Supreme Court creates civil legal services commission
Providing access to civil legal services for low-income Hoosiers will be the focus of a commission established by order of the Indiana Supreme Court.
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Attorney who staged own shooting pleads to misdemeanor
A southern Indiana lawyer who rigged a shotgun at a state park that he used to shoot himself in the back has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and will receive a suspended sentence while avoiding a felony conviction.
Parental termination remanded over substitute magistrate’s findings
A father’s due process rights were violated when a juvenile court stripped him of parental rights based on findings of facts prepared by a magistrate who did not hear from and observe witnesses, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. The magistrate took over the case after another magistrate, who had conducted the evidentiary hearing in his case, resigned.
Jury rulings stand in U.S. Steel carbon monoxide poisoning case
A jury’s determinations in a case brought by a contractor who suffered severe carbon monoxide poisoning working at the U.S. Steel plant in Gary were affirmed Wednesday by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
COA affirms ruling clearing consulting doctor in death case claiming negligence
A trial court properly granted summary judgment to a doctor defending a negligence case brought by the estate of a man who died, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, finding no doctor-patient relationship existed.
Appeals court upholds allowing represented defendant to argue pro se
A criminal defendant represented by counsel who unsuccessfully argued on his own to withdraw a guilty plea to a Class A felony charge of dealing cocaine had a burden of proving manifest injustice, which he failed to do, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
Tax Court affirms assessments of Shelbyville CVS store
The assessment of a Shelbyville CVS store is lower than the county wanted, higher than the drugstore chain wanted, but just right, the Indiana Tax Court concluded.
Commission recommends 1-year suspension for lawyer due to email criticism of judge
Indianapolis attorney and blogger Paul K. Ogden should be suspended from the bar for a year without automatic reinstatement for private communications criticizing a judge, the Indiana Disciplinary Commission recommended Monday.
Bell & Gaerte: 3 things to know about legal advertising
The Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct define the term “advertising” broadly. Ind. Professional Conduct Rule 7.2(a) defines “advertising” as “any manner of communication partly or entirely intended or expected to promote the purchase or use of professional services.” (Emphasis added) Therefore, these rules cover communications on your website, blog and even social media. Regardless of whether or not you advertise on billboards, you likely need to pay attention to the advertising rules. Here are three things to know about legal advertising.
Arbitrator’s unavailability will not stop arbitration from starting
The Indiana Court of Appeals has found an arbitration agreement’s “plain language” trumps a woman’s attempt to stop the alternative dispute resolution process.
Special task force going word-by-word through ADR rules
Although the privacy of mediation has been affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court, the possibility that confidential conversations could become public highlighted the need to clarify and possibly change the state’s rules for alternative dispute resolution.
Mediating Justices: Former justices find that ADR is often a fertile field for life after the court
After years deciding disputes in the state’s highest court, two former justices now devote at least part of their practices to helping feuding parties find their own resolutions.
Former Indiana Supreme Court Justices Ted Boehm and Myra Selby each count corporate clients in their mediation and alternative dispute resolution portfolios, Boehm with Van Winkle Baten Dispute Resolution and Selby with Ice Miller LLP.
Indiana Judges Association: Are changes needed to ‘change of judge’ rule?
Marion Superior Judge David Dreyer discusses the "Change of Judge" rule in this issue of Indiana Lawyer.
Gun seizure case presents first impression issue
A man whose 51 guns were ordered seized by a judge who determined him dangerous after his behavior alarmed Bloomington police near the site where missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer was last seen is asking the Indiana Supreme Court to return his firearms.
Battle over RTW heats up in courts
When Lake Superior Court Judge John Sedia handed Indiana’s right-to-work law a pink slip, conventional wisdom held that the Indiana Supreme Court would overturn that decision and put the law back to work.
Volokh: Case will have ramifications beyond Indiana
First Amendment scholar and UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh knows a thing or two about blogging and free speech, as namesake of the popular legal blog, The Volokh Conspiracy.
Brewington case focuses First Amendment attention on Indiana
Daniel Brewington is either a poster child for the wrongful prosecution of free speech or a man whose online rants about a judge constituted criminal threats. It all depends on your point of view.
Longest-serving Lake Superior judge takes leave
The longest-serving Lake Superior judge is stepping aside, at least temporarily, effective today, according to an order of the Indiana Supreme Court.
Stopped traffic snarls purse snatcher’s getaway scheme
Although the getaway car moved only a few feet after being stopped by police, a man in the passenger seat still was properly convicted of resisting law enforcement because he instructed the driver of the car to “take off.”
Stable owner liable for unemployment tax, appeals court affirms
The owner of a Zionsville horse stable lost her appeal of a determination that she owed unemployment insurance tax for employees because they performed non-agricultural work.