Login | May 02, 2025
Local attorney campaigning for municipal bench
BENJAMIN WHITE
Associated Press
Published: April 12, 2013
Though a newborn baby girl arrived at the dawn of his campaign, Akron attorney Jon Oldham and his wife chose to continue his bid for the Akron Municipal Court bench as he began his new job as a magistrate at the county probate court.
“You don’t need as much sleep as you think sometimes,” he said over coffee on his last day at Akron firm Oldham Kramer.
Oldham knew the number of days until November’s election, which will decide who fills two contested seats on the city’s bench. After a kickoff fundraiser on March 27, Oldham said he has worked tirelessly and gained endorsements from area fixtures ranging from County Executive Russ Pry to former appellate judge Clair Dickinson.
A drive to make the Akron Municipal Court a more efficient, “leaner and meaner” court drove him to run, he said.
“I don’t think I’d keep it status quo,” Oldham said. “I think the longer a file stays open in a civil matter, the more expensive it gets for a client. Win or lose, it’s just the way things work.”
His plans would also include fighting for a more robust mediation program to keep dockets from overflowing.
Because of his family’s long and often successful history in the Akron legal community, Oldham said his surname would probably play a part in the election.
“I think name recognition comes into politics at all levels,” he said. “It will come into play. I hope my credentials, my accomplishments and my own reputation in this community will also bring in a lot of support for me.”
After graduating from The University of Akron School of Law in 2002, Oldham began working for Oldham Kramer with several members of his family. His practice centers upon civil litigation, transactional law and probate services. He served as a magistrate at the Akron Municipal Court last year, and he recently began a stint as a magistrate and judicial attorney at the Summit County Probate Court under Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer.
Oldham said he believes his new job will completely round out his experience.
“It gives me significantly more exposure as a magistrate,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that having a broad experience is very good for a judge.”
Super Lawyers named Oldham a “Rising Star” for the past five years, and the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce presented him with one of its “30 for the Future” awards, given to influential young professionals, last year.
Outside the office, Oldham serves on the Akron Bar Association’s board of trustees and chairs the bar’s Law Week committee. He also serves on boards at Oriana House, the Community Health Center Foundation, the Fairlawn Chamber of Commerce and the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where he runs several times a week.
“I think the parks are very important to the community and a way for people to go de-stress a little bit and relax,” he said.
“The reason I’m involved in the organizations I’m involved in is because I truly see a value in all of them.”
Though Oldham dreamed of being a police officer or fireman as a child, he said watching his father and family members practice law made an impression upon him, even in grade school.
“I would always question my father when he got home from work and ask him about certain things he had going on at work,” he said.
When the former Eagle Scout graduated with a degree in geography from Ohio University in 1999, he returned to Akron to study and practice in his hometown.
“The legal community in Akron is quite large, but for the most part people are still civil with each other. You go into a bigger environment and the friendliness seems to go away, and it’s much more cold,” Oldham said.
“That can be said for the whole community – not just the legal community.”
Though he has long held a dream of one day becoming a judge, Oldham said only recently have the necessary pieces fallen into place.
He complimented his wife, Canton attorney Megan Frantz Oldham, on supporting his campaign while caring for their 2-year-old daughter Charlotte and newborn Nora.
Oldham will hold a fundraiser on April 17 to celebrate his birthday on April 20. Supporters can meet downtown at Bricco from 4:30 - 7 p.m., and the suggested donation is $35.
“Some people approach politics by thinking they need to campaign for a few different seats and after their name gets on the ballot a few time, then they can win. I’m not running my campaign like that. I wouldn’t waste my time, my family’s time and my supporters’ time by doing that,” he said.
“I’m in this campaign to win.”