The 19th Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission faces a tough job next week as 11 highly qualified attorneys, including five from Vero Beach, compete for a chance to fill the seat on the bench being vacated in June by Judge Janet Carney Croom.
Indian River County residents Jeffrey Battista, Margaret McCain, Michael Porter, Robert Stone Jr. and Steven Wilson all hope to keep Croom’s seat on the bench in the hands of a person living in the northern part of the judicial circuit.
St. Lucie County residents Kate Bradford, MaryEllen Geisler, Jonathan Libby and Lindsay Stroke, plus Martin County residents Katherine Mish and Jessica Sebag would like Croom’s judicial seat appointed to an applicant from the southern portion of the 19th Circuit, which in addition to Indian River, covers, St. Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee counties.
Those certified and nominated will be forwarded to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who will then pick the next judge.
The only local Vero attorney applying for the very first time is Margaret McCain, a 28-year Indian River County resident in a family law private practice which she says brings her into court 20 to 25 times per month.
McCain, 56, is a 1986 graduate of Vero Beach High School. She went on to complete her undergraduate studies Louisiana State University, followed by graduate school at the University of Akron (Ohio) School of Law.
Prior to launching her own practice, she worked as an assistant state attorney for Bruce Colton for three years and was an intern under Colton prior to that and worked as a law clerk in Ohio.
She has been married to local accountant and former Indian River School Board member Matt McCain for 25 years. They have two grown children living out of state.
“I have been able to navigate a successful career as a respected family law attorney while raising two amazing children and have maintained a strong, successful marriage,” McCain said. “I am knowledgeable and have experience in criminal court, dependency court, and family court, and would be ready to act as a circuit judge in these areas.”
Jeffrey Battista, age 48, is a partner at the Grall Law Group in Vero Beach and a 25-year resident of Indian River County. Battista has applied to the nominating commission eight times for previous judicial openings over the past 11 years and says he’s been a finalist each time.
Battista earned an accounting degree West Virginia University prior to his legal training at the University of Florida Levin College of Law where he graduated in 2000. He worked as a legal intern for Florida’s 8th Circuit in Gainesville, and then served as an assistant state attorney for Bruce Colton from 2000 to 2004. For 14 years, he was a principal in the Menz and Batista Law Firm, practicing family and criminal law with now-County Judge Nicole Menz.
Over the years he has tried more than 300 cases to a verdict or ruling, and since 2017 has served as a civil traffic infraction and parking ticket violations officer for the 19th Circuit, primarily in Indian River and Okeechobee counties, appointed by Chief Judge Elizabeth Metzger.
He has also voluntarily served as an expulsion hearing officer and textbook adoption hearing officer for Indian River County School Board for the past nine years, and has been a local leader in pro bono work, recognized with numerous awards for helping less-fortunate litigants and defendants.
“I have been happy to have represented people from all walks of life and have no problem with anyone that would appear before me,” Battista said, emphasizing his fair judicial temperament and impartiality gained through decades of trying hundreds of varied cases.
Michael Porter, a seven-year Vero Beach resident, has worked as an assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida prosecuting federal criminal cases in Fort Pierce since 2018.
Porter was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2006 after graduating from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland in 2002 and working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tennessee. He was a senior associate with Gray Robinson in Orlando, and worked as a legal intern with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, and the Criminal Defense Clinic at Case Western Reserve University.
“As an Assistant U.S. Attorney I am responsible for a substantial criminal docket including the oversight of criminal investigations, grand jury proceedings, suppression hearings, trials and sentencing hearings,” he said. “In short I represent the United States and the people of the Treasure Coast and all facets of the criminal justice system that take place in the Southern District of Florida.”
“I work directly with the DEA, FBI, ATF, IRS, HSI, ICE and local authorities in prosecuting drug trafficking offenses, drug related homicides, drug diversion cases, financial crimes, tax crimes, fraud offenses, domestic terrorism, violent crimes, immigration offenses and firearms offenses,” he said.
In private practice Porter handled a civil caseload in state and federal court with an emphasis on complex business litigation. His wife of 12 years is Erin Porter, a law clerk for a judge on the Fifth District Court of Appeals; they married in 2013.
