December 30, 2016 -- Taking The Oath
Bubba Watson is a professional golfer who won The Masters Golf Tournament a few years ago, and afterward he was asked if winning the tournament had been a dream come true.
“I can’t really say,” he said, “because my dreams never went this far.”
I went to Springboro until the middle of the eighth grade, then graduated from Franklin High School.
I was a magistrate in Springboro and Franklin. I was part of a very nice law firm that drew largely from clients in both communities. I had “The Heart of the Panthers" and then became “Once A Wildcat, Always A Wildcat”. I have been fortunate, and maybe there were thoughts of being a judge on a local level...but running for a county-wide position was not on my radar.
“My dreams never went this far.”
I Am A Mosiac, A Reflection Of So Many People
With all due respect to the
successful people of this world who achieved their status totally on their own,
there’s only one thing I can say in response: I’m not one of them.
My first exposure to the legal system came in 1968 when my dad passed the bar exam – he went to college and law school with 5 kids. I didn’t know what a lawyer was, but all I had heard was that my dad fought to get people out of jail. So I figured he showed up at the jail every day at 4 o’clock, ready to duke it out.
Since he always came home without a scratch on him, I figured he must be a good lawyer.
I remember going to court with him, in front of Judge Tracy, Judge Young, Judge Fedders, Judge Herdman.
He always talked about other lawyers, like Morris Turkelson, Fred Jones, Phil
Pleska, Fred Hubbell, Eddie Lawson and Jim Ruppert.
I grew up hearing stories about all of them, at County Court, The Golden Lamb, and Kinney’s in Franklin. Bar parties, were often at our house.
I learned we’re all part of history and tradition. Just yesterday I was talking with David Fornshell, our county prosecutor, and Judge Flannery, our retired common pleas court judge and former prosecutor. David said, “I’d love to have been a fly on the wall back in those days.”
High School / Friendships
I have also been influenced by some wonderful friends through the years.
If you ask someone where they were between ages of 30-33, you have to think. But ask about 15-18 and you know exactly where you were.
My best friends were Griff, Jerry, Daws, Gordy, Kev, Silk and Bake. No one had full names. I was "Kirb."
Silk, sitting here, was the best man at my wedding almost 25 years ago. Bake presented me when I went into the Franklin Hall of Fame. Last night he was in Oxford, Mississippi calling the Kentucky basketball game with Rex Chapman, and today he’s here.
We don’t see each other all the time, when something happens, our phones start ringing.
One time I had someone ask me, “Do
you pay your friends say a lot of nice things about you?” No, I don’t pay them
for what they do say. I pay them for what they don’t say."
I learned we were not made to go through life alone. We are all connected, where one life touches another life, which touches another life, and then that life touches you. You can no more separate one life from another than you can separate the breeze from the wind.
Jury Duty
One day in July 1983, I got a notice for jury duty. For a week I sat right there as Judge Young presided over a murder trial, the State versus Jerry Howard. Joanne Hash was the prosecuting attorney, and Bill Fowler and Jack Bunce were the defense attorneys. I was fascinated by the experience.
“Hmmm. Do you think this might be what you want to do?” I asked myself. Soon I headed off to law school.
My thought was to settle into a small town law firm and represent all my friends.
I worked with Dad and my brother Joe. I tried cases in front of
Judge Fedders, Judge Bronson, Judge Flannery, Judge Herdman, Judge Clark, Judge
Ruppert.
One of my first cases was in front of Judge Herdman in County Court. I’m driving over saying to myself, “Why have I been assigned this case?” Our client was obviously guilty, and everyone knew he was going to jail. Judge Herdman was a colorful judge. He had two rules: 1) if you stole something, you went to jail – no questions asked, and 2) every lawyer wins his first case.
Judge Herdman had a dilemma.
He looked up overtop his glasses and
said, “Young man, you tell your father that if I so much as think about him in
the next six months I will put him in jail, and anyone else he happens to
represent. Got it?” Got it.
Kirby Law Office / Secretaries
I worked with some real good people at the Kirby Law Office, where I worked for 25 years -- with Linda McKinney, Bernice Robbins, Sharone Eisenhut, Brenda Williams...and especially Lisa Evans. I learned the value of teamwork, the complexities of litigation, and the demands of daily practice. One time I mentioned at a party that my phone never rings with people wanting to tell me to have a wonderful day. It’s always a problem. I came in Monday morning to a voice mail full of messages, all from the people at the party telling me they hoped I had a wonderful day.
I worked in Franklin Municipal Court with Sherry Mullins, Norma Barker, Sabrina Muncy, Dodie Lykins, Darleene Moore, Joyce Biser…Big John Flinspach. I heard probably 50,000 cases in 22 years, many times with litigants without lawyers. Fights over cars and personal belongings. Evictions that called for people to move out of their houses. Emotion. Think that is good training for a domestic relations court judge?
One day I was talking to a prisoner, who was complaining about being treated unfairly. Terry Stone, someone I knew from high school, was also sitting with the prisoners and couldn't believe what he was hearing. “That’s the stupidest damn thing I’ve ever heard,” he said
“You’re in jail. How fair is that?”
“I’m a dumbass. I deserve to be in jail. This is the fairest judge you’ll ever meet. Now take your medicine like a man and shut up.”
Collaborative
In 1999, I represented an inmate at LCI (Charles Austin – like Morgan Freeman) who had been in and out of prison for more than 20 years. He was in the Alabama prison system in 1973 Burt Reynolds filmed the original version of “The Longest Yard.”
