Q & A: Washtenaw County Trial Court Candidate Pat Conlin

by P.D. Lesko

PAT CONLIN HAS pink eye. It couldn’t have come at a more inopportune moment. A candidate running for office naturally wants to shake hands. He can’t. Pink eye is devilishly contagious and he wants to make sure he doesn’t spread it. Conlin is running for  the circuit court seat being vacated by Judge Donald Shelton in September (Shelton is retiring and taking a post at U-M Dearborn in the criminal justice department).

Pat Conlin and I meet at Kosmos, in Kerrytown. He is sitting with his back to the door. As I walk up, he smiles and greets me warmly. I proffer my hand and it’s then that he confesses.

As we order lunch he says, “I have the greatest doctor. I called him up and he told me to take a photo of my eye and send it to him. He said, ‘Yep. That’s pink eye.’”

In the recent Washtenaw County Bar Association survey (see our July 9 issue) 50-year-old Pat Conlin’s colleagues gave him outstanding marks (88 percent) for his interpersonal skills (courtesy, attentiveness, patience, consideration and respect for parties, lawyers and witnesses).

He’s easy to talk to, open  and thoughtful. If he dodges a question, he does so without leaving you feeling as though he’s dodging your questions. However, he doesn’t seem to mind being pulled back to the original query or challenged.

He started campaigning well after Veronique Liem (“I saw her signs popping up everywhere,” he says, in mock horror) and (“Veronique called me up to ask for my endorsement. That was one call I didn’t return.”)

Pat Conlin says he has raised over $30,000 in campaign donations thus far, $100,000 less than Judge Carol Kuhnke raised when she ran in a contested 2012 race. He posits that the real money will start to flow after the August 5 primary election.

“People are waiting.”

We eat Bibimbap and talk about why voters should elect Conlin, a sort of marriage proposal given that he could hold the seat for over 20 years if history repeats itself. His grandfather, John Conlin, served as first a probate judge, and then a circuit judge. John Conlin’s son, Patrick (Pat Conlin’s father), was a district judge and then elected to a newly created circuit judge seat. Shortly after the election, John Conlin died and Patrick was appointed to his father’s seat.

John Conlin’s brother, Henry, was a circuit judge. John Conlin’s youngest son is 14A District Court Judge Richard Conlin.
LESKO: I watched your League of Women Voters debate three times. What’d you think about the forum?

CONLIN: I was really nervous, staring into the camera (mugs a look of terror), but I enjoyed the forum quite a bit. My favorite question was, ‘What is a good divorce?’ I enjoyed answering that one a lot.

LESKO: Yeah, but really? That was fun for the candidates, but how about the voters? Do people really care about good divorces?

CONLIN: You know, I think the other judicial candidates are doing a mishmash of campaign tactics. The most valuable thing we do are the forums. If you’ve watched, most people don’t know what judges do. My job as a candidate is to get who I am across to the voters. The League of Women Voters forum was a great opportunity to do that.

LESKO: So why are you running for this seat on the 22nd District Trial Court? 

CONLIN: Have you ever read Dr. Seuss, the book The Sneetches? Well, I like to help people. I’m the ‘Fix it up chappie’ from Dr. Seuss. That’s why I’m not a teacher anymore. I would teach, say, Shakespeare, and the kids would come to class and maybe three would have obviously read the material. I would think, ‘Really? Really?!? Just read the Cliffs Notes.’ I know I was a good teacher, but when you get to that point, you’re not helping. I took the LSAT but chose not to go to law school; I taught instead, then decided I wanted to help people. I’m running because I’m a problem-solving person and I have a lot of experience in family law, probate and criminal law.

LESKO: Your wife must just love that you’re always looking to fix problems.

CONLIN: (Laughing). Yeah, she does sometimes, and other times, she’ll say, ‘Will you please just shut up.’” But I really am a problem-solving person. As a problem-solver you can only go so far, of course, but if there’s mutual respect you can do phenomenal work.

LESKO: Your dad was a judge and your grandfather, too.

CONLIN: When my dad was elected in the 60s he literally rode the circuit. He would go around the county. My dad was a decisive judge. When I was a kid, some afternoons I’d go and watch court cases. My grandfather, he was the kind of judge who could capture your heart.

LESKO: In your League of Women Voters’ forum, you all spoke about the importance of respect, respecting lawyers, respecting litigants, women, children. 

CONLIN: The article about the Trial Court in The Ann…what Tom Clynes (the author) has correct was the use of the term “Black Robe Syndrome.” On the one hand, on the positive side of dictatorship is that a decision is made, but my job, if elected, would be to make sure that people—lawyers, litigants—felt like ‘I got it,’ that they felt respected, that I listened. A judge effects change, but respect is important.

LESKO: The Washtenaw County Bar Association recently released the results of a survey that asked members to judge the candidates for the court on a variety of criteria. Did you fill out the survey for yourself?

CONLIN: I did.

LESKO: Did you rate your opponents?

CONLIN: You know, I filled out a survey for Veronique (Liem). I know her. I’ve seen her work. I did not fill out a survey for Mike Woodyard.

LESKO: You’re a practicing Catholic. How would that impact your work on the bench?

CONLIN: I think my Catholicism brings a certain level of compassion to my work. At any given time, I’m working on a pro bono case, usually family law. But you didn’t ask the question. The. Question. I’ve been holding my breath this whole time I’ve been running for someone to ask me if I’m pro-choice or pro-life. You know who asked me?

LESKO: Who?

CONLIN: At the League of Women Voters forum, an older lady came up after the forum was over and asked me.

LESKO: So what did you say?

CONLIN: I told her, ‘I’ve got it covered.’

LESKO: Meaning?

CONLIN: I’m pro-choice.

LESKO: At the League of Women Voters debate, you and Veronique Liem talked about your respective endorsements. Do you think the endorsements are going to play a significant role in your race?

CONLIN: I think the idea of endorsements is helpful to voters. If you know anyone well on my list, you can ask them about me….

LESKO: So you think it’s fine to rely on the opinion of your neighbor to elect a guy who could be in the job for decades?

CONLIN: I’d rather have someone call me, but some people are shy and don’t want to talk to me.

LESKO: Veronique has the endorsements of over 100 lawyers, she said, and you have the endorsements of a number of judges. Which is a more reliable gauge?

CONLIN: I think  endorsement from your peer group is important. If the judges on the court presently believe I would do an excellent job, that says something. I think endorsements are helpful, and I have the endorsements of over 90 lawyers….

LESKO: But you’re not counting, right?

CONLIN: (Laughing) Right.

LESKO: Anything you want to add, anything we haven’t covered?

CONLIN: In the end, the voter’s job is to get to know me as well as possible, but sometimes a decision boils down to gut instinct.