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Akron Bar Association announces 2018 judicial ratings
Published: September 5, 2018
AKRON––The Akron Bar Association Commission on Judicial Candidates has been established by the Akron Bar Association to evaluate candidates for local judgeships.
The Commission rates the candidates “Excellent,” “Good,” “Adequate,” or “Not Acceptable.” Ratings are based on seven criteria: integrity, legal knowledge and ability, professional experience, judicial temperament, diligence, personal responsibility, and public and community service.
The Akron Bar Association has created a website – https://YouBeTheJudgeSummitCounty.com – to not only promote the Commission’s ratings, but to serve as a central source of information about the local judicial candidates appearing on the November ballot. In addition to the ratings, links to the candidates’ websites and social media pages can be found easily.
All ratings require a majority vote of the Commission; a rating of “Excellent” requires two thirds supermajority of the Commission.
The ratings are not intended to be a comparison or endorsement of candidates, but only represent the Commission’s evaluation of each individual candidate’s qualifications for the specific office sought.
A rating of “Adequate” requires a vote of a majority of the Commission members present. If a candidate is rated “Adequate,” a second ballot is taken to determine if the rating “Good” will be awarded, also requiring a vote of the majority of the Commission members present.
If a candidate is rated “Good,” a third ballot is taken to determine if the rating “Excellent” will be awarded.
The “Excellent” rating requires the affirmative vote of a two-thirds majority of the Commission members present.
The Commission is comprised of 28 experienced members of the Akron Bar Association selected by its municipal courts committee, common pleas and appellate courts committee, family law section, probate law section, the chair of the Commission, and the bar president.
No more than 50 percent of the Commission may be from any one political party.
All candidates complete a questionnaire containing extensive biographical data and submit relevant materials, including writing samples. References for the candidates are interviewed and intensive interviews of the candidates are conducted.
This year, the Commission, co-chaired by Al Schrader and Chris Esker, evaluated the judicial candidates running in the election scheduled for November 6, 2018.
The ratings are as follows:
Candidate ABA Commission Rating
Ninth District Court of Appeals Beginning February 9, 2019
Diana Colavecchio ADEQUATE
Jennifer Hensal EXCELLENT
Summit County Court of Common Pleas General Division, Term ending January 2, 2021
David Lombardi EXCELLENT
Kelly McLaughlin GOOD
Summit County Court of Common Pleas General Division, Term beginning January 2, 2019
Amy Corrigall Jones EXCELLENT
Summit County Court of Common Pleas General Division, Term beginning May 17, 2019
Jill Flagg Lanzinger GOOD
Susan Baker Ross GOOD
Summit County Court of Common Pleas General Division, Term beginning January 1, 2019
Thomas McCarty ADEQUATE
Kathryn Michael GOOD
The Akron Bar Association was founded in 1875 and is an Ohio not-for-profit corporation with a membership base of over 1,600 members consisting of lawyers, judges, paralegals, legal staff, law students, and paralegal students. In addition to serving our members, we serve the public by providing referrals to pre-screened lawyers, Notary Public seminars, testing and supplies, and investigating grievances against attorneys with a Summit County mailing address.