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Meet Akron Muni Court Magistrate Scott Newman
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: August 4, 2023
The Akron Municipal Court recently hired a new full-time magistrate to help fill the vacancies created by last year’s judicial elections.
Former Medina County Domestic Relations Court Magistrate Scott Newman was sworn in as magistrate on April 3.
“I am excited to take on this new challenge, which provides me with the chance to hear an entirely different set of cases than in my prior position,” said Newman, who serves all six Akron Municipal Court judges and presides over small claims, civil, traffic and criminal matters.
Newman is helping to fill the void created by the departure of part-time Akron Municipal Court magistrates Jennifer Towell and Kani H. Hightower.
Hightower was elected as a Summit County Domestic Relations Court judge in 2022.
Towell is now a judge on the Summit County Common Pleas Court after winning the election to fill the unexpired term of former Common Pleas Court Judge Amy Corrigall Jones, who stepped down in August 2022 to pursue other opportunities. Her term expires on Dec. 31, 2024.
“Magistrate Newman joined our court earlier this year and we have appreciated his help managing the civil docket and presiding over criminal arraignments and other hearings when needed,” said Akron Municipal Court Administrative/Presiding Judge David Hamilton, who administered Newman’s oath of office.
“We are proud to have Magistrate Newman as part of the Akron Municipal Court team,” said Judge Hamilton. “His experience as a magistrate and his passion for public service is quite impressive.”
A native of Fairlawn, Ohio, Newman graduated from Firestone High School’s International Baccalaureate Programme.
He received his bachelor’s degree in astronomy and physics from Rice University in Houston and his juris doctorate from The University of Akron School of Law.
“My mother, Debra Shifrin is a lawyer and I met many attorneys growing up and I think they were my inspiration for going to law school,” said Newman. “I was initially planning on becoming an astrophysicist but I decided that a law degree would open more doors than being a scientist.
“I fell in love with the law and serving others,” said Newman.
While attending Akron Law in the evenings, he was a law clerk and office assistant for sole practitioner Kirk A. Migdal and at the law firm Shifrin Newman Smith Inc.
After passing the Ohio Bar Exam in 2014, he started as a judicial attorney at Medina County Domestic Relations Court.
In August 2017, he joined Ruby & Associates, where he continued to focus on domestic relations matters.
He returned to his role as judicial attorney at Medina County Domestic Relations Court in January 2019 and was sworn in as a part-time magistrate in December of the same year.
In the spring of 2022, Newman became a full-time mediation magistrate, a title that he held until January 2023 when the mediation program was restructured and he began hearing all other matters within the court’s jurisdiction as a full-time trial magistrate.
A member of the Akron Bar Association, Newman lives in West Akron with his wife and their two young boys and their Chorkie dog Edison.
He currently serves on the board of JewishAkron and is a former president of The Lippman School Board of Trustees.
“I’ve always wanted to serve my community and I take my role as a public employee seriously, ” said Newman.