The Daily Business Review's coverage of South Florida candidates in the August primary election features Q&As with candidates in judicial races across South Florida. This installment focuses on the race for Broward Circuit Court judge, Group 38, to replace retiring Judge Ilona Holmes.

Candidates are business litigator Stefanie Camille Moon, traffic hearing officer Jason Allen-Rosner, appellate lawyer Melissa Minsk Donoho and bankruptcy attorney Linda Marie Leali.

Allen-Rosner did not respond to requests for comment by deadline, but here's what Moon, Donoho and Leali have to say about what qualifies them for the judgeship. Responses have been edited for style and content.

Stefanie Camille Moon

Moon is the principal of S.C. Moon Law. She focuses her practice on business litigation and white-collar criminal defense in state and federal court. Over the course of her 22-year career, she has served in several governmental positions, including as an assistant state attorney focusing on violent and economic crime; as a senior assistant statewide prosecutor focusing on dental Medicaid fraud and cargo theft; and as an assistant U.S. attorney in both the criminal and civil divisions. She has earned several accolades, including recognition by the Florida Department of Insurance Workers' Compensation Fraud Task Force for her tireless work combating insurance premium fraud. Moon is a graduate of Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She received her bachelor's degree in business administration in finance and management from Loyola University in New Orleans.

Why do you want to become a circuit court judge?

I want to be a circuit court judge because I believe in service to the community. I have a successful legal career, but I want to have a significant legal career. I believe serving the community as a jurist would allow me to have a positive impact on our community.

What about your experience qualifies you for the position?

I am the only candidate in my race who has been both a plaintiff and defense attorney, handling both criminal and civil matters in both state and federal court. I am also the only candidate who has served as a special master presiding over adversarial hearings that included sworn testimony and tangible evidence. I wrote my recommendations in the form of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The variety of my experience is what qualifies me for the position of circuit court judge.

What's your biggest achievement so far?

Professionally, my biggest achievement was serving as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida for nearly seven years. One of my greatest professional honors was to stand in federal court and announce my appearance on behalf of the United States of America.

What would a successful term look like for you?

A successful term would necessarily encompass litigants who felt that their matters were fully heard and fairly considered, regardless of my rulings.

What is the most important issue facing the Broward circuit at the moment?

I believe the most important issue facing the Broward circuit, just as all other circuits in this state, is a lack of funding for the co-equal judicial branch of the government. Our citizens should not be subject to receiving only the justice they can afford. They should receive justice.

Melissa Donoho

Donoho is chief assistant regional counsel in the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel. She started her journey as “an impoverished child of a single mother in Queens, New York,” before rising to become managing attorney in an office of more than 50 lawyers and staff, according to her online bio. She has worked as a state prosecutor, a private attorney, an appellate lawyer and a public defender. She has handled several legal disputes, including more than a dozen death penalty cases and three arguments before the Florida Supreme Court. She has been married for 25 years and has three children.

Why do you want to become a circuit court judge?

Donoho: Over the last 26 years of legal practice, I have handled a multitude of disputes before the courts of Broward County. I've prosecuted and defended. I've handled death penalty cases, dependency cases, court monitor cases, mental health court cases, Marchman Act cases, adult protective services cases and even some family law, and other civil cases. I know what it feels like to appear before a really good judge, and how vitally important to justice a competent, fair jurist can be. Someone who's smart, reasoned, fair, listens hard, knows the law, makes timely rulings and runs an efficient courtroom makes a difference. Lawyers I know and work with tell me they see those qualities in me and have encouraged me to run. I agree with them that we need more good judges and that my experience and temperament are well-suited to make this contribution. I am fair and reasonable, but nevertheless a no-nonsense person. I'm passionate about the law, about making sure people on both sides of any dispute get a fair shake, and that in the end, justice is served. I view the role of the judge as the pinnacle of my many years of training and experience. After 26 years of arguing on behalf of one client or another, I am ready for this critical role.

What about your experience qualifies you for the position?

Donoho: Besides having practiced for 26 years as described above, I have led the Office of Regional Conflict Counsel for the past six years. Under my leadership, and that of the regional counsel, Antony Ryan, the Broward office has earned respect and become an effective, indispensable part of our local criminal justice and dependency systems. More importantly, however, this experience has taught me a tremendous lesson about the role of temperament. Dealing with the day-to-day management of lawyers and staff has presented enormous challenges. It has taught me to listen, to remain calm at all times, and to make decisions quickly and decisively when necessary, but also more deliberately when time permits. It's been invaluable to my growth as a person. I believe that these attributes are essential qualities of a good judge.

What's your biggest achievement so far?

Donoho: Just getting to where I am today from the childhood I had and being able to provide my kids a better life.

What would a successful term look like for you?

