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Justin McAdam will be the next judge of the Indiana Tax Court, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Tuesday.
McAdam, deputy director and chief legal counsel in the Indiana Office of Management and Budget, will succeed Judge Martha Wentworth, who will retire from the bench later this year after 12 years.
Wentworth said she will continue to serve as senior judge and help McAdam transition into the unique role of being the lone judge of the Tax Court.
McAdam, a 2011 Harvard Law School graduate, said it’s bittersweet to leave Holcomb’s administration early but thanked the governor for the appointment.
There were 10 candidates for the position, all of whom interviewed with the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission in May.
McAdam said that as he reflected on the path before him, he started thinking about where he eventually wants that path to lead.
“It helps me to keep my eyes set on my destination,” he said. “It helps give me the perspective to avoid getting lost in the challenges of the present.”
Because taking over the Tax Court, McAdam said, will be a challenge.
“I know that there is still much to be written about its place in Indiana’s judiciary,” he said.
Speaking to Indiana Lawyer after the announcement, McAdam said he believes — as he said in his interview — that 90 days is a reasonable amount of time, on average, to issue opinions. But despite the challenges McAdam said he knows are waiting for him on the bench, he said he won’t have to do it alone.
“You have to rely on those that came before you,” he said, referencing Wentworth and former Tax Court Judge Thomas G. Fisher.
Holcomb, who said he has now appointed 90 judges, referenced McAdam’s previous work — including on the board of the Avon Education Foundation and as trustee of the Next Level Fund Investment Board — and said he knows McAdam is prepared.
“It’s not just the intelligence and the experience,” Holcomb said, “but the calm demeanor.”
The other finalists for the Tax Court seat were Kevin Halloran, a tax attorney at Quarles & Brady, and Patrick Price, special counsel in the Indiana Office of Management and Budget.
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