Dan Casey best in hands down race,

Attorneys Dan Casey and Karen Berger both would serve Broward County well as a circuit court judge.

However, Casey is the stronger candidate and we endorse him for the Group 43 seat being vacated by Judge Geoffrey Cohen.

Casey, 62, is a rare Broward Circuit Court candidate because he was a highly successful partner in a prominent law firm that employs almost 2,000 lawyers in 45 offices on five continents. Most candidates for Broward judgeships are either solo practitioners or working as prosecutors or public defenders.

Berger, 36, is a supervising senior attorney at the Plantation firm of Cooling & Winter, where she’s worked since March 2016. Although she’s practiced in Florida for fewer than 10 years, she’s handled a lot of challenging civil litigation.

Casey joined K&L Gates in 1986 after a five-year stint as a prosecutor in the Dade County State Attorney’s Office under Janet Reno. He became a partner at K&L in 1990 and served on the firm’s management committee when it aggressively expanded.

“And we did it with no debt,” Casey said during the Sun Sentinel’s endorsement interview.

Casey has tackled an impressive array of cases, his resume shows. “Some of my cases have been large, exceedingly complex matters, and I have handled many, many class actions,” he said.

Few Broward judicial candidates bring this kind of civil litigation, criminal prosecution and law-firm management experience to a race.

Casey contends that his private-practice experiences give him the “wisdom and experience” to thrive as a circuit judge. During the interview, he was articulate, polite and concise.

He said he stepped away from his leadership role at his law firm two years ago and began preparing to run for judge.

“I started asking people what they wanted in a judge. … I learned something new every day. It’s been beneficial for me.”

Casey vows he would run a disciplined courtroom based on “respect and civility.” He has no intention of being an activist judge. “Cases are determined on their merits. A judge must apply the law whether you agree with it or not.”

Although she lacks Casey’s breadth of experience, Berger made strong arguments for her candidacy.

A 2003 graduate of Vanderbilt University, Berger worked as a paralegal, law clerk and researcher for several law firms before she earned her law degree in 2009 from the Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University. Since then, she has worked at several Broward County firms.

“I know I’m young, but I think it’s a benefit,” she said during the endorsement interview. She said she’s in court almost daily, either in person or via the phone and she regularly encounters judges who “think they know it all.”

She implied that a younger judge would be more receptive to novel legal arguments and be willing to listen to the attorneys in the courtroom with an open mind.

“I’ve found that other attorneys have a lot to teach you if you listen,” she said.

Despite her intelligence, work ethic and measured demeanor, Berger simply can’t match the wealth of experience Casey would bring to the circuit bench.

A 1978 honors graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, Casey received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1981. He has practiced law in Florida for 36 years. He is married and lives in Hollywood.

Berger is single and lives in Pompano Beach.

Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Elana Simms, Andy Reid and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson.