CANDIDATE PROFILES: Judge, 1st Judicial Circuit
NONPARTISAN ELECTION
Who can vote? All registered voters in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties.
What’s next? Candidate who winds more than 50 percent of the vote wins office. Otherwise, two top vote getters advance to the Nov. 2 election.
Kenneth Brooks, Jr.
Family:
Wife, Cathy (married 27 years), children: Zach, Hannah, Emily
Place of worship:
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Milton
Experience relevant to the office you seek:
I have been practicing law for 20 years. Prior to that I served as a decorated law enforcement officer in Florida. I am a trial attorney and for 20 years I have represented clients in Okaloosa, Escambia, Santa Rosa and Walton counties. My practice includes; family law, criminal law, abandoned, abused or neglected children, probate and many other areas of law typically handled by circuit judges. I have handled small cases to multi-million dollar litigation matters in state and federal courts.
Other education/experience:
Bachelor of Science Degree from Florida State University
Juris Doctorate from the University of North Dakota School of Law
I am a member of the Order of Barristers and practice in State and Federal Courts.
I traveled extensively when I was young as my father is a retired Lt. colonel in the U.S. Air Force. We eventually settled in Florida where I became a law enforcement officer and then went on to practice law.
Reason you are seeking this position:
After a rewarding 20-year career practicing law it was time to give up a very successful practice and give back to the community that has been so good to us all these years. The pinnacle of a lawyer’s career is to be a judge. As an attorney who spent the majority of his career in the courtroom, I wanted to assure that our community received the most qualified person for the job.
Biggest issue this position faces and how you plan to address it:
The most pressing issue is how to handle larger caseloads with decreasing funding. Docket sizes increase and there is no funding for more judges. Efficiency is the key, and while it is true that justice is the goal, it can be accomplished efficiently by assisting the clerks office in moving cases along. All the best judges I have worked with were tireless workers, preparing for large dockets the night before court.
Clint Davis
Family:
Married to Maranda Davis, with four children.
Experience relevant to the office you seek:
I have a decade of courtroom trial experience, primarily in Circuit Court. I've also practiced in most of the areas of law within Circuit Court jurisdiction.
Other education/experience:
Honors graduate of University of West Florida. Honors graduate of University of Florida College of Law.
Reason you are seeking this position:
I'm qualified by education and experience, and I am committed to ensuring American concepts of justice and the rule of law endure in our courts.
Biggest issue this position faces and how you plan to address it:
An overburdened court system combined with ever decreasing available funding makes it difficult to give every litigant his or her "day in court." To deal with this serious issue, judges must promote efficient use of court time by eliminating unnecessary delays, requiring parties to mediate outside of court, when appropriate, and other similar measures.
Michael Flowers
Family:
Wife, Jan Flowers, who is a registered nurse. We have three daughters: Jennifer, who is a student at the University of Alabama; Cara, who attends the University of West Florida; and Leah, who will begin attending the University of West Florida this year.
Place of Worship:
Niceville United Methodist Church
Experience relevant to the office you seek:
I have practiced law in the First Circuit for 25 years. I have an active trial practice, and am primarily experienced in the family law, juvenile law, and criminal law areas.
Other education/experience:
BS from Florida State University, 1981, and Law Degree from Cumberland School of Law.
Reason you are seeking this position:
I am seeking to be a judge because I have been asked to serve by other lawyers and members of the community. I appear before the courts virtually every day of my career, and I believe we need judges who will listen carefully to the positions of the litigants, who will act swiftly and efficiently, and who will apply the law on the books, and not the law they think should be on the books.
Biggest issue this position faces and how you plan to address it:
The biggest issue this position faces is how to handle more cases with less money. I am confident that I can play a leadership role in continuing to make the courts operate more cost effectively. The law has been slow to use the advantages of technology, but I am an advocate of using technology to help minimize the administrative costs that the judicial system incurs, even with an increasingly heavy caseload.
Mike Lawson
Family:
I have been married for 10 years to my wife, Nicole, and we have two children, Margaret and John, as well as our little dog, Maggie
Place of Worship:
Christ Our King Catholic Church, Freeport
Experience relevant to the office you seek:
As an attorney I focus my practice on property and business law. My primary job is to protect property owners and business owners from litigation, and with the current economic downturn I have devoted an increasing amount of my practice towards the foreclosure cases that are clogging our court system. If elected I would be one of the few judges with longstanding experience in foreclosures, contract law and property litigation.
Other education/experience:
BA in International Studies, University of West Florida. MA in War Studies, King’s College – University of London, JD in Law, College of William and Mary; I also attended the University College Dublin (Ireland), University of Oslo (Norway), Klagenfurt University (Austria) and College of William and Mary at Madrid (Spain).
