Judge of the Day: Michael Edwards

Many ’08 law school grads are about to take a step up to second year associate level at Biglaw firms across the land. You’re feeling pretty proud? And lucky to have a Biglaw gig these days, right?
Well, eat your hearts out. Michael Edwards, Georgetown Law ’08 grad, has already been appointed a judge. He took his seat on the bench in Indiana City Court on Tuesday. From WTHI TV:

The Indiana Supreme Court appointed a new attorney to become a temporary judge in a southern Indiana City Court. Michael Edwards is a Naval Academy graduate, former Marine, and now the city court judge in Bicknell.

A Georgetown classmate tipped us off to the news:

This is one of my friends from GULC’s class of 2008. Already a judge! Ridiculous!

So how’d Edwards come to the attention of the Indiana Supreme Court? Judge Edwards’ ascension to the bench is a result of malfeasance by a prior judge, but was also due in part to a pushed back start date at a Chicago Biglaw firm.


Andrew Moreland, the judge previously on the bench, got caught with his hands in the court’s cookie jar. From the Evansville Courier & Press via Indiana Law Blog:

A Knox County, Ind., judge and his wife were arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars in traffic fines from the court’s account.
Bicknell City Judge Andrew Moreland, 45, and his wife, Cindy Moreland, 38, turned themselves in at the Knox County Jail about 9 a.m. and were then released on bond, Indiana State Police said.
They each are facing five counts of theft, a class D felony.

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Moreland and his wife stole $21,000 from the court’s traffic fines account over 2008 and 2009. Moreland is not an attorney; he was elected and had been on the bench since January 1, 2008. Apparently, it didn’t take him long to get into trouble.
We sent Judge Edwards a Facebook message asking about his relatively quick costume change from cap and gown — he graduated from Georgetown in October 2008 — to judicial robe:

Through law school, my dream was to return to southern Indiana and do the small town Atticus Finch thing. I was heading to one of the largest firms in Chicago to work in their litigation group, however, because of my staggering loans.
When my start date kept getting pushed back, I looked around for other options. I graduated from Annapolis and spent six years in the Marines before GULC, so I also had a military background. The Navy made me an offer to work for them as a civilian on a special project called SBX-1 at a base in southern Indiana where I’d use my military background and my JD. Anyway, the pay was better than BIGLAW with the cost of living difference, and the offer afforded me the opportunity to return to my hometown in southern Indiana and take some clients on the side.
I had just received my Indiana bar results in October while on a trip to Hawaii. A local judge (Knox County, IN) contacted me with the news that the Indiana Supreme Court needed a temporary replacement for a local city judge under indictment. I sent my resume to Chief Justice Shepard, and I was selected for the spot.

Edwards downplays the prestige of his position:

A bit about the city judge position: Indiana has 92 counties, each with a complement of county (district court) judges. In addition, Indiana has 75 city and town judges, each elected to a four-year term. I believe that I am currently the youngest one in the state. Anyway, they hear misdemeanors, infractions, and city ordinance violations, normally one evening per week. Also, they are not required to be licensed attorneys. …. So, the job itself is not quite on the same prestige level as clerking at SCOTUS, but I was flattered to be considered for it and excited to be selected.

It’s been a busy month for Edwards. He found out he passed the bar at the beginning of October. He went to Hawaii for two weeks (see right), got married on November 7, and founded his own law firm yesterday, Michael Edwards Law Center LLC.
And he’s hiring. He says he’s currently sorting his judicial files and will soon hire and train a clerk.
Temporary judge appointed in Bicknell [WTHI TV]
Knox County judge accused of stealing thousands from court [Evansville Courier & Press via Indiana Law Blog]

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