A mix of new and familiar names are lining up to replace Chief Justice Lawton Nuss on the state Supreme Court.
Many of the 17 applicants this time are the same ones who sought the seat that came open with the retirement of Lee Johnson.
Among those not returning this time include Appeals Court Judge Melissa Standridge, Johnson County District Judge Rhonda Mason, Overland Park lawyer David Rempel, Lawrence lawyer Keynen Wall, Kansas City lawyer Christina Wahl and Lawrence lawyer Lumen Mulligan.
The field for Nuss’ seat includes three candidates recommended to Gov. Laura Kelly to name to the court.
So let’s get started with these applicants. The new candidates will be denoted with an asterisk. The candidates recommended to the governor will be denoted with a double asterisk.
Kristafer R. Ailslieger
Deputy solicitor general, Kansas attorney general’s office
Experience: Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve; research attorney at the Kansas Court of Appeals; prosecutor intern at the Johnson County district attorney’s office.
Education: Master’s degree in strategic studies, U.S. Army War College; law degree from Washburn University; master’s in political science, Wichita State University; bachelor’s degree in political science, Wichita State.
Daniel Cahill
District court judge, Wyandotte County
Experience: Has been a judge since 2007 for the 29th Judicial District, which covers Wyandotte County. He hears child-in-need-of-care cases. From 1996 to 200, he was an assistant district attorney for Wyandotte County. He was in private practice until he became a judge. Since 2008, he has chaired the Supreme Court Task Force on Permanency Planning. He is a previous governor of the Wyandotte County Bar Association and a member of the Juvenile Law Advisory Committee and Membership Committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
Education: Bachelor’s and law degrees from Washburn University.
Angela Coble
Lawyer, Salina
Experience: U.S. District Court attorney; partner at Kennedy Berkley Yarnevich & Williamson; summer associate at Shook, Hardy & Bacon; judicial externship for the U.S. District Court in Kansas; quality control analyst for the U.S. District Court in Kansas; and a docket clerk in the U.S District Court clerk’s office.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and psychology from Kansas Wesleyan University; law degree from Washburn University.
Henry Cox*
Lawyer, Shawnee
Experience: Specialized in commercial and business ligation for more than 30 years with a focus on traditional labor law, employment law and civil rights representing plaintiffs and defendants. He focuses on arbitration and mediation services in a number of legal areas involving employment, labor, civil rights, professional malpractice, personal injury, securities, institutional abuse, intellectual property, construction and land use.
Education: Earned a law degree in 1981 from Washburn University and a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University.
Dennis Depew**
Deputy attorney general, chief of civil litigation division for Kansas attorney general
Experience: Leads the 12-attorney civil litigation division in the attorney general’s office, representing the state in tort claims, contractual matters and when a state official or agency is sued. Also manages the cases in which the office hires outside counsel. Attorney/partner at Depew Law Firm.
Education: Bachelor’s of science in business administration and law degree from the University of Kansas.
Randall L. Hodgkinson
Lawyer, Topeka
Experience: Visiting assistant professor of law at Washburn University School of Law; Kansas Appellate Defender’s Office; Law Offices of Stephen M. Lee in Kingman, Arizona; judicial research attorney at the Arizona Court of Appeals; Sedgwick County public defender in Wichita. Hodgkinson is licensed to practice in Kansas, Missouri and Arizona, before the Ninth and Tenth circuits, and before the U.S Supreme Court.
He is a member of the Kansas Judicial Council Appellate Procedure Advisory Committee and co-chairs the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Tenth Circuit Amicus Committee.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in math and computer science from Wichita State University; law degree from Arizona State University.
Michael P. Joyce
District court judge, Johnson County
Experience: Has served on the 10th District Court since 2012. The Leawood resident worked for Van Osdol, Magruder, Erickson & Redmond, which later became Van Osdol & Magruder. He also worked at the Joyce Law Firm and Koenigsdorf & Wyrsch, which later became Wyrsch, Hobbs, Mirakian & Lee.
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Creighton University; law degree from the University of Houston.