Prior to becoming an Attorney I spent over nine years in the National Security Fields, most of which was spent working with the Department of Energy in the area of Nuclear and Biological Weapons proliferation.
Reason you are seeking this position:
I believe there is always need for conservative judges who believe that the law must be applied to the facts strictly, impartially and without bias or political agenda. Judges do not make law, they do not make social policy and they cannot interpret the law to achieve a “desired outcome.”
Biggest issue this position faces and how you plan to address it:
The biggest issue before the courts is the extraordinary caseload. As a judge I will use methods such a mandatory case management conferences, to streamline my docket as much as possible. I will hold attorneys to the deadlines imposed by the various rules of procedure. I will not grant frequent extensions and continuances to attorneys without good cause. I will sanction lawyers when the facts show an attorney has wasted the court’s time or unnecessarily delayed a trial.
Alishia McDonald
Family:
Married to teenage sweetheart, Eric J. McDonald. We have four daughters, Amber (age 10), Annah (age 8), Amelia (age 5), and Allison (age 3)
Place of worship:
University Parkway SDA Church, Protestant Christian Denomination
Experience relevant to the office you seek:
The two primary areas of law facing circuit judges are family and criminal law. I have been in private practice specializing in the areas of family law and criminal defense for the past six years, and I have over 12 years of diverse legal experience and the integrity that matters to competently serve as circuit judge. I began my legal career at Northwest Florida Legal Services fighting for the rights of the poor, battered women, and children. After leaving NWFLS, I became a felony circuit prosecutor in the First Judicial Circuit. As a prosecutor, I prosecuted criminal defendants and fought for the protection and rights of victims of crime. As a former defender of the indigent, former felony circuit prosecutor at the State Attorneys Office in the First Judicial Circuit, and a current criminal defense and family law attorney, I have proven that I have the integrity that matters, and the experience and common sense to make unwavering sound and fair legal decisions.
Other education/experience:
University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville, F.L., Juris Doctorate (J.D.) 1998; Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, N.H., Bachelors of Arts (B.A.) 1995.
Reason you are seeking this position:
The Bible tells us that there was no evidence against Jesus during his trial before Pilate. But Pilate desired to please people and thus condemned Jesus to death because he did not heed counsel from God through his wife, nor did he follow the law. Judges should be ethical, impartial and follow the law, but they also should be connected with God. I seek to administer firm justice that is tendered with mercy.
Biggest issue this position faces and how you plan to address it:
An important issue is efficient docket control. The Court’s resources, and taxpayer dollars, should not be unnecessarily wasted. If elected, I will seek to reduce the number of continuances, hold more case management and pre-trial conferences, encourage attorneys to expeditiously move their cases and hold them accountable if they do not; set more trials, and utilize General Magistrates and certified mediators more. These advances should allow for the ourt to move more cases.
Robert E. McGill, III
Family:
Wife, Leah (married 28 years); daughters Mallory (24), and Lauren (22); mother, Lottie.
Place of worship:
First Presbyterian Church of Destin
Experience relevant to the office you seek:
I have 29 years of experience in general civil practice, including serving as the city attorney for Destin. My professional career has not been confined solely to the practice of law, and similarly my legal practice has not been confined solely to one area of law. In fact, my work outside of the legal arena has given me a unique perspective that my opponents in this race do not have.
Other education/experience:
Florida Supreme Court certified Circuit civil mediator; Hebert and Abbott in New Orleans, La. (1981-1984); Commercial real estate development (1985-1990); Stowell, Anton and Kraemer in Destin (1991-1993); Destin city attorney (1993-1996); Robert E. McGill, III, P.A. in Destin (1993-2010).
In addition to my work, I have a history of giving back to my community through my involvement as an Elder at First Presbyterian Church in Destin, Rotarian for 23 years, serving for the last four years on the Sacred Heart of the Emerald Coast Development Board, and the Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority.
Reason you are seeking this position:
I think it is time that we quit electing inexperienced people. I have 29 years of experience practicing law, and I believe it takes this much experience to be a good Judge. At this point in my career, if I am elected Judge I essentially get a chance to make a career change and serve the people of Okaloosa County doing something that I love – the law. I am a good listener, hard worker and a compassionate, fair minded person, and these traits which have been entrusted to me will allow me to hear all sides of a dispute in an open minded manner.
Biggest issue this position faces and how you plan to address it:
The biggest issue facing our court system today is the overcrowding of the court docket. I believe that justice delayed is justice denied. I have successfully run my own law practice and administered up to 14 employees. This experience will help me efficiently move cases through the court system. Also, I plan to use magistrates and help train and work with mediators to assist in resolving cases without having to go to trial.
