Articles

LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Elizabeth Klesmith

THK Law LLP Notre Dame Law School, 2014 Who is someone who has inspired you in your career? Hopefully she doesn’t get mad at me for calling her out by name, but I’d like to model my career after Judge Cristal Brisco. She started in private practice, then worked for the city, then a university, […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Rebecca Seamands

Ice Miller LLP Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 1992 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? There being no other lawyers in my family, my first real, in-depth exposure to the legal field came through business law classes taken during undergraduate business school. Those classes piqued my interest and drove […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Cynthia A. Baker

Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law Valparaiso University School of Law, 1991 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? Even as a little girl, I was very curious about current events, law and democracy. I guess I just never stopped asking questions about those topics. When choosing a vocation, the legal […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: David McGimpsey

Dentons Bingham Greenebaum Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 1998 What makes a good lawyer/judge? Experience. Experience teaches lawyers certain valuable skills: listening, oral advocacy, etc. I don’t believe anyone is born a great lawyer, or is a great lawyer on the first day he or she is admitted to the bar. Many new lawyers […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Sarah Johnson

Kroger Gardis & Regas LLP IUPUI, 2023 If you weren’t working in legal support, what would you be doing? Had my life experiences been altered a bit, I believe I would have gone into public service. I would have been interested in being a police officer working my way to the FBI.   What makes […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Andrew Hanna

Madison County Prosecutor’s Office Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2017 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession?  Growing up, the folks I admired most were lawyers. During my time at Hanover College, I took several courses geared toward law school, and I found the intellectual exercise of the law to […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Christopher Kozak

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP Michigan State University College of Law, 2017 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? I wanted to help people. At first it was survivors of human trafficking (and I still have connections that let me do that occasionally), but in retrospect, I really just enjoy helping solve […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Leslie Craig Henderzahs

Church Church Hittle + Antrim Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 1990 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? My father and grandfather were car dealers who navigated that period in history when certain cars were defectively designed and others failed to meet standards of quality and performance. The cars simply […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Lacey Berkshire

Ice Miller LLP Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2016 If you hadn’t pursued a legal career, what would you be doing? I always had a strong interest in journalism. In college at DePauw University, I was in a media-focused honors program, wrote a weekly humor column for an online women’s magazine, interned […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Joseph Heerens

Office of Gov. Eric J. Holcomb Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 1987 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? First and foremost, I wanted to help people, and the legal profession offers so many ways to do that. Half of my career has been spent in state and local government, including two […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Roya Porter

BCforward Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, 2015 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? I did not have a legal career on my radar until I was surrounded by Black attorneys as mentors when I was an undergrad student in the Hudson and Holland Scholarship Program, which a law professor, Kevin […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Emily VanTyle

Wilson Kehoe Winingham Valparaiso University School of Law, 2016 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? In college I was unsure about what I wanted to do as a career. I had majored in political science, so additional schooling was a given. At the time, I was contemplating getting my Ph.D. or attending […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: David Hensel

Hoover Hull Turner LLP Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 1986 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? I don’t recall when I first realized it, but I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer. I have always been drawn to the rigor of rulemaking, comprehending the policies behind rules, and searching […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Charles Meyer

Woodard Emhardt Henry Reeves & Wagner LLP Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 1995 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? It almost seems like predestination. I’m the fifth generation of attorneys in my family, including two grandfathers, my dad and my sister. More personally, I like talking to people, problem-solving and variety. […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Anne Cohn

Quarles & Brady LLP Purdue University, 2008 Why did you decide to become a paralegal/legal support staffer? I worked as a federal contractor for the first three years after I graduated college. The position I held had limited growth opportunities and became slightly tedious. After researching job postings and considering the aspects of my current […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Mark Wright

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 1989 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? It was fortuitous. I was working in Chicago after undergrad and befriended a guy who was a young real estate lawyer for a huge Chicago firm. Every time we got together, I would […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: William Cartwright

Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC University of Kentucky College of Law, 2014 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? As a history major I enjoy reading, researching and writing, all traits that go hand in hand with the practice of law. Also, through my studies I learned that some of the greatest and most […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Lottie Wathen

Barnes & Thornburg LLP Southeastern Paralegal Institute, 1996 Why did you decide to become a paralegal/legal support staffer? It was not a deliberate decision. My former spouse accepted a position in Louisville, Kentucky, and I was looking for a job. I had spent five years working in banking as a teller supervisor and knew I […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Shontrai Irving

Purdue University Northwest Indiana University Maurer School of Law, 2003 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? I entered the legal profession in an effort to make a difference in society. As a child, I always felt a connection to human rights and viewed the law as a means to fight for the […]

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LEADERSHIP IN LAW 2023: Thomas Lyons

Barnes & Thornburg LLP Valparaiso University School of Law, 2017 Why did you decide to enter the legal profession? The legal profession is one of the few professions that provides an intense analysis of the important decisions of the past as guides for the important decisions to be made in the present. In addition, the […]

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