TOLEDO, OH — Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has appointed Shumaker Partner Mark Wagoner to serve as one of the three Ohio members on the Life Member Committee for the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Life Member Committee of the Judicial Conference consists of three Life Members from each of the four states (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee) in the Sixth Circuit, with at least one member from each federal judicial district. Members serve three-year terms, with the Chief Judge permitted to reappoint a committee member for one additional term. The Life Member Committee organizes and oversees the activities of Life Members, including—in consultation with the Chief Judge and the Chair of the Standing Committee on Judicial Conference Planning—the participation of Life Members in Open Judicial Conferences and dues collection.

Attorneys in private practice are eligible to become Life Members of the Judicial Conference of the Sixth Circuit after they have attended three or more annual conferences, either as a delegate of a Sixth Circuit Judge or District Judge or otherwise, and have demonstrated a willingness to improve the judicial system. A Sixth Circuit Judge may appoint two delegates, and a District Court Judge may appoint one delegate to the Open Judicial Conference for the Sixth Circuit, which occurs every other year. Mr. Wagoner was previously appointed to serve as a delegate to prior Open Judicial Conferences by U.S District Court Judge David Katz, U.S. District Court Judge Jack Zouhary, and U.S District Court Judge Jeffrey Helmick.

Mr. Wagoner serves as Shumaker’s Litigation and Disputes Regional Service Line Leader in the firm’s Toledo office and as Chair of Shumaker Advisors Ohio. He currently serves as Chair of the Antirust Committee of the Ohio State Bar Association and is a former Chair of the Judiciary Committee of the Ohio Senate. He is a previous board member of the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation, which functions as Ohio’s umbrella funding organization for legal aid.