The knock on my candidacy

The first question I had to ask myself is what is the number one negative aspect of my candidacy. I think that inexperience is the clear leader. I've been out of law school almost five years (five years as of this weekend, as a matter of fact). I'll have been licensed for five years as of September 26, 2006; and my first job was working at the Court of Appeals, where I started in December, 2001, and I worked there until January, 2003.

I've tried exactly one case to completion. This puts me ahead of almost everyone my age that's been practicing law for less than five years. Most people don't realize that practicing the law means spending about only 10% of your time in the courtroom. I would estimate that only about one half of all civil cases filed go to a full-blown trial; many cases are disposed of in motion hearings, but the vast majority are settled before or during trial. Some are even settled after trial.

So actual courtroom experience may appear important to voters, but it is less important to the actual judicial process than it appears. One major problem with a popularly elected judiciary is politics. In Mississippi, everything is connected. People living in Jackson grew up with people living in Hattiesburg; someone in Oxford is cousins with someone in Gulfport, and so on. I don't have the native connections, so I have to rely on my personality, my friends, and their connections.

The campaign begins in earnest next week.

Qualifying is closed, and the campaign begins

My name is Alexander Ignatiev. I am an attorney in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I have lived in Mississippi since 1998, when I began attending law school at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. I have lived in Hattiesburg since January 2003, when I began working for Gunn & Hicks, PLLC. Currently, I am a solo practicioner, practicing out of a side building on my homestead.

The 10th Chancery Court district, composed of Perry, Forrest, Lamar, Marion, and Pearl River Counties, has an open post, with the judge to begin sitting January 2007. Even before I went into solo practice, I was planning to run for this open seat. Now that I'm out on my own, the opportunity is definitely too great to pass up.

My opponents in the race are Aaron Russell, Jr., a former city clerk of Picayune, currently chief deputy of the Pearl River County Sheriff; Jerry Evans, an attorney in Hattiesburg; Gene Fair, an attorney in Hattiesburg; and Deborah Gambrell, an attorney in Hattiesburg and a Forrest County Justice Court Judge. I am the only candidate in the race under the age of forty. At the time of the election, I will have met the qualifications for election just a little more than a month before.

In this blog, I will keep track of my campaign, my candidacy, my hair, my friends, my hopes, and my practice. This blog will end when the race is over.