IndyBar: Behind the Blog — Meet Marcia Oddi

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Every year the Indianapolis Bar Association’s Women & the Law Division considers honoring one woman from the Indianapolis legal community with the Antoinette Dakin Leach Award. This year’s recipient is Marcia Oddi from the Indiana Law Blog. Oddi’s work with the Law Blog has spanned for 14 years and has had an important impact both informing her readers of news throughout Indiana and updating them on court cases on a daily occurrence.

Oddi’s words and blog may be well-known to most in Indiana, but the woman behind the scenes, for the most part, likes to stay out of the spotlight. Get to know Oddi and learn more about her journey to where she is today. We look forward to seeing you and honoring her at the Antoinette Dakin Leach Award Luncheon on November 29 at the Skyline Club. Reserve your seat today at Indybar.org/events.

The Path to the Profession

After attending Indiana University and majoring in Zoology, Oddi worked at the Museum of Natural History in Chicago assisting with research of snail shells. While this was a promising future, she knew it wasn’t going to be a full-time career. She moved to Indianapolis and became a research assistant in the genetics department at Riley Children’s Hospital. Again, while promising, Oddi moved her career to the Indiana Legislature where she was part of the first internship class. Oddi edited Indiana legal rules and worked to learn computer coding. She eventually became the head of coding for the Indiana legislature, where she made rules searchable for attorneys and the public across the state.

The Beginning of the Indiana Law Blog

The blog “How Appealing” by Howard J. Bashman was the first of its kind. Oddi took this same strategy of updating readers on a semi-daily basis about local Indiana news. For the first three years of the Indiana Law Blog, Oddi worked on this venture part-time while still working a full-time job. After this, the Indiana State Bar sponsored Oddi’s work with the Law Blog, allowing her to complete daily blogs and turn her attention to her website full-time. In the beginning, collecting news was easy, local newspapers were still locally owned and added to the news. Now, as newspapers are bought up by larger organizations, and there are fewer reporters, valuable, local, information is lost. Oddi still continues her research, but finds it harder to report, not only because local news across the state is harder to find, but because she is currently unfunded.

After she lost funding, the Indiana Law Blog website went down, but Oddi strategized and developed a new, weekly newsletter format for the Indiana Law Blog. Since developing the newsletter six weeks ago, she has over 600 subscribers.

Getting to Know Marcia

Source of Inspiration:

Virginia Dill McCarty, the second recipient of the Antoinette Dakin Leach Award, worked in the Office of Indiana Attorney General John J. Dillon. She then was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve as U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, making her the first woman in the nation to serve in this capacity.

Currently Reading:

Oddi, an avid reader, is currently reading “The Last Hack” by Christopher Brookmyre and “The Defection of A.J. Lewinter”. She continues her love of learning and finds computers and technology intriguing. Currently, she is teaching herself new coding techniques.

Hobbies:

Oddi designed, created and sold architectural stained glass windows for a number of years. She has both a wood carving and glass beveling studio in the basement of her home. Currently, she makes handmade leather handbags.

Favorite Quote:

Found on Indiana University’s campus, this quote from Abraham Lincoln has continued to inspire Oddi in all her work throughout the years. “I will study and get ready and someday my chance will come.”•
 

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