Sala gets highest rating from lawyers in three-way race for Erie County judge

Ed Palattella, Erie Times-News
Updated ·5 min read

The role reversal occurs whenever a seat on the Erie County Court of Common Pleas is up for election.

The county's lawyers get to judge rather than be judged. The lawyers rank the judicial candidates in an Erie County Bar Association poll.

This year, the lawyers have given their highest ranking to Peter Sala, one of three candidates seeking one open seat on the local bench in the May 16 primary.

On the ballot: Hirz unopposed in race for DA as 3 candidates vie for 1 Erie County judgeship

Sala, of Erie, was the only candidate to receive a rating of "highly recommended," according to the poll results released April 3 and posted on the Erie County Bar Association's website.

In the race for Erie County Common Pleas Court judge, candidate Peter Sala and received a rating of "highly recommended" from the Erie County Bar Association.
In the race for Erie County Common Pleas Court judge, candidate Peter Sala and received a rating of "highly recommended" from the Erie County Bar Association.

The association's members gave candidate Eric Mikovch, of Elk Creek Township, a rating of "recommended." The members gave no rating for candidate Leigh Ann Orton, of North East.

Orton received no rating because more than 35% of the bar association's members who voted did not rate her as either "highly recommended," "recommended" or "not recommended," according to the bar's association's rules for the poll, known as plebiscite.

The participation rate in the poll was 53%, according to the bar association. It said it issued 403 ballots and received 213 valid ballots.

Bar association says poll meant to educate public

Candidates for Common Pleas Court judge are not allowed to comment on how they might rule on cases, so the campaigns frequently focus on the candidates' experience and reputations as lawyers. The poll is meant to help voters decide how to vote, the bar association said.

In the race for Erie County Common Pleas Court judge, candidate Eric Mikovch and received a rating of "recommended" from the Erie County Bar Association.
In the race for Erie County Common Pleas Court judge, candidate Eric Mikovch and received a rating of "recommended" from the Erie County Bar Association.

The association "conducts judicial candidate ratings so the public will know how fellow attorneys, who work more closely with the candidates than anyone else, would rate their qualifications to be judge," the bar association said in a statement.

Sala received the highest percentage of votes for an overall rating of highly recommended — 54%. The figures were 32% for recommended, 6% for not recommended and 8% for no opinion.

For Mikovch, the figures were 30% for highly recommended, 37% for recommended, 17% for not recommended and 16% for no opinion.

For Orton, the figures were 7% for highly recommended, 25% for recommended, 27% for not recommended and 41% for no opinion.

Candidates rated on competence, integrity, other qualifications

The bar association members, in addition to voting on the candidates’ overall qualifications, were also polled on each candidate’s competence, integrity, temperament and experience. With a score of 5 as the highest, Sala came in first in each category, Mikovch in second and Orton in third.

  • Competence — Sala, average score of 4.2; Mikovch, 4; Orton, 3.

  • Integrity — Sala, 4.4; Mikovch, 3.6; Orton, 3.4.

  • Temperament — Sala, 4.2; Mikovch, 3.6; Orton, 3.2.

  • Experience — Sala, 4.2; Mikovch, 4.0; Orton 2.9.

Sala, 54, a sole practitioner who handles criminal and civil cases, got his law degree in 1994. He is the only one of three candidates to have run for Erie County Common Pleas Court judge before. He lost in 2019 in a five-way race for two open seats.

In the race for Erie County Common Pleas Court judge, candidate Leigh Ann Orton received no rating from the Erie County Bar Association.
In the race for Erie County Common Pleas Court judge, candidate Leigh Ann Orton received no rating from the Erie County Bar Association.

Four years later, Sala performed better in the bar association poll. He went from recommended in 2019 to highly recommended in 2023, and he also scored better in each of the individual categories.

Poll in 2019: Ridge, Smith rated highest in judge poll

Of his highly recommended rating for the May 16 primary, Sala said, "I think it is a reflection of all the hard work that I have put in over the years."

Sala said he has argued before numerous appellate courts during his career, and written briefs for those and many other cases.

"It is a lot to work through," Sala said. "The lawyers realize that."

"I'm grateful," he said of his ranking.

Mikovch, 53, got his law degree in 1994 and specializes in criminal law and real estate law as a senior partner in the Quinn Law Firm in Erie. He said he was thankful for his recommended rating, and pointed to a separate rating he received through the peer rating system of Martindale-Hubbell, which ranks lawyers nationwide.

Mikovch's 2023 peer rating from Martindale-Hubbell is 4.5 out of 5, putting him among those lawyers that have received Martindale-Hubbell's highest peer rating standard.

"As a first-time judicial candidate, I am extremely proud to be recommended by my peers in the Erie County Bar Association," Mikovch said. "That recommendation, along with my highest legal rating from Martindale-Hubbell, shows the public I am the best candidate for the job and I will be ready to go on Day One."

Orton, 51, practices law with her husband at the North East firm of Orton & Orton. She got her law degree in 1995. Her practice is concentrated on family law, estate planning and administration, elder law and real estate.

Orton said she has plenty of experience as a lawyer in Erie County, and said her lack of a rating could be because "there are a number of attorneys I have not crossed paths with."

"I think that explains it," she said.

Orton also said that just over half of the bar association's lawyers participated in the poll.

Winner will take elected seat last held by Domitrovich

Sala is a registered Democrat and Mikovch and Orton are registered Republicans. All three candidates have cross-filed as Republicans and Democrats.

A victor could emerge on May 16 if one of the three locks up nominations on both the Republican and Democratic ballots. Otherwise the top vote-getter on each ballot in the primary will face off in November.

The three are seeking election to a 10-year term to fill the opening on the county bench created by the retirement of Erie County Judge Stephanie Domitrovich on May 3, 2022. She was first elected in 1989. The Erie County court system has been using retired judges to help hear cases until a new judge is elected and seated.

Erie County Judge Stephanie Domitrovich, right, stepped down from the local bench in May 2022. At her immediate left is Judge John J. Trucilla, who was the county's president judge when this photo was taken in January 2020. Above left is the county's current president judge, Joseph M. Walsh III. At above right is Judge John J. Mead.
Erie County Judge Stephanie Domitrovich, right, stepped down from the local bench in May 2022. At her immediate left is Judge John J. Trucilla, who was the county's president judge when this photo was taken in January 2020. Above left is the county's current president judge, Joseph M. Walsh III. At above right is Judge John J. Mead.

Abrupt departure: Erie County Judge Domitrovich is retiring in May 2022, with years left in term

Common Pleas Court judges in Pennsylvania are state employees who are first elected and then retained to subsequent 10-year terms. The job pays $212,495 a year — an amount set by state law — and has a mandatory retirement age of 75.

No judges on the Erie County Court of Common Pleas are up for retention this year.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Sala gets highest rating from lawyers in race for Erie County judge