For the first time in its history, the Indianapolis Legal Aid Society’s holiday dollar campaign is going virtual. The fundraiser has become a tradition since it was started in the mid-1990s but will be critical this season to meet the needs created by the pandemic.
Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic has partnered with the city of Indianapolis to create a special website to help Hoosiers around the state who are behind on rent and facing eviction.
The focus of the Virtual Ask-a-Lawyer was to provide a place for people to get real help, direction and referrals, especially as the full impact of COVID-19 was shuttering businesses and causing waves of unemployment. To date, since May 2020, more than 100 attorneys have volunteered through the virtual desk and over the telephone to provide answers to more than 1,352 questions.
The Indiana Supreme Court is launching a new mediation program to help stem the anticipated flood of evictions by facilitating settlement agreements between tenants facing eviction and landlords trying to collect rent.
Indiana Legal Services has launched a public education campaign to help all eligible Hoosiers access their federal stimulus payments, noting millions of dollars could remain unclaimed unless individuals act before the Oct. 15 deadline.
Orville Copsey, Jr., an Indianapolis attorney whose work helping many elderly and disabled clients stay in their homes earned him the nickname “St. Orville,” died Aug. 4. He was 88. “We have lost a true gem in our legal community,” one attorney said in tribute.
After seven years, two appearances before the Indiana Supreme Court and a trip to the United States Supreme Court, a Marion man fighting for the return of his seized vehicle has won his battle, with a trial court judge ordering the “immediate” return of his SUV. But a pending appeal means the case is not over yet.
On a typical Tuesday, the Allen County Bar Association’s legal help line gets 40 to 60 calls, but the organization is bracing for an increase as the coronavirus crisis worsens.
Included in the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday is a $50 million appropriation to the Legal Services Corp., which is bracing for a spike in legal needs among those with low income as the economy buckles under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic.
Little more than a year after the United States Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision incorporating to the states the Eight Amendment protection against excessive fines, the Grant County man who bears the name of the case is headed back to trial.
Pointing to what it describes as an “overwhelming need for civil legal services,” Legal Services Corp. is asking a federal appropriation of $652.6 million for fiscal year 2021, a $212.6 million increase from the appropriation it received for fiscal year 2020.
“Star Trek” and Spam were two topics that drew laughter and invoked inspiration during the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Indiana’s third annual regional conference this weekend. The group presented “Star Trek” original cast member and social activist George Takei with its Trailblazer Award.
The conversation about civil legal aid in Indiana is still focused on money, but for the first time in nearly a decade, the talk is of dollars increasing rather than dwindling.
Across the country, business executives, senior attorneys and general counsel consistently view Indiana’s legal climate as among the best for businesses out of all 50 states.