Planning for the unexpected

August 30, 2010
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We make plans to get to a safe place when there’s bad weather. We know where the emergency exits are in case of a fire. We (hopefully) have backed up our important files in case there’s damage to our office. But do we have a plan for a random act of violence?

I’ve written about disaster plans for firms a few times in this blog after firms experienced fires. Some firms aren’t prepared in case a fire happens, but some are. I wonder if firms (and businesses in general) have a plan in place in case someone decides to start shooting at the law firm’s building.

This happened last week at Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis, when the husband of a former partner sat atop a parking garage next to the firm, randomly shooting a gun before taking his own life. Two of those bullets struck the firm’s outside walls.

The firm alerted employees by e-mail of the situation and advised everyone to move to the interior of the building.

Companies post signs where the exits are and tell employees where to go in case of a tornado, but how often are we told what to do in case a situation like the one that happened last week occurs? Unfortunately, we live in a world where you can’t predict human behavior and don’t know when someone might decide to come into your office with a weapon or be sitting just a few feet away taking shots at your building.

Has your firm addressed a plan for these types of emergency situations?

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  1. Judge Roger B. Cosbey is unethical and bias toward African American who seeks justice in Title VII claims. He disrespected and used his authority to attempt to intimidate me into taking an unfair settlement and when I refused he proceeded to get my case dismissed and to deny me my Constitutional and Civil Rights. He disobeying several rules of law; specifically, by ruling on summary judgment motions against the Fed. R. Civ. P., without authority of Judge William C. Lee, without consent of the attorneys, and with conspiracy to commit “fraud on the court,” as he conspired with my former attorney. He proved to me that he is bias, unethical, unfair and unfit to be reappointed. In my opinion, he should be disbarred in 2013, for committing fraud on the court, which would make him ineligible for reinstatement in 2014. See docket 3:07 cv 629 where he rules on dispositive motions, knowing magistrates are not vested with that power (especially without consent), grants the defendant an unconscionable number of extensions, accepts my former attorney request for extension for dispositive motion knowing he was working with the opposition, and unbelievably grants the defendant another extension after he requested an extension after he missed the deadline. I know another attorney filed charges against him for bias in race discrimination case(s). I know what he did in my case before he voluntarily recused himself, I just do not know how many other innocent people have been stripped of their rights because of him. I say shame on him and no more of the same.

  2. they are pushing these cases against lawyers too far. thought-crime.

  3. vagueness cannot challenged, so let's write all laws vaguely and throw the constitution out the window.Even if the court is operating under a particular law, if they don't it they will change it to their liking. What a joke!!!

  4. Two convictions becomes one conviction with exactly the same sentence, only it is not clear wheter or not that sentence will be 18 months, 120 months or 138 months. Actually if the guns were in a home, whether or not they were his, he is protected under the 2nd amendment. Jurors need to learn the law and the constitution before judging others. The cour5ts need to do this as well.

  5. With all due respect, Rick, I think you probably would be making a mistake by going to law school. The job market for attorneys is so saturated, you may well find yourself unemployed and with a lot of debt. You mention law would be a good supplement to your skills. True. But employers unfortunately don't value that. You will find that a law degree may well pigeonhole you into an attorney slot and limit career options. If you have a good job now I would hold onto that. As an attorney, you may well end up making less with the aforementioned debt.

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