I have often heard it said that having children keeps you young, keeps you in touch with your own childhood and it helps keep your imagination alive. Whoever said that has never met Charlie Bell. Charlie Bell is my 4-year old, and if feeling 136 years old is feeling young, then yes, he makes me feel very, very, young every single day.
As I sat in the Supreme Court of Indiana two weeks ago at the IndyBar’s third-annual Memorial Service, I got to thinking about one of my real friends who we had recently lost. He was my “little brother” James and he had always given it to me straight.
At the IndyBar, we have hundreds of volunteers who serve our members, promote justice and enhance the legal profession on a daily basis and rarely get a thank you worthy of their efforts. IndyBar will seek to honor at least some of them on Nov. 13.
I don’t like to brag, but I’m going to go ahead and say it: I’m undefeated. As head coach of a 4-year-old soccer team, I’ve never lost a single game. Of course, it helps that I’m in a recreational league where keeping track of wins and losses is forbidden.
Larry Landis gave me “some skills” and those skills were just enough to help my client in my first criminal trial. Larry has trained thousands of law students and lawyers, and as he goes into retirement, we should remember that when someone like Larry takes the time to teach another attorney, the true recipient of that training is a client and a member of our community.
I would like to challenge you to make good on your “let’s do lunch” rhetoric and actually do lunch with someone. Fortunately, the IndyBar has the perfect opportunity for you to pull this off.
I have now lived slightly over half of my life as an American citizen, but my immigration story is far less heroic than the ones in the paper recently, and my path to citizenship was simpler. I'm an attorney who will never take being a citizen for granted.
Judge Patricia Gifford was a true leader of the entire legal community and a pioneer for women attorneys. She was recognized several times by the IndyBar, receiving the Silver Gavel Award in 2008 for her exemplary service on the bench and the Antoinette Dakin Leach Award, which honors trailblazing women in the profession, in 2006. Judges and lawyers share their remembrances.
The IndyBar is committed to making the practice of law more enjoyable by fostering a continued respect and trust among its lawyers and by seeking to promote the fair and efficient resolution of disputes
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