Asbestos attorney Barry Julian of Gori & Julian has been appointed an associate judge in Madison County to fill the vacancy left when Sarah Smith was elected circuit judge.
Gori & Julian is one of the top filers of asbestos lawsuits in the country – eclipsing the Simmons firm of Alton in 2017 as the nation’s biggest asbestos firm.
Most of the firm’s asbestos cases are filed in Madison County, which houses the nation’s largest asbestos docket. However, recently, the firm has favored venue in St. Clair County Circuit Court when filing asbestos cases.
According to the County Clerk’s office, Julian, a Democrat, moved to Florida after canceling his Madison County voter registration on Dec. 30, 2014. His re-registration as a resident of Edwardsville was processed today.
According to his biography on the firm’s website, Julian was a dentist for 20 years before earning his J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law in 1995.
Associate judges are selected by a secret vote among the circuit’s nine elected judges. To be appointed, an applicant must receive at least five votes to get seated to a four-year term.
Currently, the Third Judicial Circuit only includes two Republican judges – Circuit Judge David Dugan, who was elected in November, and Associate Judge Stephen Stobbs, who presides over the asbestos docket and was appointed in 2006. The Third Judicial Circuit includes Madison and Bond counties.