Retired Krieg DeVault partner Calvin Bellamy remembers exactly when he got his first presidential pin. “I know specifically – 1956. My father ran Memorial Day parades in Hammond for many years,” he recalled. That day sparked a fascination and hobby that Bellamy has cherished for the past 64 years.
New Indiana Trial Lawyers Association President Fred Schultz is looking at a challenging year ahead but seeing opportunities. The group’s most recent challenge was organizing a gathering for a key annual event last month in light of social distancing due to COVID-19.
Police and protesters negotiated a truce and walked together on Meridian Street on Monday night following a tense standoff that lasted about 30 minutes near the Governor’s Residence on Meridian Street.
Lawyers and law firms are assessing the damage and extending offers of aid after weekend protests turned violent in Indianapolis and other cities around the state. The protests and violent outbursts in Indiana and across the country were sparked by outrage over the death of George Floyd after a Minneapolis police office knelt on his neck.
Chief probation officer Christine Kerl and her team from the juvenile division of the Marion Superior Court Probation Department fanned out to Dollar Tree stores across Indianapolis earlier this spring and loaded their carts with items for families to enjoy together during these trying and tiring times.
Extra hours away from the outside world because of stay-at-home orders offered Indiana’s judges and attorneys at least one positive thing during the coronavirus-pandemic – time. Whether spending time with family or using quiet moments of solitude to revive rusty creative skills, many legal professionals are finding the joy and peace of everyday tasks in the midst of uncertain times.
Suspended Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill will be reinstated to the practice of law June 17, and he’s said he’s using the time in the interim to “reflect on lessons learned.” His chief deputy, Aaron Negangard, is overseeing the office while Hill serves his suspension, but a lawsuit filed May 21 challenges Hill’s authority to make that appointment.
Though there have been some technical hiccups, lawyers report generally positive experiences with remote appellate oral arguments. Even so, some advocates say the most impactful arguments are made in person.
A pair of Indianapolis attorneys have found their passion for auto racing made working on such issues a natural fit for their practices.
The May 2020 Indiana Bar Admission Ceremony was historic in several respects. Aside from taking place during a global pandemic, it was Indiana’s first virtual bar admission and the first where every admittee — all 105 — participated.
As longtime Southern District of Indiana clerk Laura Briggs stepped back from her post to pursue an adventure in retirement, she said saying goodbye in the middle of a public health crisis is interesting and hard. “It will also be hard for me not to be involved in something that is so integral for the functioning of American society,” she said.
Big data is growing in importance, and corporate legal departments, despite being slower to adapt initially, are increasingly utilizing data analytics as part of their practices, according to a 2019 report. But despite all the hype, big data, by itself, cannot do a thing.
Finding Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill guilty of misdemeanor battery and two related violations of the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct, the Indiana Supreme Court has ordered him to serve a 30-day suspension.
A one-time Jasper County judge is accused of multiple counts of attorney misconduct related to his representation of two elderly clients’ estates, potentially involving the misappropriation of hundreds of thousands of dollars to his law firm, an office employee and a family member after the clients died.
Like the rest of the world, the judiciary has been walking a tightrope for the last six weeks, trying to keep courts open while protecting judges, staff, lawyers, litigants and the public from COVID-19 exposure.
Law firms have been pivoting to marshal the resources needed to answer the questions clients and nonclients have about the coronavirus emergency through websites, emails, podcasts, webinars and more. The topics covered range from government initiatives such as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the Federal Reserve’s business loan program to unemployment benefits, force majeure clauses and cybersecurity.
Indianapolis attorney Lisa Hiday started backpacking when she was a teenager. She’s traveled the country on a variety of treks ranging from shorter backpacking trips in Utah’s Zion to summiting Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro in the middle of a blizzard. Her teenage son joins her on many treks, following in her adventurous footsteps.
Nearly every legal function has transitioned to a virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic, and mediation is no exception. But the concept of online dispute resolution was gaining traction even before “coronavirus” was an everyday word.
For students at law schools across the country, the global pandemic forced a breakneck shift from in-person classes and on-campus activities to distance learning as colleges and universities closed buildings and dorms to slow the spread of coronavirus.
On Halloween 2019, a constitutional argument against the process for challenging patents not only convinced a federal appellate court but also inspired the judges to offer their own fix to the statute.