation attorney since I left the Court of Appeals in 2002, litigating in courts all over the state and outside of this state. My practice has involved virtually every type of civil case that common pleas judges decide every day, including business litigation, personal injury, insurance, employment, property, landlord/tenant, foreclosure, and more. There will likely not be a civil case filed in my court that I have not had some experience with in the past, giving me a head start on understanding and deciding those cases.

My criminal law experience has been mostly as a law clerk deciding motions to suppress, with the court of appeals researching and deciding all possible issues associated with criminal cases, and also as acting judge. While I have limited experience as a practicing criminal lawyer, I have extensive experience deciding criminal issues.

Also, because my litigation experience is so broad, I am constantly learning new areas of the law, and that has prepared me to face new challenges when I am a judge. I have also been exposed to trials and other courtroom proceedings since I was a teenager. During college and part of law school, I worked with my mother typing transcripts for both the magistrates and, when the main courtrooms began converting to video technology, the judges in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
The seat I am running for is currently held by Judge Barbara Gorman, who is retiring at the end of this year. Judge Gorman is someone I have looked up to for over 20 years, from the time I was working in the common pleas court as a law clerk. As a woman in the practice of law, I sought out female role models in the Dayton bar. While there are not near as many women as there are men, we have some formidable and intelligent women in the Dayton Bar, and Judge Gorman is one of them. I am running for her open seat because I am the right person to continue her tradition of excellence in the Court.

Having grown up in this county, my commitment to the community is strong, evidenced by my involvement as president of the Dayton Bar Foundation, past president of the Dayton Bar Association, past president of Legal Aid of Western Ohio and Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, adjunct professor at the University of Dayton School of Law, and Ohio Promote the Vote. My involvement in many of these organizations stems from my passion for equal justice and representation and respect for the rule of law. I have the right temperament to treat each litigant and attorney who appears before me with the respect and kindness they deserve, while still maintaining the necessary strength and control.

Finally, I understand the demands of this position, and will work hard to ensure that every person or entity appearing in my court will receive the attention necessary to bring their matter to timely and proper resolution. This county deserves a judge who is experienced and dedicated, and I am the candidate who will bring these qualities to the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge 2001-2003 Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas 2003 – present; Presiding and Administrative Judge 2014; Assistant Presiding and Administrative Judge 2013, 2019, 2020 Presiding Judge, Hamilton County Felony Veterans Treatment Court 2011 – present Acting Judge, Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, 2011

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
I was in private practice as a trial attorney for 21 years before assuming the bench.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I want to continue to serve the citizens of Hamilton County by maintaining and enhancing an independent judiciary, and to use my years of experience on the bench to advance the goals of the courts of Ohio. In my courtroom, everyone who appears is treated equally, fairly, and with respect. Period.

I also want to continue to serve our Veterans through the Felony Veterans Treatment Court. The Veterans Court is my way of helping those who served and protected us.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
I have been Judge of the Greene County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, for over seven years. On August 2, 2013, I was sworn in to fill the remaining term of retired Judge Robert A. Hagler. I was elected to my first full term in the November 2014 general election and continue in that position today.

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
Probate law has been the core focus of my entire legal career. I spent the first 28 years as an attorney in private practice concentrating extensively in estate planning, trust, and probate law. I have been in the trenches with thousands of clients, planning for their unique circumstances and guiding them through the often-complex nuances of probate court.

As a practicing attorney, I was part of the inaugural class of attorneys to be certified as a specialist in estate planning, trust, and probate law by the Ohio State Bar Association. I was the first and only attorney in Greene County certified as a specialist in that area of law before I became Probate Judge. I enjoyed being a frequent speaker and contributing writer on estate and trust planning, including in national venues regarding farm and agribusiness succession planning. While in private practice, I was listed in the Best Lawyers in America by U.S. News and World Report for estate and trust law and real estate law. I also held an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating through Martindale Hubble as an attorney, and continue to hold that distinction as a judge.

It is not just my experience in the technical aspects of probate law that matters, though. My decades of representing probate clients, and now hearing cases as Probate Judge, have given me valuable, real-life, human experience understanding complex family dynamics and other underlying factors that play such an important role in resolving probate matters. That experience is a crucial part of this judicial position. I did not gain this depth of experience overnight. It did not come simply by earning a law degree or reading a few statutes in a law book. It did not just appear the day I first put on a judicial robe.

