Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 7, 1993                   TAG: 9308070187
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FORMER SENATOR `BUZZ' EMICK BECOMES JUDGE

Emick retired from the General Assembly two years ago after two decades in which he gained a reputation as a political maverick.

The circuit court judges who oversee the 25th judicial district appointed Emick to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Robert Culpepper. Culpepper moved to Charlotte, N.C., where he will become a mediator for corporate disputes.

Emick's appointment goes into effect Monday.

But he doesn't expect to take the bench until early in September, because he still has to dispose of open cases from his law practice and sell his interest in his law firm.

Emick is a partner in the Fincastle firm of Emick, Carter and Roe.

The appointment must be approved by the General Assembly when it meets early next year. Del. Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke, said he expects the legislature will approve Emick without a hitch.

"He certainly has the capabilities to make a good judge," Thomas said. "He's certainly an independent person."

"I think Buzz will be an excellent judge," said another former colleague, Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke. "He's a very good lawyer. He's got a good analytic ability. And certainly he calls them the way he sees 'em." Although, Woodrum said, as judge "he can't call them quite as loud anymore."

Emick has been serving as substitute judge for cases in the Roanoke Valley and elsewhere for the past year and a half.

He also spent nearly a year in the late 1960s filling in as a general district and juvenile and domestic relations judge. In his law practice, he has handled a wide variety of cases, including divorces and delinquency charges.

Emick has hoped for a judgeship for some time.

In January 1992, he lobbied without success for a seat on the State Corporation Commission, a job that functions much like a judgeship.

Emick will turn 54 on Sept. 17. He said he is excited about the new post, although he has been told by current judges that he should expect a period of adjustment after decades of lawyering.

"Judging is judging," he said one judge told him. "It's not the practice of law."

He will hear cases in a judicial district that stretches from Botetourt County north to Staunton.

Memo: ***CORRECTION***