By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

Hon. Michael Powers was sworn in as Clarence town justice July 2.

The Clarence Town Board unanimously appointed him in May to replace Hon. William Waible, who stepped down May 30. Powers will have to win a special election to keep the four-year term.

"I've known (Powers) since he got out of law school. I can't think of anyone better than him who can take over the job," said Waible, who as a sitting judge could not recommend candidates to the board.

Powers said that he had previously been asked to be a jurist on the state Court of Claims and Supreme Court, but declined those because he enjoys practicing law. Town and village justices are permitted to maintain their law practice, while all other judges cannot.

"I enjoy the types of cases I'm able to work on," the Phillips Lytle LLP partner said, citing his high-profile involvement in legal actions that led the state Thruway Authority to remove two toll barriers in Buffalo and allowed the Seneca Nation of Indians to build a casino in the city. "Those are very gratifying work, and I don't want to give those up."

Powers, whose practice focuses on commercial litigation and products-liability defense, said his firm supports his new role, but he's now "starting a little earlier and working a little later."

Joining Hon. Robert Sillars on the Clarence bench, Powers will be hearing vehicle and traffic violations, small civil claims, eviction proceedings and town-code and ordinance violations, as well as arraigning criminal matters.

Powers has implemented a 5 p.m. start time for town-court sessions, two hours earlier than has been traditional.

"It's more conducive to (families) eating dinner together and taking care of after-school activities and so they're not sitting in court until 11 at night," he said.

Interested in starting drug and youth courts modeled after those in Amherst Town Court, Powers is scheduled to meet with administrators within the 8th Judicial District to discuss the possibility.

"I don't know if Clarence has the same need (for such courts), but I'm about being proactive rather than reactive," Powers said.

A lifelong Clarence resident, Powers revived the town's little-league football program in the early 1990s and helped establish the Greenspace Preservation Project and Clarence Memorial Park.

After serving 26 years on the bench, Waible said it was time for him to start relaxing.

"I just got tired of having to be someplace at a certain time. I loved being a judge, but I just felt it was time for me to sit down and take it easy," said Waible, who turns 72 next week.

Waible also resigned as an instructor in business law at Erie Community College's South Campus, where he taught for 20 years.

He said he will keep his law license active but only handle small matters for family and friends and conduct marriage ceremonies.

"It's the only time people appear before me smiling," he said. "My wife says I like to do it because it's the only time I can give life sentences."