I developed expertise in probate law through years and years of hard work and focus. Probate is complex and affects the most vulnerable people in our community — the elderly, mentally incompetent, developmentally disabled, mentally ill, families suffering the loss of a loved one, and children searching for a permanent home. I have decades of experience working with the important and difficult circumstances these individuals and families face. I have proven knowledge, experience, and ability to handle the role of Greene County Probate Judge from day one.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I am seeking re-election to my second full term as Judge of Greene County Probate Court because I have something unique and valuable to offer our community: my unmatched experience and expertise in probate law, an area that will at some point likely touch every family in our community. My 35 years of experience in probate law gives me a deep understanding of the difficult issues families face and uniquely qualifies me to continue serving as Greene County Probate Court Judge.

My experience earned the confidence of the Governor to appoint me to this important position in 2013. My performance earned the confidence of voters in 2014, electing me to my first full term as Probate Court Judge. My exemplary record of integrity, innovation, and focus on improving public service clearly make me the best choice for leading Greene County Probate Court in the future.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
I am a first-time judicial candidate.

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
I practice law at a large national law firm, Jackson Lewis P.C., where I represent businesses ranging from small family-owned companies to large international corporations in both federal and state courts, at both the trial and appeals court levels. My practice involves significant civil matters, including complex wage and hour class actions, discrimination cases, non-compete claims between businesses, tort claims, and much more. My skill in representing clients in these important cases has been recognized by Super Lawyers magazine, which has included me in its “Ohio Rising Stars” attorneys list (an honor given to only 2.5% of Ohio lawyers) every year since 2012.

I am a member of my firm’s Wage and Hour Practice Group and its General Employment Litigation Practice Group. I am also admitted to practice in Kentucky, and maintain an extensive practice there in addition to my Ohio practice. I have also been admitted to appear pro hac vice in court or represented clients in administrative agency actions in more than twelve states.

My practice leaves me uniquely qualified to appeals court work, in that in addition to my appellate litigation experience, the types of cases that I handle in trial courts are heavily focused on research and writing regarding contested legal issues. Appeals courts, unlike trial courts, are solely focused on this type of legal work.

In addition, my career-long involvement in the Federalist Society, including as the president of the Federalist Society’s Cincinnati Lawyers Chapter for five years, demonstrates that I have the right judicial philosophy for the job. In that role I organized numerous substantive, in-depth discussions/debates of important legal issues, and I helped organize a statewide legal conference on a variety of emerging legal issues in Ohio. These events were attended by and featured numerous lawyers, judges, legislators, and even the United States Solicitor General. Simply put, I’ve spent most of my career both thinking about and practicing the skills one needs to be an effective court of appeals judge.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I am running for this seat because I care about having highly qualified judges on Ohio’s courts, because I care deeply about limiting judicial overreach on the bench, and because I will enjoy the reading, research, and writing work performed by court of appeals judges. We need two things from court of appeals judges: (1) demonstrated legal excellence, and (2) a judicial philosophy that appreciates and understands that judges are judges, not legislators, and must avoid judicial overreach by deciding cases solely based on the facts and law presented to them. I meet both these criteria. I think it is important that people act on their convictions and serve their community; accordingly, I decided to run for the 12th District Court of Appeals.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
Ross County Probate-Juvenile Judge 2015-present

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
Self employed trial lawyer 1982-2015

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
I enjoy helping others.

(1) List your judicial experience (courts and years)
I was appointed by Governor DeWine to fill a vacancy effective July 13, 2020. I was previously a magistrate and acting judge in Marion Municipal Court.

(2) What about your non-judicial legal experience qualifies you to be a judge?
Prior to my appointment my practice included probate, juvenile, domestic relations, bankruptcy, real estate, and civil litigation. I am familiar with the intersection of the various practice areas with the issues that arise in the Family Court.

(3) Why are you running for this particular court seat?
Based on personal experience, I understand the significance, importance, and impact of the decisions made in Family Court. I will listen closely to the arguments of the parties and, to the best of my ability, make decisions based on the law and in the best interest of the children involved in the cases before me.