Heather Whitaker Goldstein impresses us as a candidate for Superior Court Judge. Lawyers who know her say she has a great legal mind, but we know Heather as a community leader. We love her hands-on commitment to the people of Buncombe County.
Heather values justice, fairness and equality. As a private-practice attorney, she won a statewide award for providing pro bono legal services. As the director of the Asheville Jewish Community Center, she created a financial aid program, expanded access to childcare and eldercare and developed services to support families in crisis. Heather is inclusive of diverse populations and takes a holistic approach to understanding human challenges.
Heather is thoughtful, articulate, deliberative and fair. She has worked as a lawyer, but she has also stood in the shoes of the client. We want judges who understand the people and community that will be impacted by their rulings. Heather’s breadth of community, legal and management experience makes her uniquely qualified for this office.
Opportunities to elect this type of candidate don't come around very often. She has our votes, and we hope she'll get yours, too.
— Mayor Terry Bellamy, Commissioner Holly Jones and City Council Member Esther Manheimer
While Heather Whitaker Goldstein sounds like a nice person with many personal accomplishments, I disagree that she is qualified to become Superior Court Judge based on her lack of courtroom experience. As an attorney she has participated in ZERO jury trials…..which is exactly the type of cases a Superior Court Judge oversees. I feel it is unfair to elect someone with no experience with jury trials to make decisions in cases that involve crimes as serious as murder & rape. While life experience is important, experience in the courtroom must triumph.
As a private practice attorney, Heather participated in jury trials, arbitrations, depositions, mediations, pretrial and jurisdictional motions hearings, summary judgment hearings, and appeals in district court, superior court, and federal courts. She also spent one year clerking for a Magistrate Judge in a United States District Court. She offers a balanced and broad perspective from inside and outside of the courtroom that we should look for in a judicial candidate. Find out more here: http://heatherforsuperiorcourtjudge.com/
DreadT seems uninformed about Heather’s experience. As is clearly stated on her website, “As an attorney in private practice, Heather successfully represented clients in court on a wide range of civil matters, including wills/estate, property lines and easements, trademark infringement, unfair trade practices, insurance, fraud, contracts, banking, negligence, and secured transactions. Her practice included civil litigation and appellate practice in the North Carolina and federal court systems.” Voters, please do your research before you vote! http://heatherforsuperiorcourtjudge.com/?page_id=12
I am glad to have an opportunity to clarify a huge erroneous perception about Heather that is circulating. The statement that she has not participated in jury trials is simply not true. As a private practice attorney, she participated in jury trials, arbitrations, depositions, mediations, pretrial and jurisdictional motions hearings, summary judgment hearings, and appeals in district court, superior court, and federal courts. In fact she has experience in the entire gamut of courtroom civil litigation practice. A Superior court judges hears both criminal and civil cases. In fact, in civil superior court, there is much more time spent on pre-trial motions practice than on jury trials. That is because some cases are tried to a judge-only (called a bench trial) and many more cases settle before trial. Heather has vast experience with this.
I trust her judgment and abilities in the criminal arena. She is up to the task.
No disrepect… but tell me how long Ms. Goldstein has been out of the litigation arena?
Ms. Goldstein’s supporters and website seem misleading when you consider her lack of recent experience. I have looked at her website. From her own website, she hasn’t seen the inside of a courtroom since 2003.
As an associate for McGuire, Wood & Bissette, how many actual jury trials has she handled as the lead attorney?
I appreciate that she has been able to garner the support of many, major players in Buncombe County, but the average voter should be made aware of the facts. Especially when you consider that against the experience of Marvin Pope: District Court judge for 9 years; Civil & criminal trial attorney for 28 years prior. Thanks for reading my post.
I’d have to agree with DreadT. A careful review of all of the candidate’s profiles depicts Heather hasn’t been in the courtroom since 2003. How can a 7 year hiatus qualify you to preside over serious criminal and complex civil matters?
Especially when you compare that to Marvin Pope who has been on the bench for 9 years with 28 years of trial experience prior to that. I have had the pleasure of appearing before Judge Pope and he is reasonable, predictable, and resourceful.
Also, and as a question to AvlAttorney, as a 4-year-associate for McGuire, Wood and Bissette, how many jury trials did Heather try as the lead attorney or solo?
Judge Marvin Pope is one of the few incumbents to
KEEP! Besides, we have plenty of female judges.