Judge candidate Jim Fink leads opponents by double digits in bar association poll
The Washtenaw County Bar Association has released the results of a recently conducted poll, showing judicial candidate Jim Fink a clear favorite among local bar members.
In the four-way race for an open seat on the 22nd Circuit Court bench in Washtenaw County, Fink scored higher than any of his three opponents in all areas ranked.
On technical qualifications for the position, 77.6 percent rated Fink as either above average or excellent, while 66.3 percent said the same for Doug McClure, 61 percent said the same for Carol Kuhnke, and 40.8 percent said the same for Erane Washington.
In a similar poll conducted for the two-way race in which attorney Michael Woodyard is challenging Circuit Judge Timothy Connors, the longtime judge was rated significantly higher than Woodyard in every category.
Kyeena Slater, the association's executive director, released the poll results to bar members on Friday.
About 84.7 percent of respondents said they knew Fink before he was a candidate, while 70.1 percent said they knew Washington, 49.4 percent said they knew McClure and 42.9 percent said they knew Kuhnke.
On work capacity, which includes traits like diligence, punctuality and organizational skills, 76.2 percent rated Fink above average or excellent, while 62 percent said the same for McClure, 61 percent said the same for Kuhnke, and 44.4 percent said the same for Washington.
On character traits such as integrity and ability to be impartial, 79.7 percent rated Fink above average or excellent, while 73.4 percent said the same for McClure, 55 percent said the same for Kuhnke, and 51.9 percent said the same for Washington.
In terms of interpersonal skills, including demeanor, sense of humor and respect, 82.7 percent rated Fink above average or excellent, while 64.6 percent said the same for McClure, 62 percent said the same for Kuhnke, and 61.8 percent said the same for Washington.
In the other poll, only 12.7 percent of the 219 respondents said they knew Woodyard before he was a candidate, while 97.3 percent said they knew Connors.
In terms of technical qualifications, 85.5 percent rated Connors above average or excellent, while 25.9 percent said the same for Woodyard.
On work capacity, 85 percent rated Connors above average or excellent, while 22.2 percent said the same for Woodyard.
About 86 percent rated Connors above average or excellent on interpersonal skills, while 29.6 percent said the same for Woodyard.
Lastly, on character traits, 83.1 percent rated Connors above average or excellent, while 33.3 percent said the same for Woodyard.
The polling was confidential and conducted through SurveyMonkey.com. Results were collected and analyzed by SurveyMonkey.
Related story: Judge candidate called out for Republican leanings at Democratic Party judicial forum
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.
Comments
Cameron Getto
Sat, Jun 30, 2012 : 3:21 p.m.
I'm surprised at the unfounded speculation and erroneous assertions in many of the comments here. I am a trial attorney living in Ypsi who is a partner at a 30+ litigation law firm in Farmington HIlls and member of the Washtenaw County Bar Association. I have a statewide practice litigating cases for both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases. All I do is courtroom work. I took the poll. It asked if I knew each attorney. It did not offer any questions for the couple I did not know, and it did not score them in the poll. Thus, the comments about being scored by people not known by those taking the polls are factually incorrect. Moreover, name recognition would not be much of a factor among lawyers taking a poll, particularly when the poll was scored only if the lawyer knew the candidate and could comment. So those comments are factually incorrect. The most likely reason that Mr. Fink scored so well would be his qualifications: a strong law enforcement background, an excellent reputation as both a lawyer and a citizen, and what most lawyers would consider an excellent attitude, a great judicial temperament and a serious and proven commitment to following the law. He is most likely better known than the other candidates because he's been an active member of the bar and community, garnering respect among his colleagues. Candidates who are better known in legal circles and respected by their colleagues make better candidates than those who are uninvolved in such professional activities. I'm a lifelong Democrat, but knowing what I know about Mr. Fink, he would be a great judge. Attacking someone dedicated to following the law based on party politics in a non-partisan election should have no place among principled members of our community. Engler pulled that nonsense when appointing partisans to our Supreme Court, and our Supreme Court lost a great deal of legitimacy in the process. We need more people like Mr. Fink on the bench, not fewer.
Joe Baublis
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 2:28 a.m.
But the bar association forgot to mention that Fink also has an antidote for "blackrobe syndrome".
KeepingItReal
Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 3:26 p.m.
I've known Jim Fink for some time now and consider him to be a very qualified candidate. My natural affinity would be to support Eraine Washington but I don't think she posses the integrity, a desired quality for a judge, to be a judge.
sinead o'rebellion
Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 3:43 p.m.
in·teg·ri·ty [in-teg-ri-tee] Show IPA noun 1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. Everyone who has met ERANE Washington knows that she possesses these qualities.
lsl
Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 2:45 a.m.
