First District Judge Robert Winkler hears his first Supreme Court oral argument.

First District Judge Robert Winkler hears his first Supreme Court oral argument.

First District Court of Appeals Judge Robert C. Winkler believes the best training to become a judge is to watch and learn from respected jurists. That approach has benefited when hearing cases at all levels of the state court system: municipal, common pleas, appellate, and now for the first time, the Supreme Court of Ohio.

“It started with my father when I was a teen. I’d go to the courthouse to watch trials and see him work on the bench,” said Judge Winkler, who sat Tuesday for a Supreme Court case as an assigned visiting judge.

“I saw that he enjoyed the law and talking with attorneys, and knew it was something I wanted to pursue.”

Those visits to the Hamilton County Courthouse to see his father, the late Ralph Winkler, would later become part of Judge Robert Winkler’s professional routine. He started working there as a law clerk, then split 14 years as a private attorney and prosecutor before settling in at the courthouse for 17 years as municipal and common pleas judge.

“The path was very similar to my father. He spent 22 years between the municipal and common pleas courts before he retired as a First District judge,” said Judge Winkler.
He took the advice of his father and other judicial mentors to never stop studying the law. And his knowledge continues to grow on the court of appeals.

“Almost every day, I learn something new,” said Judge Winkler. “Attorneys keep us appellate judges on our toes because we handle such a wide range of cases that can raise issues we’ve never considered before as a court.”

In his first Supreme Court case, Judge Winkler sat for Justice Joseph T. Deters, who recused. The Ohio Constitution gives the chief justice authority to select an appellate judge to sit for a Supreme Court case when there is a justice recusal. Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy assigned Judge Winkler to hear In the Matter of the Application of Ohio Power Company for an Increase in Electric Distribution Rates, et al. The case calls into question whether the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio properly authorized the rates a power company charges for distributing electricity to customers.

“I’ve been watching the work of the justices for years, never expecting to one day sit with them on the Supreme Court. It’s an incredible honor to take what I’ve learned and apply it at the state’s highest level,” said Judge Winkler.