Matthew Ackerman
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Matthew Ackerman is a judge-elect of the Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals. He assumes office on January 1, 2025.
Ackerman ran for election for judge of the Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Ackerman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Matthew Ackerman was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. He earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, a graduate degree from the London School of Economics, and a law degree from Columbia Law School. His career experience includes working as an attorney and professor.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Michigan intermediate appellate court elections, 2024
General election
General election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals
Matthew Ackerman defeated Latoya Willis in the general election for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Matthew Ackerman (Nonpartisan)  | 59.6 | 207,274 |
 | Latoya Willis (Nonpartisan) | 40.4 | 140,310 | |
| Total votes: 347,584 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Matthew Ackerman and Latoya Willis advanced from the primary for Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Lisa Marie Neilson (Nonpartisan)
Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Ackerman received the following endorsements.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matthew Ackerman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ackerman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Matthew Ackerman graduated cum laude from Harvard University with high honors in economics, earned a master’s in economics from the London School of Economics, and has a law degree from Columbia Law School. During law school, Matthew served as an editor of the Columbia Law Review and was one of 12 out of over 400 graduates to be named a James Kent Scholar—the highest single-year academic honors—all three years.
Following law school, Matthew served as a judicial law clerk on the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Second Circuit and Fifth Circuit. In that role, he worked on over 100 appeals involving a wide range of legal issues, including constitutional law, civil and criminal procedure, employment, immigration, disability, and statutory interpretation. Matthew currently practices at Ackerman & Ackerman P.C., where he primarily represents property owners whose land is taken by the government in eminent domain actions. In recognition of his successful advocacy for property owners, Matthew was recently named a Super Lawyers 2024 Michigan Rising Star.
Matthew has published several articles and presented at national legal conferences. His topics have ranged from what should be included in “just compensation” in eminent domain cases to quantitative analyses of educational assessment methodologies. Beginning next school year, Matthew will also join Michigan State University College of Law as an adjunct professor.
- Fairness and equal justice under the law: As a judge, I will treat every litigant equally and judge every case fairly and without bias.
- Rule of law: I humbly respect and will follow the laws of Michigan. Moreover, as a judge on the Court of Appeals—an intermediate appellate court—I will be duty-bound to follow the precedent established by the Michigan Supreme Court.
- Civility: Everyone who appears in courtrooms—litigants, lawyers, and judges—deserves to have his or her arguments heard and to be treated with respect. As a judge, I will set the tone by being courteous to my colleagues and those who appear before me.
In recent years, public trust in our judiciary has steeply declined, which I believe threatens a cornerstone of our democracy. I am running because I have the necessary skills and judicial philosophy to contribute to the solution. As a judge, I will strive to uphold the rule of law and ensure equal access to justice. I will be as impartial as possible, faithful to the law above my personal political preferences. Removing politics from the judiciary is essential to improving public trust in it as an institution.
For a judge, integrity, fairness, impartiality, and sound judgment.
I would like to be remembered as a fair, thoughtful, and compassionate judge. Obviously, not everyone can win their cases before me. Still, nothing would make me prouder than for those who lose to believe that they got a fair shot, were treated with respect, and received an adequate explanation of why they did not prevail.
I don’t have a single favorite book, but biographies are my preferred genre. Two of my favorite biographers are Ron Chernow and Walter Isaacson.
I love live music and frequently get songs stuck in my head. The most recent one was “Good Lord Lorrie” by Turnpike Troubadours.
Here are a few of the artists I have seen or am going to see in concert this year and a song of theirs that I at one point played on repeat:
• Zach Bryan – From Austin
• Tyler Childers – All Your’n
• Charles Wesley Godwin – Family Ties
• Morgan Wade – Wilder Days
• Silverada (formerly Mike and the Moonpies) – Hour on the Hour
• Jason Isbell – King of Oklahoma
• Angel White – If You’re Gonna Leave
• Flatland Cavalry – Gettin’ By
• Wyatt Flores – Please Don’t Go
• Kaitlin Butts – A Life Where We Work Out (with Flatland Cavalry)
• Evan Honer – Jersey Giant (Tyler Childers cover with Julia DiGrazia)
And, finally, because I would love my fellow Swifties’ votes, my favorite Taylor Swift song is the 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”
Over twelve childhood years, my sister had leukemia, my mom had breast cancer, my dad had prostate and pancreatic cancer, and my sister had a recurrence of cancer. Mercifully, all of them are alive and well, but those experiences changed us all. The courage my sister and parents had battling those awful illnesses and the sacrifices my parents made whenever someone got sick inspire me every day.
I learned many lessons from those illnesses that I will bring with me to the courtroom. During my sister’s battle with leukemia, she once had a health scare that required my mom—who planned on watching my brother and me that day—to take her to the hospital. My dad, who had an important court hearing, had no choice but to bring us. During the hearing, opposing counsel—who did not know about my sister’s illness—made fun of my dad for bringing a six and eight-year-old. Thankfully, the judge (the reverent Judge Jessica Cooper) stood up against the uncivil personal attacks and admonished the opposing counsel. The way she responded showed me how crucial empathy is for a judge and civility is for a courtroom. As a judge, I will heed her lesson and ensure that all litigants are treated with the respect and compassion they deserve.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 20, 2024
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