It is important to note that only the members of the local bar association participated in this poll - not all the attorneys in the county. I am not a member of the local bar. I have, however, been an attorney in Ann Arbor for over twenty years and know all of the candidates, all of whom have very strong qualities that would benefit our bench. As much as I admire and enjoy the others (especially Jim), I feel compelled to say that Carol Kuhnke is the only one that has exactly the right temperament for circuit court and she is exactly what Washtenaw County needs right now. All of the candidates have sufficient knowledge, integrity and experience. But a circuit court judge must be able to withstand and help resolve a constant flow of complex human conflicts - an absolutely grueling job - and one that demands a particular kind of emotional stamina, generosity, and depth of insight. Carol has it all, in spades. The position of judge is too often awarded as a pre-retirement bonus for the most congenial, the most politically connected, the most socially saavy... If that was ever what was needed, that time has passed. The conflicts now are more complex, the consequences more severe, and the community more diverse than ever. We need someone with the stamina to work it through in that complicated context - without the old assumptions and for the long haul - and who will not get fatigued by the process, emotionally or otherwise. I was not asked to participate in the poll but, in case anyone is still counting, Carol's got my vote.
sinead o'rebellion
Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 1:01 p.m.
It is my understanding that Carol Kuhnke is a Plaintiff's Attorney. How then does she have the Criminal experience necessary to hold this position?
kilroy
Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 2:41 a.m.
The Washtenaw County Bar Association is a voluntary association to which only 738 of the county's 1716 lawyers belong. Moreover, the lawyers who best know the skills of courtroom lawyers are other courtroom lawyers, yet the association's membership consists mainly of office lawyers who seldom if ever go to court. The social purpose of the association is to give these office lawyers a chance to meet each other and, hopefully, get known and pick up work. Courtroom lawyers don't have a need to belong to the WCBA as it is totally irrelevant to their work. Not a single one of the association's 18 member board of directors tries civil cases in the circuit court. Doug McClure, who ranked 2nd in the poll, has never tried a case in the circuit court but is a member of the association's board of directors so you would expect him to do well in any poll taken of his friends. Most lawyers who argue and try cases in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court come from a much wider geographical area and of the four candidates rated in the WCBA beauty contest only Carol Kuhnke and Erane Washington are known as circuit court trial lawyers. It is just pointless to ask 242 mostly male office lawyers to rank two female courtroom lawyers essentially unknown to them and who they never see in action in court. The poll was sexist, biased and, in a word, just stupid. If you polled only trial lawyers they would likely ask "Doug who?" and "which Fink is that?" The real contest should be between Carol Kuhnke and Erane Washington. It would be a downright shame if Judge Melinda Morris-- the first and only woman on the court in the last 30 years-- were replaced with another man.
Joe Baublis
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 2:56 a.m.
Perhaps you are forgetting that Erane clerked for Circuit Judge Sheldon. I hope you aren't thinking that she didn't talk with many of the trial lawyers during her clerkship. And I hope you aren't thinking that she didn't see first hand how the sausage factory operates.
j hampton
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 11:07 p.m.
The first question in the poll is "Do you know the candidate?" If you answer "no" you do not answer any further questions.
EyeGuy
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 11:43 p.m.
And if you want to downgrade your buddy's opponent, you just answer "yes." Considering the small number who took this poll, it would only take a handful of friends to skew the results.
jcj
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 10:52 p.m.
I suspect that one of the reasons Jim Fink was rated so high was because his father Robert V. Fink, and his brother, Karl V. Fink were both judges in Ann Arbor. Think having a popular family name doesn't help? Think again!
nunya
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 2:09 p.m.
I am sure it does. And they were both great judges. So we have a fine example of what to expect from Jim as a judge.
jcj
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 12:08 a.m.
I do not know if what you say is true.I have no reason to doubt that. BUT don't try to tell me name recognition does not play a part in politics!
APWBD123
Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 6:26 p.m.
I think the reason Jim Fink was rated so high is the fact that he is a hardworking, honest gentleman and a skilled attorney. Maybe that has something to do with it? But that might make too much sense....
talker
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 9:17 p.m.
How can a person rate someone they don't know? Did any responders rate the unknown lower so the person they know appears better in the poll results. With so many people not knowing a candidate, the "survey" should be a non-event. A substitution could be presenting the backgrounds and ideas of the candidates that aren't known by many. This shoouldn't be a "budy" election. This should be a forum for voters in general to learn about the backgrounds of all the primary candidates.
EyeGuy
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 8:36 p.m.
If you want to see how obviously flawed this poll is, look at the Connors vs Woodyard results. Almost nobody here knows Woodyard, but his work capacity is not highly rated. The man is an assistant prosecutor in the office that handles most prosecutions in the state of Michigan. I bet he works harder than most local attorneys who rated him so low. How about a little analysis annarbor.com? There are a lot more than 738 lawyers in this county.
oldgaffer
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 11:25 a.m.
