This installment of the Daily Business Review's coverage of South Florida candidates in the August primary elections features Q&As with five contenders for Palm Beach County judge. Mediator Lloyd Comiter, trial attorneys Allen Ambrosino and Allegra Fung, Assistant Public Defender Ashley Zuckerman and capital litigator Gabriel Ermine are battling for the judgeship in Group 4.

Here's what they had to say about what qualifies them for the bench. Responses have been edited for style and content.

Allen Ambrosino

Ambrosino was a second-grade elementary school teacher through the Teachers Service Corp. programs at St. Michael's school in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he taught 37 children in his first year, and coached various girls basketball teams. He has traveled to 85 countries on all seven continents and volunteered at Mother Theresa's Home for the Dying in Calcutta, where he provided medical treatment and took care of the basic human needs of 50 patients.

Ambrosino worked at the Public Defender's Office for 10 years and has been running his own firm for the last two. During this time, he volunteered with Take Stock in Children. He also has a communications degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania, a master's degree in elementary education from Long Island University in New York, and a juris doctor from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. He also attended Harvard Law School as a visiting student between 2005 and 2006. Ambrosino has a 3-year-old son with his wife, Alice, who works as a circuit court clerk.

Why do you want to be a county court judge?

Ambrosino: I want to become a county court judge to utilize both my work and life experience, making sure every person who walks into my courtroom is treated fairly and with respect, regardless of outcome.

What about your experience qualifies you for the position?

Ambrosino: I worked as an assistant public defender for a decade and was in Palm Beach County courtrooms virtually every business day, and some weekends as well, during that time. I was able to observe what works and, more importantly, what does not when running a courtroom. In my group, I also have the most criminal defense and trial courtroom experience in Palm Beach County, which will prove to be invaluable.

What's your biggest achievement so far?

Ambrosino: My biggest achievement so far is helping to bring my unofficial sister, Claire, who lives in England, to accept Jesus Christ as her lord and savior when I first met her in Asia, and participating in her baptism during a visit to Florida years later.

What would a successful term look like for you?

Ambrosino: A successful term as county court judge would be one where, at the end of my six years, all of the attorneys would say, when asked about my style as a judge, “Allen listens to both sides and is fair. He does not have a 'one size fits all' philosophy from the bench, but instead treats every case individually.”

What is the most important issue facing the Palm Beach County court at the moment?

Ambrosino: This answer could apply to any number of programs run by the government, but that makes it no less true. Funding is the biggest problem. The Palm Beach County court system needs more money, properly spent, to buttress our alternative sentencing programs, interpreter services and the juvenile system.

Lloyd Comiter

Comiter earned his law degree at St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami and began practicing in 1991. He belongs to the Palm Beach County Bar Association, where he chairs the Small Claims Court Clinics Committee and the South Palm Beach County Bar Association. As a Florida Supreme Court-certified county court mediator, he volunteers in mediating small claims and disputes between landlords and tenants. He also mediates victim restitution disputes in the county criminal court division.

Comiter is a former traffic hearing officer and has served on a number of committees, including the Florida Bar Small Claims Rules Committee and the Judicial Campaign Practices Commission. His name was on a list of finalists the Palm Beach Judicial Nominating Commission submitted to the Florida governor for three county court judicial vacancies in 2010, 2011 and 2012. He's also been director of the Jewish Education Commission for the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County and serves on the board of directors for Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach. Comiter has lived in South Florida since 1967 and has three children with his wife of 23 years.

Why do you want to be a county court judge?

Comiter: For 27 years I have consistently handled county court civil matters and have an appreciation for issues that a litigant typically has in the county court division. I want to bring my passion for the county court bench to those that come before the court to make the courtroom a welcoming experience for all.

What about your experience qualifies you for the position?

Comiter: I've handled county court civil matters for 27 years, and as a Florida Supreme Court-certified county court mediator, I have volunteered in mediating small claims cases, landlord-tenant cases and criminal restitution hearings. Having previously been nominated for three county court judicial vacancies by the local Judicial Nominating Commission, I have already been vetted and determined to be qualified for a seat on the county court bench.

What's your biggest achievement so far?

Comiter: My biggest accomplishment, and the one I am most proud of, is my family and seeing all that they have achieved to date.

What would a successful term look like for you?

Comiter: A courtroom where everyone is welcome, is treated fairly, has an opportunity to be heard and leaves with an understanding of what transpired.