“I was blessed as a young attorney to serve for two judges who believed it was their duty to mentor young lawyers as they embarked upon their legal careers. As stewards of our profession it is incumbent upon experienced lawyers to impart as much knowledge as we have to the generation of lawyers destined to succeed us. As a circuit judge I would have a unique opportunity to interact with and mentor the younger members of our profession. I welcome that opportunity and believe I have valuable insight to contribute,” Porter said.
Porter listed federal Judge Aileen Cannon, a resident of Vero’s South Beach, as a reference.
Another repeat applicant, Robert Stone Jr., son of former state attorney Bob Stone, has experience in private criminal defense practice with his father, and as an Assistant State Attorney in St. Lucie County since 2019. Stone also cites having duties as a private attorney and being the managing partner at the family firm, handling the daily duties of running an office.
Stone, 44, was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2014. He graduated from St. Edward’s Upper School, Indian River State College, and attended several other colleges where he played football before completing his law school education at Barry University School of Law in 2012.
Stone has applied to fill a judicial opening in the 19th Circuit four times. His wife of 13 years, Jennifer Stone, is an ESE teacher at Rosewood Magnet School and they have three children.
“My experience as a prosecutor and my experience in private practice make me a unique candidate for judicial office. As a prosecutor, I have carried a caseload ranging from 250 cases to over 1,000 cases as a result of being short-staffed due to COVID,” he said. “This experience has required me to learn how to manage my cases as well as manage my time efficiently.”
Vero Beach attorney Stephen Wilson, 38, is a former prosecutor, now employed by Rossway, Swan, Tierney, Barry and Oliver, who works primarily on guardianship, probate and civil litigation. He is a native of Brevard County who lived in Vero as a child, and again for 13 years since being admitted to the Florida Bar in 2010.
Wilson graduated from then-Indian River Community College, Harding University in Arkansas, and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Ala. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2010. Wilson was an assistant state attorney for 11 years, starting out on misdemeanor cases, moving up to the felony division and serving three years as misdemeanor supervisor for Indian River County.
“During this time, I was responsible for training and advising new attorneys, as well as maintaining my own caseload and handling all post-conviction litigation,” he said.
Prior to working for the state attorney, Wilson was a law clerk with a personal injury and mass torts law firm in Montgomery, Ala., and a research assistant for one of his law school professors.
In his current guardianship practice he handles mental health, elder law and probate matters in 13 Florida counties. He said his typical clients include individuals seeking assistance in establishing a guardianship for a spouse, relative, or close friend, or individuals who are contesting or disputing a guardianship.
“I also provide representation for clients who are involved in Baker or Marchman acts, either as a petitioner or simply as a concerned family member who needs counsel on what to expect,” Wilson said.
He previously submitted an application to the judicial nominating commission in April 2024, but was not certified to the governor’s office for the final round.
Wilson’s wife of 18 years Ashley works part-time at the Vero Beach Museum of Art and a substitute teacher at Imagine South Vero where she is PTA vice president. They have two school-age children.
“As our cities and towns grow and develop, there are fundamental values and needs that were critical when I was growing up and are just as critical to our community today. The 19th Circuit needs judges who are grounded in the law and who will apply the law fairly and equitably in each case,” Wilson said in his application.
The other applicants live outside Indian River County.
Jonathan Libby is the Felony Division Supervisor in St. Lucie County for State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl.
Stuart Attorney Kate Bradford serves as General Counsel for the 19th Judicial Circuit, in St. Lucie County.
Lindsay Stroke has served eight months as a Child Support Hearing Officer for the 19th Judicial Circuit in Fort Pierce.
MaryEllen Farrell-Giesler is currently employed by the Fourth District Court of Appeal as a district court career attorney in West Palm Beach.
Stuart personal injury attorney and certified mediator Jessica Sebag, a lawyer with 16 years of experience in private practice, also served as a Traffic Hearing Officer for St. Lucie County for the past three years.
Katherine Mish, 36, of Treasure Coast Legal in Stuart, is the youngest of the applicants and specializes in the areas of family law and bankruptcy.
Interviews will be held May 23 in Courtroom 1 on the second floor of the Indian River County Courthouse.