Donoho: After watching judges all these years and running my office, I know how to run an efficient courtroom and treat everyone with respect, including the courtroom personnel. Here are some examples: Show up on time, take whoever is there and ready to go, rule quickly and efficiently, don't second-guess when parties are in agreement, sign all orders and motions promptly, and come in with a smile.

What is the most important issue facing the Broward circuit at the moment?

Donoho: Lack of funding and judicial work ethic.

Linda Marie Leali

A South Florida native and 18-year resident of Broward County, Leali is the principal of her own law firm based in Pompano Beach. She maintains an active practice in state and federal courts throughout Florida and regularly serves as a court-appointed fiduciary, including as a receiver over distressed businesses and low-income properties. Before founding her firm in 2013, Leali was with the international law firm of White & Case for more than 12 years, where she practiced business bankruptcy law. She previously served as a tax consultant at the international accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Her bar-related and other activities are extensive.

Leali is in her second term as a member of the Florida Bar's Constitutional Judiciary Committee. She joined the National Association of Women Judges, and is co-chairwoman of the organization's flagship “Informed Voters, Fair Judges” voter education project. She is a two-time recipient of the chapter's President's Award, and is also the recipient of the Leader in the Law award presented by the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. She graduated from the University of Central Florida with a specialty in accounting, and earned her law degree from the University of Miami School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude.

Why do you want to become a circuit court judge?

Leali: For me, the answer is simple. I care about my family and I care about the people in my community. I believe the role of a judge is important, and I believe that I have the experience and dedication necessary to make a difference and do the job well. I will not underappreciate the importance of the job to those seeking relief from the court and will treat my responsibility with the utmost respect and effort.

I have firsthand experience in seeing how our judges' decisions reach into the daily lives of our citizens, including those that are at most risk of harm. I serve as a court-appointed receiver, a neutral officer of the court. My role as receiver has been to oversee the repair and operational improvement of the apartment buildings with the assistance of qualified professionals. The judge in this case had these tenants' interests in mind in placing me to serve in that role. But for the judge's decision, the needs of these tenants would not be met. I remember one tenant's comment to me quite vividly shortly after assuming control of the buildings. This tenant said, “Before you were here, it was chaos.” To me, that single statement was telling. I would not have been in that position to help and make these individuals' daily lives better had it not been for the judge overseeing the case.

If elected, I would humbly serve the people who come before me, treat them fairly and give them the respect they deserve. I know how important the decisions of judges are to the citizens that come before them.

What about your experience qualifies you for the position?

Leali: There are two sets of experiences that have best prepared me to be a judge. From an early age I worked and interacted with people from all walks of life. I truly believe that these combined experiences well outside the ivory tower of a law firm have given me so much insight into the various experiences from which people come. I know that I will be looking at people who come before me with true insight.

During my tenure at the law firm of White & Case in Miami, I worked on many of the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the United States as counsel to the debtor. To be counsel to the debtor you must quickly learn the business of the debtor and the federal and state laws affecting the debtor's operations. This experience exposed to me to various areas of law outside the bankruptcy regime, including, among others, contract, securities, real property, employment, energy, corporate governance and telecommunications law. I was forced in any given circumstances to learn a new area of law on an expedited basis. As such, I feel very comfortable with the premise that I could be required to learn new areas of law on a daily basis and in quick fashion or even be required to serve in court that is well outside my practice area, such as a criminal court.

What is your biggest achievement so far?

Leali: I serve as co-chairwoman of a national nonpartisan education initiative developed by the National Association of Women Judges that was designed to increase public awareness about the judicial system and to inform citizens that politics and special-interest attacks have no place in the courts. I am honored to say that last year I worked with our clerk of court's office to place the Emmy Award-winning video produced by the initiative in our Broward jury room. The video is designed to educate our citizens about the role of our courts in an effort to preserve the integrity of our third co-equal branch of government.

What would a successful term look like for you?

Leali: A successful term for me would include the accomplishment of several of my goals. First, I intend to have a quick moving docket, which will be accomplished by my dedication and hard work on the job. Second, I would like to see the increased participation of attorneys in pro bono representations in my courtroom. Third, I will have instituted an efficient courtroom procedure resulting in the reduction of costs to the litigants that come before me. Finally, at the end of my term I would like to be considered by participants in my courtroom as a smart, hardworking, fair and empathetic judge.

What is the most important issue facing the Broward circuit at the moment?

Leali: The biggest issue facing the Broward Circuit is that many litigants do not have full access to quality legal services. This places an extraordinary burden on the court system. Although assigned counsel may be engaged to assist criminal defendants, the assigned counsel system has limited resources. Similarly, although law clinics may assist litigants in civil matters, very often private litigants are unable to obtain or afford counsel, leading to a justice system that may not adequately serve their needs.