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Three Democrats Seek Superior Court 2 Job In Primary
All agree judge replacing King will face challenge in handling large caseload.

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - Three candidates are running in the May 6 primary to be the Democratic candidate for Superior Court 2 judge.

All agree the challenge they will face is handling a large caseload in an efficient, cost-effective manner.

Running to replace Judge Steven King are John Lake, Kevin McGrath and Rich Stalbrink. Superior Court 2 handles civil cases as well as child support enforcement and crimes that occur in prison.

John Lake, 41, is a partner with his wife, Mary, in the law firm of Lake & Lake. He is a Department of Correction felony deputy and a deputy prosecutor for La Porte County, and said 17 years of trial experience has prepared him to handle complex civil and criminal cases.

"This (job) requires me to hear as many cases and trials as possible, and to render my decisions as quickly as possible," Lake said. "My top priority will be to get matters to trial as fast as possible, and then issue speedy rulings."

Lake wants to change the trial calendar by requiring parties to go through mediation before setting a trial date. He said conventional wisdom is that between 90 and 95 percent of cases are settled before trial if alternative means are used.

He is a lifelong La Porte County resident, graduating from Marquette High School in 1984. Lake earned a law degree in 1991 from the University of Notre Dame.

Following law school, he practiced with Newby, Lewis, Kaminski & Jones in La Porte and was a public defender from 1992 to 1995. Lake is president of the La Porte County Bar Association. He was a founding judge of the Michigan City Teen Court.

Lake and his wife, Mary, have seven children and are members of Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Michigan City and St. John Kanty Catholic Church in Rolling Prairie.

McGrath, 63, has been an attorney for 34 years and has a general civil practice with a focus on legal problems for seniors. In order to move cases through the system quickly and efficiently, McGrath said he wants to implement consequences for parties who clog up the calendar by not following court orders that result in additional hearings.

Another change McGrath would like to make is to equalize judges' caseloads by randomly assigning cases, a system used in St. Joseph County. Currently, attorneys for civil cases may select the court they want to use.

McGrath has lived in La Porte County all his life, graduating from St. Mary's High School in 1963. He received a law degree in 1973 from Indiana University. He served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1971.

McGrath is a member of the Coolspring Democratic Club, the La Porte County Democratic Civic Club and Elks Lodge 432.

He is a member of the La Porte County, St. Joseph County and Indiana State Bar Associations and a member of the 1st District Pro Bono Commission.

McGrath and his wife, Patricia, have a son, and attend Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Michigan City.

Stalbrink, 40, is magistrate for La Porte County Circuit Court. He, too, sees the court's large caseload as a challenge when it comes to hearing cases in a timely manner. To expedite the situation, he would establish a weekly night court.

"Now complaints from the public have been access to court," Stalbrink said. "A night court would allow the public easier and more convenient access to the judicial system for issues involving child support and provisional matters in domestic cases."

He also favors alternate ways to resolve disputes, such as mediation, and setting deadlines for case management.

Stalbrink was born in Porter and has lived in La Porte County for 35 years. He graduated from La Crosse High School, Ball State University and Valparaiso University School of Law.

He is chairman of the La Porte County American Red Cross, director of the La Porte County Fair Board and senior leader of the La Porte County Horse and Pony Club. He has coached Little League for eight years.

Stalbrink is single and has a son and a daughter. He is a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in La Porte.

The Democrat who wins Tuesday's election will face Republican Thomas Rutkowski in the general election. Rutkowski was an executive for a steelmaker before entering private practice in Michigan City in 1992.



Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.

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Stalbrink Routs Lake, McGrath

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

LA PORTE - Election Day was a family affair for Richard Stalbrink Jr.

He and his fiancee, Amber Lapaich, a Michigan City attorney, mobilized members of both families to visit polling places throughout La Porte County.

"My job was easy," Stalbrink said Tuesday night. "I delivered lunches and water to poll workers."

He also took time to visit between 20 and 25 of the county's 74 polling places.

His job of winning the primary election for judge of Superior Court 2 was easy, too.

He coasted to an easy victory over opponents John Lake and Kevin McGrath. They each got 27 percent of the vote, while Stalbrink brought in a decisive 46 percent, with 10,590 votes to his opponents' approximately 6,000 each.

Stalbrink set his sights on the position when Judge Steven King retired. He is magistrate for La Porte County Circuit Court. In November, Stalbrink will face Republican Thomas Rutkowski. Rutkowski, unopposed in the Republican primary, was an executive for a steelmaker and now has a private law practice in Michigan City.

As he moves forward in the campaign for the November election, Stalbrink will have the full support of Angie Nelson, a Michigan City Common Council member. She appeared at Democrat headquarters in La Porte sporting a Stalbrink button and talked about how she has gotten to know him during the past few years.

"We have the same philosophy," Nelson said. "The big thing is the youth in the community."

She said they both are active in coaching and working with other youth organizations. They are among the bridges, she said, to new leadership in the area.

Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.