Ken Nunn, one of Indiana’s most prominent personal injury attorneys, dies at 85

Ken Nunn, one of Indiana’s most recognizable legal figures, died Wednesday morning, his family confirmed on social media. He was 85.

A Jeffersonville native, Nunn built a personal injury firm based in Bloomington that has roughly 90 employees and 12 attorneys after a tough start in life that included briefly dropping out of high school and spending time in jail for theft.

He said that the work he did to turn his life around fueled his determination to fiercely represent accident victims in cases. The Ken Nunn Law Office reports it has helped more than 40,000 people following injuries.

“Ken started off with no money as a boy, and not knowing if he had a proper home to go to after school. Ken built everything he had from the ground up, working up to 60 hours a week his whole life,” his grandson, Kenny Nunn, posted on Instagram late Wednesday. “He was the toughest fighter I knew and cared for his clients and the people around him every day.”

Nunn is survived by his daughter, Vicky Nunn; his son, David Nunn, and his two grandchildren, Katie Nunn and Jimmy Nunn. Vicky Nunn, who joined the Ken Nunn Law Office in 2001, will take over as the firm’s leader, according to a post on the office’s Facebook page.

Ken Nunn attributed his turnaround to his wife, Leah Kay Nunn, who died in 2022. Nunn told The Indiana Lawyer that when they met in high school, she told him that to date her, he had to come to class, do his homework, make passing grades and graduate. So he did it.

“She changed me. She made a new Ken,” he said on The Indiana Lawyer Podcast earlier this year. “The old Ken was a loser.”

After graduating from high school, Nunn earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Indiana University and remained a dedicated Hoosiers basketball fan. He donated $2 million in 2015 for the renovation of Assembly Hall, where a new south entry plaza was named Ken Nunn Champions Plaza. The renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall opened in 2016.

Nunn said he decided to become an attorney after seeing “To Kill a Mockingbird” at the Princess Theater in Bloomington. He visited IU’s law school in Bloomington—now the Michael S. Maurer School of Law—the next day to find out what he needed to do to make that happen.

Nunn graduated from law school in 1967 and began practicing criminal law, representing defendants in felony and misdemeanor cases. But in 1985, he switched to civil law—in part, he said, because criminal defendants often didn’t pay.

Nunn took to TV to find clients, making him a household name. “Usually, I’ll get about 300 phone calls a day. I’m on TV 500 times a day. I win 98% of the time,” he told The Lawyer.

“I’ve been lucky,” he said. “I’ve been very, very lucky.”