That trial went well. I was doing well. My wife Kim and I lived in a nice neighborhood, we had good kids, and I drove a nice car. But I was not a really nice person. I was locked into all these fights everywhere, and they were affecting me.
I remember a morning around that time when I was headed to the office at 5:30 in the morning. I had a trial at 8:30, a motion at 10:30, and then another trial at 1 o’clock that afternoon.
I remember being stopped at the
stop sign at McCray Blvd. and 741, with snow just covering my car. I confessed
I was tired. I bowed my head. “I’m not the litigator this person is, and I’m
the research genius that one is.” I was trying to be all these other people.
"I gave you the gift of patience, see how much influence you can have by listening.
"Jeff, you’re a problem solver. Stick with me and I’ll show you strength you’ve never had before
Not long after that, I signed up for a collaborative law seminar at the Golden Lamb, primarily because it offered a lot of credit hours. I had no idea it would transform the way I would practice law, and by extension, change my life. Dale Carnegie said, “The best way to win an argument is not have one. I became a mediator. I became a guardian ad litem.
But I still never saw myself being anything more than a small town lawyer.
Julie/ Judge Oliver
In 2008 Dad died. A few years later, my sister Julie died. I’ve heard it said, “When someone you know passes away, you gain an angel whose name you know.”
In early 2013, some serious strings were pulled. Joe to Juvenile/Probate Court, me to the Domestic Relations Court.
This was a real leap of faith, but I sense of peace about it. I joined a staff that is incredible. Every time I talk about them, I think of the TV show M*A*S*H, not so much because everyone is a character, but there is some of that. But just like Hawkeye and BJ and Klinger could really get the job done when the pressure was on, so does this crew.
You should see them. They are highly regarded by anyone who works with domestic relations courts in Southwest Ohio. Rhonda Denny. Today is Rhonda’s last day. For the past 12 years, she has been a guiding force with our court. She doesn’t wear the robe and she doesn’t get recognized at community functions, but she does all the things – compliance, scheduling, insurance, and a thousand other things – to keep us going. I have a lot of faith in Diana Flint’s ability to take over, but we will not and cannot replace Rhonda. She’s one of a kind.
I also work with Eloisa Kirsebeth, Pam Jackson, Mary Ellen Steele, Carrie Oliver, Deborah Grubb, Brooke Logsdon, Jerry Williams, and now Lisa…
I also work with Magistrates Yvonne Iversen, Anne Flottman and Brenda Dunlap. On election day, I was outside a church in Mason. Someguy walked up and said, "Do you think Brenda Dunlap does a good job?" And that's tough, because not everyone who leaves our court thinks we did a good job, even when we did.
I said, "Yes sir."
He said, "That's good enough for me. I'm voting for you."
Judge Oliver
Today is also Judge Oliver’s last day. I worked with him at the prosecutor’s office 30 years ago, worked with him on opposite sides of cases for 15 years while he was prosecutor, practiced in front of him for 10 years, and now worked as a magistrate with him for the last 3 years.
He’s not old enough to be my dad, but he has helped me the same way my dad did. He’s never corrupted me the way Errol did. He believed in me.
I will not replace Judge Oliver. I will work hard to try to run this court the way he has.
When I ran my election, I know it was my name on the ballot, but I felt as if I were running as part of that team.
I don’t need to show any of them what to do. Truth be known, the best thing I could probably do is just stay out of their way.
I bring a lot of experience, but I cannot do this job without relying on a team effort.
Family / Kim
Dad. I’ll see him again and he’ll say, “I wish I could have been there to be part of that.” I’ll say, “You were.”
He drove all of us about the importance of working hard and getting an education. He wasn’t the least bit bashful trying to tell us how to run our lives, because he wanted us to be the best we could be.
Jenny is a retired school teacher who is now a realtor; married for 33 years and mother to three great kids. “No way I will call or Joe ‘Your Honor.’”
John has always been the funny guy. They say when you’re nervous, watch fish…
Joe. I learned skills to be a divorce judge when I was 9 years old, which means Joe would have been 5. At snack time it was my job to divide up a bag of M&Ms. I’d open the bag and count them, and wouldn’t you know the amount was never divisible by 5.
I learned some people, like Jenny, can be very agreeable about such things. But other people…let’s just say Joe never went without.
I’m very proud of him.
Julie would, too. If she had been alive when Joe was appointed judge over the Juvenile Court, she would have said, "Well, that's just perfect. It takes a juvenile delinquent to find another juvenile delinquent."
The importance of relationships with your siblings and your cousins – they’re there before your kids come along, and they’re there in most instances after your parents are gone.
Adam
working hard to
become his own person; Chloe totally
blend between me and Kim. Senior OSU. English major. Working at David’s Bridal
over winter break. UD Law School.
Kim is bright, beautiful, and considerate. It's no won der she has 14,000 best friends.
When I perform weddings, I say, “Don’t let the wedding be the end of your movie; instead, let it be the beginning.”
On Election Night, when the results were not in, I was still a winner. I had her.
Rightfully, much is said about all the effort my dad made in going to college and graduating law school. Well, that’s only half the story.
My mom had the harder job
There’s a story of a business leader driving with his wife…
“I know what you’re thinking…”
“No, if I had married him, he would be driving the big car with me, and you would be working at the gas station.”
Mom, they’re telling me I have to
be properly dressed to do this.
Can you help?