What is the most important issue facing the Palm Beach County courts at the moment?

Comiter: An overwhelming number of cases being filed each year, and a lack of funding for new judicial positions.

Gabriel “Gabe” Ermine

Ermine has lived in South Florida since 1985, and has trial and courtroom experience as an assistant public defender and assistant state attorney. For the past 12 years, he has served as a public defender in Broward County and has received both local and national attention for his many high-profile cases. In his current position as a litigator in Broward's homicide unit, Ermine is one of only four lead capital-certified trial lawyers for death penalty litigation.

Ermine has worked in the Broward County juvenile division, as a lead felony attorney responsible for other felony level attorneys, and in the major crimes division, where he defended clients facing life imprisonment. He continues serving as a supervisor, mentor and trainer to young attorneys, and has trained others on proper voir dire, jury selection, trial strategies, the rules of evidence and trial procedure. Ermine has tried more than 100 jury trials, and in 2009 held the record for the most trials in one year: 19. Also in 2009, the Broward Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers awarded Ermine the “Hat Trick Award” for three consecutive “not guilty” verdicts. Ermine received his juris doctor from Nova Southeastern University School of Law in 2005. As a law student, Ermine held an exclusive judicial internship with Judge Sheldon Schwartz.

Why do you want to be a county court judge?

Ermine: I have been in public service virtually my entire career. As a law student, I was a judicial intern. I completed more than 300 pro bono hours during law school. I went on to be a prosecutor and am currently a public defender. My career has put me in the courtroom every day, as the voice for the voiceless. I am proud of my career in the public sector. As a judge, I hope to continue to serve others. As a judicial intern, I saw the difference the judge made in the lives of the people who came before him. Ever since I was a first-year law student, I knew I wanted to be a judge.

What about your experience qualifies you for the position?

Ermine: Even before my career began, I started training to be a judge. I was a judicial intern in my first year of law school. I learned the ways of the court system as a volunteer with the State Attorney's Office and provided more than 300 pro bono hours to them. Postgraduation, every day of my career, for the past 12 years, I have been in a courtroom. I advocate on behalf of my clients daily. I have tried, as lead counsel, more than 100 jury trials to verdict. I am one of only four attorneys in my office capital-certified to litigate death penalty cases, which are the most difficult, complex and emotionally driven cases. I teach new attorneys in my office the rules of evidence and trial procedure. I often audit other cases to assist other attorneys with potential trial- and appellate-related issues. I am always up to date with relevant appellate court decisions, reading weekly updates. I often am the one others turn to in the office when issues and questions come up related to difficult legal issues.

What's your biggest achievement so far?

Ermine: I believe that my biggest accomplishment so far is being capital certified. Out of 127 attorneys in my office, I am one of only four capital-certified attorneys to try cases where the defendant is facing the death penalty.

What would a successful term look like for you?

Ermine: A successful term as a county court judge would be one in which all parties involved have walked away from their time in court feeling that their voice was heard and justice was served blindly. I am running for a position in which the current sitting judge has been presiding over his courtroom for 30 years in the city of Belle Glade. When I have visited that community and spoke with the residents, it is apparent to me that they have high regard for him and he is a well-respected member of the community. He is thought of as a part of their community, a person to look up to, to trust. I hope that as a judge, I can attain that level of camaraderie with my community that I serve.

What is the most important issue facing the Palm Beach County court at the moment?

Ermine: I believe that the most important issue facing the Palm Beach County court at the moment is an issue that many courts face throughout the state of Florida. This involves funding. There is a shortage of funding in the county court system, which can lead to employee furloughs, high docket-per-judge ratio, and reduced access to specialized courts/diversion programs.

Allegra Phillip Fung

Fung was born and raised in South Florida, graduated from Florida State University and obtained her law degree from St. Thomas School of Law in Miami. In 2000, she began her career as a Florida assistant public defender in the juvenile division, and spent every day in court. Fung has also worked in criminal, county and felony divisions and has almost two decades of trial experience.

In 2003, Fung began private practice in civil and criminal law. She directed a small firm for eight years, focusing on family and criminal law, then later began working for an insurance defense firm. For the last seven years, Fung has served as senior trial attorney, representing everyday people in the courtroom and negotiating settlements that work for all parties. She was recently recognized by the Miami-Dade County Bar Association for “outstanding and constructive service to the bar, bench and public.” Fung has two children and three rescue dogs with her husband of 16 years.

