Even after longtime attorney Ewing Rabb Emison Jr. had finished his service as a pivotal president of the Indiana State Bar
Association more than two decades ago, his legacy has inspired generations of attorneys and will continue to do so in the
future.
Emison
That is the clear message from Indiana’s legal community, which is reflecting on the retired Vincennes attorney’s
life and legal career following his death Sept, 1. Emison was 85.
Lawyers throughout the state are honoring the memory of a man they say often talked about how lawyers ought to hold themselves
out to the public and strive to be ethical, not only for the profession and themselves but also for the community and state.
“He was an ambassador – an ambassador of good will, an ambassador for the bar and for lawyers in Indiana,”
said Carmel attorney and mediator Samuel Chic Born II, a friend of Emison’s since the early ’70s. “I am
proud to have been his friend, and I am better for his friendship.”
The last descendant in Knox County of a pioneer family that arrived in 1804, Emison followed in his ancestors’ footsteps
in the legal profession and legislative arena. His father and grandfather had become lawyers without attending law school,
and his ancestor Thomas Emison was on the original committee that had selected Indianapolis as the site for the state capitol.
Rabb Emison’s obituary noted that he was most proud that in the past century, the three generations of his family had
prepared and lobbied for legislation in the areas of flood control, conservation, aviation, and historic preservation.
He joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 and served on active duty during World War II for three years. He was called back to active
duty with the Navy for 18 months during the Korean War, and was notified in 1962 to expect another recall, which didn’t
occur. Emison graduated from DePauw University before attending and graduating in 1950 from what’s now Indiana University
Maurer School of Law – Bloomington.
But in the legal profession, he spent his entire career with the same firm – now Emison Doolittle Kolb & Roellgen
in Vincennes – that he joined to practice with his father upon graduating from law school.
Serving as ISBA president from 1986 to 1987, Emison is most widely known for his work on expanding diversity for the organization
and legal community. His efforts led to the creation of what is now the Racial Diversity in the Legal Profession committee
to promote the employment and advancement of minority lawyers. The association created the Rabb Emison Award in his honor
and gives it each year to an attorney who best serves the goal of assisting minority lawyers. In 2003 he received the American
Bar Association’s Spirit of Excellence Award for his contributions.
“He was one of those unsung heroes for minority lawyers and getting more participation for the ISBA,” said Bingham
McHale partner Rod Morgan, the ISBA’s first African-American president who finishes his term next month. “He was
a mentor, fine lawyer, and a friend. He was on the cutting edge of things as far as diversity, and Rabb was always there as
a champion.”
Evansville attorney Wesley Bowers interviewed Emison for the ISBA oral history project, which has been compiled into a transcript
made available to the public through the association and Indiana Historical Society. Bowers interviewed Emison about his three
stints in the Navy, as well as his family’s history in the legal profession.
Emison was well-known for the more than 50 columns he’d written for the association’s publication “Res
Gestae” during and after his time as ISBA president. In his interview with Bowers, Emison said his columns were not
so much about the law but about the behavior of attorneys who practice it. The columns were recently compiled into a book
that he self-published and that the ISBA is helping to distribute.
Past ISBA president Bill Jonas in South Bend said, “Rabb Emison was a terrific lawyer, a gifted writer, and a dynamic
leader. His efforts with the ISBA, especially in the advocacy of greater diversity, were truly remarkable. He embodied all
the best of what it means to be an Indiana lawyer. On top of this, he was as fine a man as I have ever known. You could always
count on Rabb for a wonderful story … usually one that illustrated in his uniquely Hoosier way the point he was making
with you as he gently persuaded you to do what was right.”
Born, also a past ISBA president, described his friend as both a gentle and thinking soul, made clear by not only his legal
writing but also how he always gave someone the benefit of the doubt. Born said that even though Emison received recognition
for his diversity and civil rights efforts, that’s not why he did it; rather it was because of a belief that he could,
and did, improve the human condition.
Retired Lafayette lawyer Russ Hart, who served as ISBA president the year following Emison, said his longtime friend’s
“Res Gestae” writings ought to be required reading for all new lawyers as well as for longtime practitioners.
“Rabb was a teacher all the time, and he was teaching lawyers every time he spoke,” Hart said. “His word
was his bond, and he wrote a lot like he spoke … as a plain person who was very good at expressing himself. If Rabb
was in favor of a particular subject, you knew it was a good thing to be aware of yourself.”
“Rabb was a modest guy who didn’t strive for publicity,” Hart said.
