January 28, 2022

1pm-2pm

Code Enforcement - An Assist from the Bench:  Addressing Problem Properties with Dedicated Code Enforcement Courts

Description:  Litigation frequently serves as the legal backstop when code enforcement agencies have exhausted other avenues to gain compliance or when properties pose special challenges or imminent threats to public health and safety.  While they can appear straightforward, today’s code cases involve complex legal issues related to ownership and title, interpretation of state laws and local ordinances, and the innovative use of civil and criminal remedies.  Compounding the challenge, municipal attorneys often bring cases in courts that lack both expertise in the legal and policy nuances that drive code enforcement and familiarity with the community context that surround problem properties.  In a handful of cities across the country, however, code enforcement cases are assigned to a dedicated court or court division with the jurisdiction and experience necessary to adjudicate the myriad of violations and issues at play. 

This webinar will discuss a range of legal and procedural topics impacting municipal attorneys and prosecutors that handle code cases, including considerations for the effective presentation and resolution of code enforcement cases.  This webinar will also compare and contrast two of these specialized judicial models: the Shelby County (TN) Environmental Court and the Cleveland Heights Municipal Court.  In a conversation with faculty from the Strategic Code Enforcement Management Academy (SCEMA), Shelby County Environmental Court Judge Patrick Dandridge and Cleveland Height Municipal Court Judge JJ Costello will address the opportunities and challenges that come with having a devoted court hear, decide, and manage code enforcement cases.  

Speakers: Judge J.J. Costello, Judge Patrick Dandridge, Daniel M. Schaffzin and Joe Schilling

Judge J.J. Costello is the Judge of the Cleveland Heights Municipal Court in Ohio. A lifelong Cleveland Heights resident, he and his wife Alicia are proudly raising their two sons in Cleveland Heights.  Judge Costello earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Miami of Ohio and his Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve School of Law. After he was admitted to practice in Ohio, he opened up his law practice in Cleveland Heights. From there, he joined a boutique law firm handling primarily landlord-tenant matters, real estate management, and code enforcement defense.  Before taking the bench as Judge, he served as an Acting Judge of the Cleveland Heights Municipal Court.  Judge Costello was elected as Judge and began his six-year term on January 1, 2018.  The Cleveland Heights Court is a single judge court with subject-matter jurisdiction over primarily misdemeanor criminal and traffic matters, civil cases in which the amount in dispute does not exceed $15,000, evictions, and criminal housing and building code violations.  Judge Costello is currently serving on the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Commission on Technology and the Courts, the Ohio Judicial Conference Civil Law and Procedure Committee, and the Ohio Judicial Conference Legislative Committee.

Judge Patrick Dandridge is the Judge of Shelby County Environmental Court, General Sessions Criminal Court Division 14. He was appointed by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners on April 2, 2018, and subsequently elected on August 2, 2018 as the second Shelby County Environmental Court Judge.  Prior to his election, he was recommended and endorsed by his predecessor Judge Larry E. Potter, who assisted in creating the Shelby County Environmental Court and served as Judge for over 35 years. Before serving on the bench, Judge Dandridge worked to address blight and other environmental concerns for the City of Memphis for over 18 years. He served as the City of Memphis Assistant City Attorney for 15 years and most recently as the Director of the City of Memphis Code Enforcement Department from January 2016 – April 2018.  Judge Dandridge was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and is a 1983 graduate of Central High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Georgetown University in 1987 and his Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991. Judge Dandridge also earned his Masters of Business Administration degree from Christian Brothers University in 2012.  Judge Dandridge is a member of the Memphis Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association and National Bar Association, Ben Jones Chapter. Judge Dandridge is licensed to practice law in both the states of Tennessee and Pennsylvania.  Judge Dandridge has a demonstrated passion for our community and the environment.

Daniel M. Schaffzin is an Associate Professor of Law and the Director of Experiential Learning at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Professor Schaffzin directs and teaches the University of Memphis Neighborhood Preservation Clinic, through which faculty and law student attorneys represent the City of Memphis in Shelby County Environmental Court lawsuits seeking to abate the nuisance condition of badly neglected, vacant and abandoned properties. In connection with his Clinic casework, Professor Schaffzin holds an appointment as a Senior Assistant City Attorney for Neighborhood Preservation. Professor Schaffzin also teaches Civil Procedure I and II and directs and teaches Memphis Law's Externship Program.

Joe Schilling serves as a Senior Research and Policy Associate at the Urban Institute, working  with public officials and community leaders in the design and development of collaborative for urban regeneration, resilience and neighborhood revitalization.  For the past three years he led high-profile collaborative research and technical assistance projects in Detroit, Youngstown, Memphis, and Fresno that explore the intersections of state and local policy, research, and practice. As part of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Leaders Program, Schilling was part of the research team that completed a health impact assessment of substandard housing and strategic code enforcement in Memphis, TN.  A former urban planning professor at Virginia Tech (Alexandria, VA campus) Schilling earned a Master’s in Environmental Law and Policy from George Washington University (GWU) Law School where he later taught courses in Municipal, Land Use and Sustainability Law.