Woodyard is totally clueless about civil cases and it is those cases that form the vast bulk of the work of circuit court. On any given day you can walk into court and find nine out of ten times that the court is dealing with a civil case and not a criminal case. Woodyard stated publicly at the candidates forum last weekend that "the vast majority of civil cases are disposed of by summary disposition." That is just totally false, and to even suggest it demonstrates that Woodyard has an abysmal knowledge of civil cases. To grant a motion for summary disposition is to take away a litigant's constitutional right to trial by jury and such motions are very rarely granted. For Woodyard to make such astonishing statement shows he is unqualified to be a judge.
Joe Baublis
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 2:45 a.m.
Put some money on it. An alternative opinion is that prosecutor's don't know the facts - or the law - and don't care either because their job is to cut a plea deal and get the case off the books.
GreenLion
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 7:41 p.m.
A few things that occur to me about this poll. 1. The sample size is extremely small. 2. All the people who voted in this had a vested interest in either boosting their candidates numbers and/or lowering another candidates. 3. The poll tells us nothing in regards to who would be the best judge. 4. The poll is unreliable.
Joe Baublis
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 2:42 a.m.
We don't even know what makes a judge "good". And I suspect that most people don't even know what makes "law" good. Did you know that the courts "impute" law on everyone whether or not they even know what the law is? They do it so they can process us like a factory.
EyeGuy
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 7:09 p.m.
It sounds like most lawyers don't even know Kuhnke and McClure. Wouldn't having high work capacity mean other lawyers would know you? The only thing I can take away from this poll is that Washington and Fink are better known. 242 lawyers do not put anyone in the lead, especially since many of them probably are connected in some way to one or more of these candidates.
Joe Baublis
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 2:38 a.m.
We don't know what most lawyers don't know because most of the lawyers didn't reply. All we know is that most of the lawyers who were polled did not reply. Some people might infer that the bar membership does not deem the poll to be worthy. However, there's a difference between inference and implication. Of those who did reply, the results are stated in the report. We don't know whether the response consensus can be accurately applied to the whole bar association.
sinead o'rebellion
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 6:54 p.m.
'49.4 percent said they knew McClure and 42.9 percent said they knew Kuhnke.' So if half the people didn't even know these candidates did they guess on the rest of the poll? Work Capacity and Character Traits (I'm guessing since the article says trails) How could they be rated so highly when only half knew of them? Something in the water is not clean!
sinead o'rebellion
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 3:56 p.m.
"In fact, criminal experience is not necessary to hold the position of circuit court judge" I completely disagree with this statement seeing as how all Circuit Court Judges have criminal dockets. How, if criminal cases are so easy, do we still have complex cases from 2006 being tried in 2012?
Joe Baublis
Wed, Jun 27, 2012 : 2:32 a.m.
Oh that's very perceptive.
oldgaffer
Tue, Jun 26, 2012 : 8:52 p.m.
You wondered whether Carol Kuhnke has "the criminal experience necessary to hold this position." In fact, criminal experience is not necessary to hold the position of circuit court judge as (1) criminal cases are the easiest of all for a judge to try since the rules of evidence and procedure in criminal cases are very formulaic, and (2) most of the court's caseload is comprised of civil cases, which are far more complex and require much more work to handle. One of the reasons the court's docket moves so slowly is precisely because most judges appointed by governors have little or no experience in trying civil cases.
sinead o'rebellion
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 7:52 p.m.
Oh so sorry, they did not KNOW McClure or Kuhnke. My point still stands that you can know someone without ever having met them but you would have to hear about them somehow. These people are not known by members of their own profession. Also, thank you for the insight on how the poll works, that the people who do not know someone do not vote on that candidate. Do you know is that taken into account when the percentages are totaled?
Faygo
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 7:21 p.m.
The poll does not say "know of". It says "Do you know."
Faygo
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 7:19 p.m.
I also just learned that a lawyer couln't rank anyone they didn't know. So, all of these numbers are from people who know the candidates.
sinead o'rebellion
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 7:17 p.m.
Faygo- I did not say met. The poll states that these people did not know of McClure or Kaunke.
Faygo
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 7:12 p.m.
Are you suggesting a person can't make a judgement of someones character if they've never met them? Bummer you'll never be able to vote in a presidential election. Furthermore, I think that having a judge who is well known and well liked is always a good thing. McClure, Washington and Kuhnke have all been practicing law in washtenaw county longer than Fink, yet adding Kuhnke and McClure together only barely beats Fink's number. This speaks very highly of Fink, in my opinion.
Ryan J. Stanton
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 7:12 p.m.
Thanks for the catch. Fixed.
Alan Goldsmith
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 6:44 p.m.
Busy day at the investigative reporting desk today huh Ryan?