The Closer: A Q&A with Leslie Smith, an M&A attorney at Dentons
Along with the need to close deals and satisfy clients, Smith said the most important lesson she’s learned so far is to maintain kindness in corporate law.

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Along with the need to close deals and satisfy clients, Smith said the most important lesson she’s learned so far is to maintain kindness in corporate law.
Earlier this month, at the strong encouragement of a hearing panel, the parties agreed on a mediator to try to help them settle the disciplinary case against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and avoid a public hearing.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Matthew Joseph Dirig v. State of Indiana
25A-CR-119
Criminal. Affirms Matthew Dirig’s conviction in Huntington Circuit Court of Level 1 felony neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Finds no reversible error occurred in the admission of the evidence. Also finds the state presented sufficient evidence to support Dirig’s conviction. Finally, finds the erroneous jury instructions are not reversible error under the fundamental error doctrine. Attorney for appellant: Stacy Uliana. Attorneys for appellee: Attorney General Todd Rokita, Jodi Stein.
In 2022, Elmer Gordon Waggoner contracted COVID-19 and, while hospitalized, developed severe bedsores and died from sepsis. His estate sued the medical providers, who argue they were immune from liability due to the state’s COVID emergency health order.
He was arrested on suspicion of sending an online threat via a social media application that was related to a lockdown and shooting at the military college in Maryland last week.
Publicly traded RCI Hospitality owns and operates more than 60 clubs and sports bars and restaurants across the country, including PT’s Showclub Indianapolis, at 7916 Pendleton Pike.
Local bans on wind, solar and other energy projects are giving Indiana a bad reputation, Energy and Natural Resources Secretary Suzanne Jaworowski said Tuesday. She plans to reward those open for business.
The 22-year-old man now charged with the crime was texting with his romantic partner and acknowledging he was the shooter, court documents revealed.
The dismissals highlight the risks of Trump’s emergency surge strategy: an unprecedented flood of arrests that has produced headline-grabbing numbers but faltered under judicial scrutiny.
The charge means Tyler Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Kirk last week at Utah Valley University in Orem.
The 3-2 ruling affirmed a jury’s finding that Michael Fergerson was not negligent in the accident which killed him even though he had been taken to the hospital earlier in the day after being found intoxicated on the sidewalk.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Paternity: J.O’S. v. K.S.
25A-JP-761
Juvenile paternity. Reverses Hancock Circuit Court Judge R. Scott Sirk’s order awarding J.O’S. a restricted amount of parenting time with his child, with a path towards eventually receiving parenting time in accordance with the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines and also ordered the father to pay $941 per week in child support. Finds the juvenile court’s findings that could potentially support a finding of endangerment were largely unsupported by the record and the court’s order is therefore in contravention of statutory authority, which again requires specific findings of endangerment. Remand with instructions for the juvenile court to either enter an order containing sufficient findings to support a parenting-time restriction or that does not contain such restrictions and awards the father parenting time in accordance with the guidelines. Also finds that the juvenile court abused its discretion in setting the father’s child-support obligation at $941 per week. Remands with instructions that the juvenile court re-calculate the father’s child-support obligation based on the parties’ respective incomes at the time of the subsequent proceedings. Attorneys for appellant: Alexander Moseley, Adrian Deneen. No attorney listed for appellee.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Brookman sentenced Troy Ogburn, 44, to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
Gov. Mike Braun said state legislators probably will come around to the idea of mid-decade redistricting. “I think eventually we’ll get there,” he added.
The working group met regularly throughout the summer to draft a set of recommendations, but most of the work was done behind closed doors, setting up questions about its compliance with transparency laws.
Judge Gregory Carro said that although there is no doubt that the killing was not an ordinary street crime, New York law doesn’t consider something terrorism simply because it was motivated by ideology.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Florida, says the newspaper’s coverage of the leadup to the 2024 election is “part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump.”
Citing an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, the Georgia Court of Appeals in December ruled that Willis and her office could not continue to prosecute the case.
The funding request, which is summarized in the agenda for Wednesday’s State Budget Committee meeting, says the agency needs the funding to prepare the correctional facility for ICE detainees.
The lawsuit alleges the university violated the First Amendment when it terminated funding for student workers at a local non-profit organization that supports LGBTQ+ individuals.