Lucas: Looking back, looking ahead, and saying thanks
The dramatic changes that our world has experienced, and the impact those changes have had on the practice of law, has produced a fertile supply of topics to address over the years.
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Articles
Foos: Forget the next big thing; focus on your existing technology
What we often forget is that the focus of legal-based technology is to increase the productivity of attorneys, paralegals and administrative staff. We’re focused on the next big thing when we should be identifying how to customize our existing technology to save time and increase productivity.
Texts present unique challenges in evidence preservation and admission
Of the billions of text messages sent daily in the world, a few will wind up as evidence in litigation. A few that should will not, and that could mean trouble for lawyers.
New class at Notre Dame gets students to think about technology’s impact
Lawyers should not feel threatened by the new programs and websites that, in some cases, let lay people handle some of their legal issues, an attorney and legal technology entrepreneur says. In fact, the new technology actually allows lawyers to fill their true role as counselors.
Legislature tinkers with new Indiana criminal code
Two different stories by two different witnesses highlighted Indiana’s continuing struggles with its new criminal code.
Homeless Project enables attorneys to offer advice and guidance to shelter residents
Residents in homeless shelters in Indianapolis are receiving legal advice and guidance through the Homeless Shelter Project. The program, now administered by the Indianapolis Bar Association, sends pairs of attorneys to a handful of shelters around the city every three weeks to meet with residents needing help.
Lawyer to justices: 4th Amendment waivers require reasonable suspicion
Community corrections officers should have cause before searching the home of someone who has signed a waiver of their Fourth Amendment rights as a condition of probation, a lawyer argued recently before the Indiana Supreme Court.
Indiana bills to increase minimum wage go unheard
More than half of states in the U.S. have enacted laws increasing their minimum wages above the federal standard of $7.25 an hour, but the Indiana Legislature won’t even discuss it.
Criminal code funding bill passes House committee
The Indiana House Judiciary Committee has unanimously passed a funding bill that would provide the resources that many agree are necessary to reduce the number of nonviolent offenders who repeatedly reenter the criminal justice system.
Justices add malpractice, adoption cases to docket
The Indiana Supreme Court will review summary judgment in favor of healthcare providers sued for medical malpractice in a stillbirth case as well as an adoption by a grandmother who claimed a 1997 conviction for neglect of a dependant should not automatically bar her from adopting the children.
Opinions Feb. 9, 2015 ILD
Indiana Court of Appeals
Paul D. Stucker v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
46A05-1403-CR-117
Criminal. Affirms conviction and 45-year sentence for murder.
Michael L. Turner v. Jennifer D. Pence (mem. dec.)
90A05-1409-DR-447
Domestic relation. Affirms denial of Turner’s motion to hold Pence in contempt.
In the Matter of: S.E. (Minor Child), a Child in Need of Services, and L.E. (Father) v. Indiana Department of Child Services (mem. dec.)
29A02-1406-JC-416
Juvenile. Affirms order finding S.E. to be a child in need of services.
Stephen Perry v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
29A04-1406-CR-291
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class A felony conspiracy to commit murder.
Neil A. Clements v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
18A04-1406-CR-268
Criminal. Affirms revocation of commitment to community corrections order to serve previously suspended sentence for conviction of Class C felony nonsupport of a dependent.
Shaun Terrell Balkcom v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
71A03-1407-CR-254
Criminal. Affirms convictions of Class A felony and Class C felony charges of child molesting.
Justin Mullins v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
48A04-1403-CR-115
Criminal. Affirms revocation of probation.
Opinions Feb. 9, 2015
Indiana Court of Appeals
Shane L. Keller v. State of Indiana
88A04-1404-CR-168
Criminal. Affirms in part, reverses in part and remands the 50-year aggregate sentence for convictions of two counts of Class B felony burglary, one count of Class C felony burglary, three counts of Class D felony theft, two counts of Class D felony receiving stolen property, and enhancement for habitual offender. Remands with instructions to vacate two receiving stolen property convictions and the sentences for them because they violate the prohibition against double jeopardy with respect to the theft convictions.
Appeals panel reinstates med-mal case
A trial court erred in granting summary judgment to a hospital and a doctor who performed a hysterectomy during which an arm board became unattached. After the patient’s arm dangled for much of the surgery, she was diagnosed with nerve damage in her arm.
COA: Ex-husband entitled to legal fees for former wife’s contempt
The ex-husband in an acrimonious domestic relations case is entitled to $9,000 in legal fees a trial court awarded to him as well as judgments in his favor on parenting time and child support, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
Double jeopardy lifts 2 of burglar’s multiple convictions
A man who repeatedly broke into property and stole tools and items being used to renovate a long-vacant farmhouse likely will remain sentenced to 50 years in prison, even though the Indiana Court of Appeals vacated two of his convictions as violations of the prohibition against double jeopardy.
Mom claims agent framed her in son’s death, sues government
A woman who was wrongfully convicted of murdering her 3-year-old son is suing the government and alleges a federal officer helped investigators frame her for the crime.
Fremont Town Court judge admonished for ex parte communication
A Steuben County town court judge who was admonished in 2012 for improper ex parte communications for assuming the role of prosecutor in a traffic infraction in her court has been admonished again for a similar violation.
Proposed Indiana voting law changes draw objections
Indiana lawmakers are taking up Republican-backed proposals to eliminate straight party-line voting on state ballots and require the use of voter identification numbers for mail-in absentee ballots, moves that Democrats argue will make voting more difficult and could hurt turnout.
Judge counts his blessings while slowly going blind
George Pancol, judge of Madison Circuit Court 2, is going blind. The doctors can't agree why.
Indiana woman who fought gay marriage ban dies of cancer
A terminally ill woman whose desire to have her same-sex marriage recognized by Indiana before she died helped galvanize efforts to overturn the state's gay marriage ban has lost her battle with cancer.