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SCOTUS hears pro se competency case

The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments this morning in its third Indiana case in the past six months, pondering whether defendants found competent to stand trial maintain a right to represent themselves.In its first case of the morning at 10 a.m., justices took on Indiana v. Ahmad Edwards, No. 07-208, delving into what the Sixth Amendment dictates regarding competency standards for pro se litigants. Indiana Solicitor General Thomas M. Fisher argued for the state and shared his time…

Justices split on rental restriction case

In a ruling that could be the first of its kind in the nation, a divided Indiana Supreme Court Thursday afternoon reversed a lower court’s ruling that a Kokomo subdivision’s covenant restricting rentals violated the federal Fair Housing Act because of potential racial implications.The state’s highest court has been quiet on the issue since hearing arguments in October 2006, but it simultaneously decided to grant transfer and issue an opinion in the case of Villas West II of Willowridge v. Edna…

7th Circuit panel visits Indy law school

A 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel converged on the Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis campus Tuesday to hear three appellate arguments in its’ first visit in more than a decade.

Law firms strut their mutts, names

A handful of law firms made their way to the Indianapolis Humane Society’s annual Mutt Strut on Sunday, showing off some clever team names and getting some exercise with their pets.Unofficial figures show that about 4,000 pet owners came to the 2008 event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including seven teams from Indianapolis law firms. Those firms were:•Baker & Daniels – Baker’s Dozen•Barnes & Thornburg – Barnes & Terrier•Bingham McHale – Bingham Bulldogs•Findling Garau Germano & Pennington – The Tails of…

Federal magistrate faces Senate committee

A federal magistrate nominated to become a Southern District of Indiana judge went before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday afternoon.Magistrate William Lawrence from Indianapolis faced committee members in Washington, D.C., to discuss why he should be promoted within the federal court’s ranks. President George W. Bush selected him in February to succeed Judge John D. Tinder, whom the Senate confirmed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals last year. Magistrate Lawrence was appointed in November 2002 but had worked at…

Judicial nominees submitted to governor

The St. Joseph Superior Court Judicial Nomination Commission submitted five names today to Gov. Mitch Daniels to fill an upcoming vacancy after St. Joseph Superior Judge William T. Means retires Sept. 30.

Indiana has voice in Second Amendment case

For the first time in 70 years, the U.S. Supreme Court is testing the scope of the Second Amendment and could decide what “the right to keep and bear arms” means for the 21st century.Justices will consider the question Tuesday morning in District of Columbia v. Heller, 07-290, which involves a citizen’s challenge to a Washington, D.C., law banning him from keeping a handgun in his home.At issue is to what extent the gun rights amendment to the Constitution applies to…

Committee approves Great Lakes bill

The Indiana Senate’s Energy and Environmental Affairs Committee Wednesday unanimously approved Senate Bill 45, which endorses Indiana’s involvement with the Great Lakes Compact.The compact would help determine across-the-board regulations of the use and security of valuable waterways that make up 20 percent of the world’s fresh water sources. It would include eight states that border the Great Lakes: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Currently, each state has its own regulations.The waterways were…

Settlement may be largest of its kind: State agency resolves federal lawsuit that began with legal malpractice claim

An Indianapolis law firm has been holding its breath for two years. Ever since getting hit with a potentially devastating $17.9 million jury verdict on a legal malpractice claim in state court, the 45-year-old law firm Fillenwarth Dennerline Groth & Towe hasn’t been able to put the focus on its daily client business without acknowledging that dark storm cloud hovering overhead. Now, the storm cloud has dissolved. In what may be the state’s largest-ever liquidation return of its kind, the Indiana…

Magistrate up for nomination vote

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Thursday morning on whether a federal magistrate in Indianapolis should be elevated to district judge for the Southern District of Indiana.A nomination vote for Magistrate William Lawrence is on the committee’s agenda for the 10 a.m. meeting. The Indianapolis magistrate, who’s been on the bench since 2002, went before the Senate committee in early May for his confirmation hearing. The president had selected him in February for the seat.If affirmed by the…

Test run for SCOTUS arguments

An Indiana case goes up to the U.S. Supreme Court in the final week of March to determine whether a man who’s been found competent to stand trial is competent to represent himself in those court proceedings.Before that happens, though, the defense team representing the Indianapolis man is at the University of Illinois College of Law in Chicago getting a test run today in a mock argument of Indiana v. Ahmad Edwards, No. 07-208, which will go before the nation’s highest court…

Indy lawyer gets good news from China quake

The earthquake that devastated so much of southwestern China this month hit close to home for Baker & Daniels attorney Calvin Ding. Ding, who focuses on international law, has a 9-year-old cousin who was in a school leveled by the 8.0-magnitude quake. The school was in Dujiangyan, a city near the epicenter in Sichuan province. Ding got a call last week to inform him that, aside from scrapes and bruises, the girl was OK. Yin Ding managed to crawl out of…

Fishers company loses Marilyn Monroe suit

An intellectual property licensing firm in Fishers has lost a federal lawsuit involving iconic images of the late actress Marilyn Monroe and the right of publicity.

Suspended attorney gets 3 more months

An Indianapolis attorney is getting one last warning from the Indiana Supreme Court before being suspended indefinitely from practicing law.Attorney Wilburn G. Lowry of Marion County received an additional 90 days on his suspension handed down nearly a year ago, with the court specifically noting in its Jan. 11, 2008, order that “any future suspension for failure to meet CLE or dues requirements shall result in an indefinite suspension.”In the order In the Matter of Contempt of the Supreme Court of…

Court sanctions Allen County judge

The Indiana Supreme Court has suspended Allen Superior Judge Kenneth R. Scheibenberger for three days without pay as part of an agreement to resolve a judicial misconduct action.

Court rules on environmental cleanup case

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the statute of limitations on a claim for contribution toward cleanup costs doesn’t begin until the owner is ordered to clean up the property, regardless of whether the owner should have known about the contamination earlier. The issue in Richard U. Pflanz and Delores J. Pflanz v. Merrill Foster, individually, Merrill Foster d/b/a/ Friendly Foster’s Service, and Sunoco Inc. (R&M),  No. 36S01-0710-CV-425, is when the 10-year statute of limitations began on a claim for…

7th Circuit affirms arbitration award

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court’s confirmation of an arbitration award, but it denied the plaintiff recovery of attorney fees and costs because he will be reimbursed those under the terms of the arbitration agreement.

Law firm gives first pro bono award

A recent graduate of Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington has been given the first Terry and Judy Albright Pro Bono and Public Interest Award. The law firm Baker & Daniels has sponsored the award in honor of the couple. Alex Kornya received the award for the significant work he’s done in pro bono and public interest areas. Kornya served as a student advisor and co-director of the Protective Order Project and worked with other anti-domestic violence organizations. He also…

Judge takes on death penalty decision

In the week ahead, an Evansville judge could be the first Hoosier jurist to hand down a death sentence since state law changed in 2002. Vanderburgh Circuit Judge Carl Heldt is scheduled to conduct a sentencing hearing Friday morning for Daniel Ray Wilkes, who jurors convicted last month on three counts of murder for the April 2006 slayings of an Evansville mother and her two daughters, ages 13 and 8.While they agreed on the guilt phase of the trial, jurors came…