An Indianapolis plaintiff attorney has received the most votes from colleagues to join the Indiana Judicial Nominating and Judicial Qualifications commissions, and he’ll take a spot on a seven-person panel in January.

William E. Winingham Jr., a name partner at Wilson Kehoe & Winingham who’s been practicing since 1979 with a focus on plaintiffs’ civil litigation work, was chosen by other attorneys in the 19-county 2nd judicial district. He replaces Indianapolis defense attorney John Trimble, who finishes his three-year term at the end of this year.

The clerk’s office took more than two hours Wednesday after the ballot submission deadline to count the votes, according to Appellate Clerk Kevin Smith. Ballots were mailed out Oct. 12, and the deadline for submission of votes was 4 p.m. Wednesday. Approximately 2,196 ballots of the 7,092 sent out were returned. The 31 percent return rate topped the 25.4 percent response in 2007.

Winingham received 672 votes, while attorney Jan M. Carroll received 543, Kathy L. Osborn received 399, Joel M. Schumm received 310, and David R. Hennessy received 272 votes.

Winningham now becomes one voice on the commissions, which are chaired by Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard. Winingham joins two other lawyers chosen by colleagues and three non-attorneys appointed by the governor. The commissions not only review applicants for the states’ appellate courts, as has been done twice this year, but members also review potential judicial misconduct actions and handle other judicial qualifications and disciplinary issues, such as the senior judge list.