Web Exclusive: Meet the Judges: Sullivan Superior Judge Hugh Hunt

Sullivan Superior Judge Hugh Hunt and his family. (Photo courtesy of Hunt)

Law wasn’t his first career.

Initially, Hugh Hunt, now the judge of the Sullivan Superior Court, worked as a funeral director.

But after a while, Hunt realized there just weren’t that many long-term opportunities in that career path. He also knew that he wanted to return to his hometown, but there weren’t many funeral director opportunities there.

“I also wanted something that I can do the rest of my life, and I just felt like being an attorney is something you can do until you die if you want,” Hunt said. “I just wanted something that I could kind of dictate my future with, and there’s so many different areas that you can get into.”

Hunt ultimately decided on law school, enrolling at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and earning his J.D. in 2010. He was elected judge four years later and is now coming up on his 10^th year on the bench.

Reflecting on his time as a funeral director, Hunt said his experiences there actually translated well into a career in law.

The common denominator between the two? Compassion.

“You’ve got to like working with people and you’ve got to have some compassion,” Hunt said. “I try to have some understanding and compassion for people because I’m dealing with people that are all the time, especially with criminal court, making mistakes and goofing up. There has to be a level of firmness, but there has to be a level of compassion.”

Hunt is the latest Indiana trial judge to be featured in Indiana Lawyer’s Spotlight series profiling jurists in more rural counties. Here is what he had to say about life on and off the bench.

When you were practicing as an attorney, what area did you focus on?
I did everything, but I stayed away completely from family law. I didn’t do any family law really at all; it just wasn’t a strong interest for me. I did a lot of real estate work — I did a lot of criminal defense, but I did a lot of real estate contracts, deeds, stuff like that. I had a lot of farm clients, did a lot of agricultural contracts and land contracts and different things, lease agreements. Our area is kind of a coal region, coal and oil and gas region, so I used to deal a lot with coal, oil and gas contracts.

Do you feel like that experience translated to your work as a judge?
I wasn’t a litigator per se, but I mean, I think everything that I did was helpful in preparing me for a career on the bench. Especially maybe the criminal work — I did quite a bit of that and enjoyed it. It was a learning curve for me becoming a judge as a family lawyer because I hadn’t done much of it, so it took me a while to really feel comfortable with it. And I did over time, but that was the big learning curve for me. But I will say, I kind of enjoyed that learning curve to a certain extent because once I got here, it’s one thing to advocate for somebody or defend somebody, but it’s another one (when) you’re deciding the outcome. I kind of surprised myself in some sense that I kind of like family law to some extent. Especially, I like it when they come in pro se on a divorce; I enjoy sitting down here with them and trying to help them navigate through that process. I find that most people are pretty reasonable. I enjoy that interaction with parties and trying to get them to a satisfactory result in their divorce case.

What is something you’ve learned about yourself since becoming a judge?
I really enjoy when I get a case where I’m on the fence a little bit, not sure how to rule initially. I like looking at caselaw, that research and reading cases to kind of help formulate my opinion or kind of find a basis, find the root there to maybe get it right and make the right decision. I enjoy that legal research. I like to do pro se divorces, which shocks me to some extent that I do, but I like that. I’ve enjoyed, like I said, the jury trial process, learning all the facets of that. Unless you have extensive trial experience, it just takes a while to kind of get your knowledge base in there and get a level of comfort dealing with the press. No trial is ever the same, but after you’ve done 10 or so, you start to get a level of comfort with them and know how to handle certain situations.

What are some of your hobbies when you’re not on the bench?
I love to play golf; if I can make it to the golf course, I try to whenever I can. I enjoy helping my son in some of his sports. He’s played baseball since he was about 3, and I’ve coached several of his teams and helped to coach. One of my biggest outlets I enjoy is flower gardening. I’ve got a lot of flowers that I work on almost on a daily basis; that’s kind of my outlet a little bit. I’m always planning something, trying to make something grow.•