Why do you want to be a county court judge?

Fung: I always wanted to be a judge from the moment I started my career in the juvenile division as an assistant public defender. I experienced how much of a difference the judge could make in each of the kid's lives and how every child mattered. From then I made sure my career would be well rounded and that when I was ready to be a judge, I would have the necessary experience and knowledge to be a good judge. After almost 18 years as an attorney in Palm Beach County, I have the substantial and practical trial experiences in both civil and criminal practice on the county and circuit court levels.

What about your experience qualifies you for the position?

Fung: The new county court judge will be assigned to either a criminal or civil division. I am the only candidate in Group 4 that has actual and substantial trial experience in both civil and criminal practice on the county and circuit court levels. Some of my opponents have less experience in years, and others may have more, but look to the quality and diversity of their experience. Three of them have primarily criminal practice only, and the other only civil experience. I am the only candidate that can start from day one. The role of a judge is not a situation where you want anyone “learning on the job.” I am the only candidate that can hit the ground running, regardless of which division I would be assigned as a county court judge.

I have the right temperament and practical knowledge to know how to run an efficient and fair courtroom. I was also endorsed by the NOW PAC of the Florida National Organization of Women and the Palm Beach Post. Although this has no bearing on my qualifications to do the job, if I am chosen, I will be the first elected Chinese judge in Florida. Diversity and experience matters.

What's your biggest achievement so far?

Fung: During the campaign, I was asked to give a commencement speech to the graduates of Southeastern College. That was something I never expected to experience in this lifetime, and I was truly humbled by the honor.

What would a successful term look like for you?

Fung: To run an efficient courtroom where everyone is afforded the opportunity and dignity to be heard. I hope to make a difference in the service of our community by being a successful and fair judge.

What is the most important issue facing the Palm Beach County courts at the moment?

Fung: Overcrowding in the county jails and eliminating racial disparity in the jail population is a community problem that affects us all. I believe there needs to be a push for more diversion programs for first-time, nonviolent offenders. I know the county has also invested in strategies to reduce ethnic and racial disparities among the jail and court system. We are headed in the right direction.

Ashley Zuckerman

Zuckerman is an assistant public defender in Palm Beach County. Born in upstate New York, Zuckerman grew up with her father, a teacher, and her mother, a bookkeeper, both of whom she says encouraged her to be involved in her local and community organizations. She graduated magna cum laude from Florida Atlantic University, and went on to work for Oppenheimer and Co., a Boca Raton investment company as a sales trading assistant.

Zuckerman later obtained a law degree from Nova Southeastern University, and interned at the Public Defender's Office. She has taken more than 70 jury trials to verdict and handled numerous bench trials, motions and hearings on both misdemeanor and felony cases. Zuckerman also serves as resource director, helping to train and supervise new attorneys.

Why do you want to be a county court judge?

Zuckerman: I am running for county court judge because I believe in the importance of having a fair and efficient courtroom, one where everyone is treated with respect and the rights of all persons are protected. I have dedicated my entire legal career to serving the public of Palm Beach County and I wish to continue that role as judge.

What about your experience qualifies you for the position?

Zuckerman: I have tried more than 70 jury trials to verdict and handled hundreds of hearings, motions and bench trials. I am currently a supervisor at the Public Defender's Office, where I train and supervise the new attorneys. I have been in a Palm Beach County courtroom almost every single day of my legal career. I have the demeanor, trial experience and knowledge that is necessary to run a fair and efficient courtroom.

What's your biggest achievement so far?

Zuckerman: My biggest achievement is not one thing; it is my current path as an attorney and judicial candidate. I learned my strong work ethic from my grandmother who instilled in me the drive, determination and hard work that was necessary to get to where I am. I put myself through college working as a teller at Bank of America. I interned through law school at the Public Defender's Office, which helped ensure my position on graduation, and I worked my way up to my current position as a supervisor. I believe in working hard and am proud to be an attorney and candidate for county court judge.

What would a successful term look like for you?

Zuckerman: A successful term would be one where my courtroom was run with fairness, integrity, truth and an abiding conviction for following the law. I have no doubt that that would be the case were I to be elected.

What is the most important issue facing the Palm Beach County courts at the moment?

Zuckerman: I am proud to be a Palm Beach County resident. Although there are issues facing the county court, including large dockets and budget cuts, I believe that by electing ethical and experienced attorneys, we can provide the justice that Palm Beach County residents deserve.

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