Lynch, Klammer vying for 11th District Court of Appeals

Darya Klammer will face Matt Lynch for a seat on the 11th District Court of Appeals in the Nov. 6 general election.

Klammer, a Concord Township resident, ran unopposed as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary while former state representative Lynch defeated incumbent Colleen Mary O’Toole in the Republican primary in May.

Though it has partisan primaries, the general election for the seat is a non-partisan race. The term begins Feb. 9.

Appellate judges currently earn $152,850 annually and serve six-year terms. The court reviews lower courts’ cases for errors in the law in Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula, Portage and Trumbull counties.

Here is some of what the candidates had to say on the election questionnaires sent to them by The News-Herald.

Darya Klammer

Klammer, 48, is an attorney at the Klammer Law Office Ltd. and a Mentor Municipal Court magistrate judge.

If elected, Klammer said she will make it a priority to outreach into the five counties in the district to better inform the public about the work of the Court of Appeals.

She said it is also her goal to improve the court’s efforts to encourage alternative tools to resolve disputes.

“For instance, the court encourages mediation to resolve civil dispute appeals,” Klammer said. “I have personally experienced success with this tool. I would recommend to the other judges on the court that it should require parties to explain better why their case cannot be resolved through these less expensive and more efficient means.”

Klammer said she would also seek to increase the speed with which the court issues its written court decisions.

“Over the last twenty years, I have developed the type of experience necessary to be a great judge,” she said. “As an attorney in private practice, I have handled countless civil, criminal, juvenile and domestic relations cases. As an assistant prosecuting attorney, I have handled everything from juvenile delinquencies to adult murder cases. I have also had the benefit of serving the community as a magistrate in municipal court for more than a decade.”

Matt Lynch

Lynch, 67, is an attorney at Lynch & Lynch Co LPA. He represented the state’s 76th House district from 20122014 and also previously served as a Bainbridge Township trustee.

If elected he said he wants “fair, firm and swift justice.”

“Most highly experienced 30 years practicing law and defending small businesses and families,” Lynch wrote in his questionnaire.