Attorney Tim Costley thinks growing up and practicing law in Two Harbors should give him a home-court advantage in his race to assume the bench at the Lake County Courthouse in Two Harbors and the Cook County Courthouse in Grand Marais.
His opponent, Duluth lawyer Mike Cuzzo, thinks there could be some drawbacks for Costley trying to dispense justice fairly in a town where he has such close ties.
While Costley has run a campaign to become the next "North Shore judge," Cuzzo has campaigned to become a judge representing the four-county
6th Judicial District. And it's the voters of St. Louis, Carlton, Cook and Lake counties who will determine on Nov. 2 which lawyer replaces retiring Judge Kenneth Sandvik.
Costley and Cuzzo took part in a candidate forum before about 50 people Tuesday that was hosted by the Duluth Lions Club at the Radisson Hotel.
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"Tim has tried to characterize this as essentially the Two Harbors courthouse, Two Harbors judge position," Cuzzo told the assembly. "If you want to take a look at the North Shore, certainly I've had close ties to the North Shore, but the hallmark of our campaign has not been just 'Mike Cuzzo for North Shore judge, and I'm going to take care of the North Shore people.' It's going to be that I'm fair, and I'm going to try to be fair to people throughout the entire judicial district. That's been our campaign theme."
Cuzzo later said Costley would run into numerous conflict-of-interest issues if he has as many North Shore connections as he claims.
Costley pointed out that when lawyers in the 6th Judicial District have been appointed to the bench by the governor, they have been selected from the community in which they serve. He told onlookers that he thinks it's "a huge advantage" for a judge to be selected from the community in which he lives and works.
"Obviously, the process of selecting judges believes that it's important that we have somebody that is familiar with the process, the people, the law enforcement, the court staff and what they're dealing with all the resources available in the community," Costley said. "Those are important things that a judge needs to know."
Costley said he has received endorsements from 22 current and retired law enforcement officers in Lake and Cook counties.
Costley, 43, has a law practice with his father, Mitch, who is semiretired. Tim Costley graduated from Two Harbors High School, the University of Minnesota Duluth and William Mitchell College of Law. He has 16 years of experience as a lawyer.
Cuzzo, 52, grew up in Duluth and graduated from Denfeld High School, the University of Minnesota Duluth and the University of Minnesota Law School. He has 26 years of experience as a trial attorney.
Costley said he has more courtroom experience than Cuzzo. He said he has had more than 300 cases filed in the Minnesota court system to Cuzzo's 124 or 125.
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Cuzzo said that figure is misleading because it doesn't include cases he handled that were settled before being filed in court, and that the state court system doesn't maintain records of all of the Workers Compensation and Social Security disability cases he has handled. Most importantly, Cuzzo said, is that Costley's figures don't take into account all of Cuzzo's work as an arbitrator-mediator.
"I have a record of being trusted as an arbitrator and mediator,'' Cuzzo said after the forum. "I think that's probably the most accurate way of determining who might be good in a position like this. A judge is asked to make decisions. I'm asked to try to bring parties together when I've worked as a mediator, and I think that's also what a judge does. I am more experienced. I've handled more cases than Tim and I've got an additional 11 years of experience."
Costley disagreed.
"This isn't a race for mediator or arbitrator. If it were, Mike would be the better qualified," Costley said after the forum. "I don't do that. I work in the courtroom, and that's what you want your next judge to be -- somebody who works in the courtroom and knows how to handle evidence, witnesses, procedure and issue rulings when people can't agree."
Cuzzo captured more than twice as many votes as Costley -- 14,356 to 6,752 -- in the 6th Judicial District judge primary race in August. Costley expects to pick up much of the support Lake County Attorney Russ Conrow received in the primary. Conrow garnered 4,731 votes in the primary in which eight lawyers ran for judge.
The judgeship pays a current annual salary of about $130,000.