Emison is survived by his wife of 57 years, Kathleen, and his daughters Susan Emison of Louisville and Anne Emison Wishard
(Gordon) of Indianapolis.
Funeral services were in Vincennes, and Emison’s family asked that memorial contributions be made to the Grouseland
Foundation, 3 W. Scott St., Vincennes, IN 47591 or online at grouselandfoundation.org for an endowment to sustain the mansion.•
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G. Michael Witte letter states he's suspended for three years. The case that got him suspended is identical to my estate case, including havin the Late Judge Deiter recuse himself because Newman had a conflict of interest with the judge. His Modus Operandi is nearly identical.
SIGNED BY G. MICHAEL WITTE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY INDIANA SUPREME COURT DISCIPLINARY COMMISSION DATED MAY 17, 2012.
Your 6th complaint against Lawrence T. Newman filed on 4/12/2012. On 1/31/12, the Indiana Supreme Court entered an order suspending Lawrence T. Newman’s law license for a period of three years. More important, even after three years, Lawrence Todd Newman will not get his license back unless and until he goes through a separate proceeding to prove that he is fit to practice law. This is not an easy process, and the burden is upon Lawrence T. Newman to prove by clear and convincing evidence that he is fit to return to practice.
Because of the length of Lawrence T. Newman’s license suspension and the fact he may never succeed in getting his law license reinstated, we are not opening an investigation file at this time.
Should Lawrence T. Newman seek reinstatement in the future, we will open your file and ask Lawrence T. Newman to address your grievance as part of his burden of proving fitness. We have attempted to notify Lawrence T. Newman that this will be required of him.
It may disappoint you to hear that we will be doing nothing on your grievance at this time. However, the most our office can ever accomplish is to take away a lawyer’s license to practice law. We have already done that, albeit as a result of misconduct in cases other than your own. It makes better sense for our office to focus its limited resources on cases where the lawyers are still actively practicing law.
Is there any justice in the Marion County Superior Court Civil Division? I am the unfortunate victim of a retaliatory lawsuit brought by Lawrence Todd Newman, the attorney from an estate case on which I worked as a unsupervised personal representative in 2006. The contract agreement for that case stated that the estate would be responsible for all attorney fees, but Newman refused to close the nearly insolvent estate when my duties were complete and his fees were paid. Instead, he tried to extort additional attorney fees from me by keeping the case open to address a wrongful death claim, despite the estate’s heir’s lack of interest in pursuing it and an expert doctor’s opinion that it would not be worth doing so. He also knowingly deceived me into believing that a “closing statement” was needed to close the estate, even though this requirement had actually been waived by the estate’s heir. The heir’s attorney filed a motion to have Newman removed from the case. After the court closed the probate case with prejudice (barred from further litigation) Newman illegally re-opened the case in another courtroom.
As a result of complaints filed against him for these and similar actions, Newman has been suspended from practicing law for 18 months by the Indiana Disciplinary Commission. In retaliation, he has filed suit against me demanding additional attorney fees for the 2006 estate case, despite the fact that I made no agreement stating that I would pay any fees from my own assets on behalf of the estate. This lawsuit violates the rules of ethics, due process of law, and equal protection of law. Newman has been allowed to file ridiculous pleadings at an alarming rate and has been supported by a biased court system. Judge Carroll refuses to recuse himself from the case despite the fact that, by his own admission, he intends to grant Newman sanctions regardless of the evidence. When my former counsel discovered that the previous judge on the case, Judge Sosin, was a long-time close friend of Newman’s family, Judge Carroll commented for the record during a hearing that Judge Sosin in so many words “he finds the door “was weak for recusing himself from the case as a result of this obvious conflict of interest.
This case is a public policy issue. Statutes put in place to protect unsupervised personal representatives in probate matters are being ignored. This case will affect thousands of individuals involved in probating and the personal representation of estates. Justice cannot possibly be served as long as a biased judge is allowed to defend a “vexatious litigant,” as Newman has been described by Judge Logan in Bradenton, Florida court. If there is any justice in the Marion County Superior Court Civil Division, this case against me will be dismissed with prejudice.
Every affront to decency and every style adopted by criminals is not per se a constituttional violation. Only fools believe or espouse that.
This was an unnecessary change in law, a needless fiddling with a tax that impacted very very few hoosiers, but one that erodes a tax base benefitting very many hoosiers. Just because some people wanted to chalk up a "tax cut" on their legislative brag-list, and didnt give a fig about replacing the revenue any other way. Really stupid. I am a republican my whole life and this just shames me like hell. I have to use a fake name over this because I know my fellow republicans are all brain washed over tax cutting too.