Candidates
Candidate Profiles
Mark A. Serrott
Candidate for:
Franklin County Common Pleas Court, General Division
Undergraduate Education:
B.A. OSU 1975
Legal Education:
J.D. OSU 1979
Legal Experience:
31 years litigation as trial lawyer trying well over 100 civil and criminal jury trials, hundreds of bench trials. administrative hearings, 80 appeals, taught legal writing at OSU and Capital} and hearing officer for a state agency, Judge on the court for the last 12 years presiding over 2 death penalty cases and about a hundred other serious jury trials including about 15 civil jury trials. I also have mediated over 400 civil cases with about a 90 percent success rate in obtaining a settlement.
Candidate Statement:
(In response to the question, "Please explain why you believe you are qualified for the judicial position for which you are seeking election.")
See the above answer. I am also highly rated by the lawyers appearing before me and am respected by my colleagues. I have also saved and changed lives and have received letters and in person gratitude from persons whom I helped get out of the system and break the bonds of addiction. This is my last term and it has been an honor serving the public and I believe the next 6 years will be my best. I have engaged in some self-reflection and am working on what I know to be areas I can improve upon as a Judge. I look forward to screening before the committee and being re-elected so I can continue what I believe to be the valuable work I have carried on thus far.
See the above answer as to why I believe I am qualified for the position and the following:
While in private practice I tried over 100 jury trials involving criminal cases, including Agg. Murder cases, serious felony cases, municipal court cases, personal injury cases, medical malpractice, real estate litigation, administrative hearings and employment cases. Litigated seminal employment case that partially eliminated the employment at-will doctrine in Ohio. Mers v. Dispatch Printing Co. (1985) 19 Ohio St. 3d 100. Litigated the Mers case from start to finish and once reversed by the Supreme Court tried the case to a jury and obtained a plaintiff's verdict which was upheld on appeal in Mers v. Dispatch Printing co. (1988), 39 Ohio App.3d 99.
Also, litigated over 80 appeals including 4 in the Ohio Supreme Court and in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. My typical client was the "little guy" or working-class person with legal problems.
As a trial Judge for the last 12 years I have presided over 2 death penalty cases including the Reagan Tokes case and countless other serious civil and criminal cases. I also have mediated over 400 cases and successfully settled over 90 percent of them including cases for as small as $500 and one for $59,000,000.00.
I look forward to being re-elected and continuing to serve the public.
Columbus Bar Association
2022 Judiciary Committee Finding:
5 stars (what does this mean?)
Columbus Bar Association
Judicial Poll Results:
2022 Judicial Performance Poll
Running Against:
Unopposed