Russell J. Keller
Lawyer, Fairway
Experience: Now serving as a law clerk for Judge Mary Beck Briscoe on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Served as assistant attorney general/unit leader for litigation at the Missouri attorney general’s office; attorney and partner for business, securities, antitrust and appellate litigation at Stinson LLP; attorney for business, antitrust and securities litigation at Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago; and law clerk for U.S. District Judge John F. Grady in the Northern District of Illinois.
Education: Bachelor’s in political science and a master’s in communication studies from Northwestern University; law degree from Northwestern.
Michael Leitch*
Lawyer, Lawrence
Experience: Works as the senior associate general counsel at the University of Kansas. He was a partner at the Kansas City law firm Spencer Fane Britt & Browne from 2010 to 2011. He worked as deputy attorney general and chief counsel for the Kansas attorney general’s office from 2007 to 2010.
Education: He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kansas and his law degree from the University of Texas.
Thomas E. Malone
Court of Appeals judge
Experience: Has served on the Kansas Court of Appeals since 2003 and as chief appellate judge from 2012 to 2017. In 1990, he was elected to the Sedgwick County district bench and served for 12 years. He primarily served as a trial judge, presiding over more than 250 jury trials and hundreds of bench trials. He practiced law for 12 years in Wichita with Redmond & Nazar. His practice areas included business and commercial litigation in federal and state court. He was one of three finalists nominated in 2010 to fill the spot left open by the death of Chief Justice Robert Davis.
Education: He graduated from Newman University in 1976 and from Washburn Law School in 1979. He was an associate editor of the Washburn Law Journal.
Steven J. Obermeier**
Assistant solicitor general, Kansas attorney general’s office
Experience: Former longtime prosecutor with the Johnson County district attorney’s office, he has written more than 1,300 appellate briefs and argued hundreds of cases in Kansas appellate courts, according to the Kansas Bar Association. He recently was up for a position on the Kansas Court of Appeals. He is one of the attorneys of record in nearly 300 published opinions. He also wrote a chapter in the 2007 and 2013 editions of the Judicial Council’s Kansas Appellate Practice Handbook.
Education: Bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Kansas; law degree from Washburn University.
David A. Ricke*
District judge, Rose Hill
Experience: Has served as district judge in the 13th Judicial District since 2004 and chief judge since 2012. He presides over cases in Butler, Greenwood and Elk counties.
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University and a law degree from the University of Kansas.
Lyndon W. Vix
Lawyer, Maize
Experience: Started practicing at the firm Fleeson, Gooing, Coulson & Kitch in 1985. His practice focuses on appellate litigation, media law and insurance law. He also is involved in business and commercial litigation, condemnation, workers’ compensation and foreign-born adoptions. He said he’s authored 100 appellate briefs in state and federal courts.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in social science-history and political science from Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, according to a bio in the Martindale-Hubbell legal directory. He received his law degree from the University of Minnesota.
Brenda S. Watkins
Lawyer, Olathe
Experience: Supervisory immigration services officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Also was in private practice for 15 years.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of Iowa; earned law degree from University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Kristen D. Wheeler
Lawyer, Wichita
Experience: Law clerk to U.S. District Judge Thomas Marten. She has worked with the Robinson Law Firm in Wichita, focusing on business advising and litigation, real estate advising and litigation, small-business representation, intellectual property protection, consumer protection, foreclosure defense, contracts and environmental law. She also was of counsel to Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy.
Education: Bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas in biodiversity, ecology and evolutionary biology; law degree from Washburn University.
Evelyn Z. Wilson**
Chief judge, 3rd Judicial District (Shawnee County)
Experience: Was appointed to the bench in 2004. She spent 19 years in private practice, including time as a partner in Wright, Henson, Clark and Baker (formerly Davis, Wright, Unrein, Hummer and McCallister).
Education: Undergraduate degrees in business and economics from Bethany College and law degree from Washburn University, according to Ballotpedia.
Marcia A. Wood
Lawyer, Wichita
Experience: Attorney and partner with the Martin, Pringle, Oliver, Wallace and Bauer law firm. Her practice “consists primarily of brief-writing, both at the trial and appellate levels,” according to the firm’s website. She provides research and writing in a variety of areas, including medical malpractice defense, product liability, and commercial and employment litigation. She also has experience in municipal and commercial finance. She lost out last spring for a spot on the Kansas Court of Appeals.
Education: Bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Kansas.
