DeKalb County Courthouse. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)

With DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Clarence Seeliger wrapping up 40 years on the bench at year's end, five candidates have lined up to replace the venerable jurist first elected to office in 1980. 

Candidate Roderick Bridges served as a judge on the old DeKalb County Recorders Court until it was abolished in 2015 and its duties turned over to the State Court's new traffic division. He unsuccessfully ran for the seat held by State Court Judge Dax Lopez in 2016, and maintains a solo practice in Decatur where he handles criminal, personal injury and family law matters.  

Bridges is a native of Los Angeles who was raised in Mississippi, according to his firm's website. He attended undergraduate school at New Orleans' Xavier University and holds a master's degree in public health from the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. 

He obtained his law degree at the St. Louis University School of Law in Missouri, and joined the State Bar of Georgia in 1999.

Aaron Chausmer is a senior counsel at business litigation boutique Hecht Walker, which he joined in 2016 after running his own solo practice specializing in commercial and contract law, corporate governance, labor and employment law and other business litigation.   

Chausmer attended undergraduate school at Emory University and earned his law degree at Boston University School of Law. He joined the State Bar of Georgia in 1998.

Vincent Crawford currently serves as the chief judge of the DeKalb County Juvenile Court, a position he was appointed to in January 2019. He has served as an associate and full-time judge on the Juvenile Court since 2006.

A Savannah native, Crawford began his legal career as an attorney with Georgia Legal Services in 1990 before signing as an assistant district attorney in Richmond County. He then spent a couple of years as a DeKalb ADA. 

He spent several years as a solo practitioner handling domestic, juvenile and criminal matters and also served as a public defender for the city of Decatur and as a part-time DeKalb magistrate judge.

Crawford is a graduate of Florida A&M University and received his law degree from Mercer University's Walter F. Georgia School of Law. He joined the State Bar of Georgia in 1991. 

Yolanda Parker-Smith is a senior attorney with the Fulton County Public Defender's office, where she has served since 2010. 

Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Parker-Smith began her legal career as a prosecutor in Boston's Suffolk County. She then relocated to Georgia and served as an assistant DA in the Fulton County Juvenile Court before crossing over into defense work, handling cases for juvenile and adult defendants.

Parker-Smith received her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and earned her law degree at UF's Levin College of Law. She joined the State Bar of Georgia in 2004. 

Melinda "Mindy" Pillow is a Decatur solo specializing in family law. 

Prior to opening her own firm, Pillow was an associate at Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton and business and family law boutique Davis Matthews and Quigley, where she focused on domestic and family law matters. 

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Pillow received her undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis and her law degree from the Georgia State University College of Law. She joined the State Bar of Georgia in 2006.