Hanging a shingle is always risky. Add a pandemic to the mix and you’ve got a recipe for stress. Most lawyers across Indiana felt the pinch of the COVID-19-induced economic downturn in some fashion. But those who made career moves in the months before the pandemic say the recession has put their business acumen to the test.
Although there are more than 1.3 million attorneys in the United States, “legal deserts” can be found across vast expanses of the country and all over Indiana, according to a recent report from the American Bar Association.
A new jobs report from National Association for Law Placement says law school graduates in 2019 enjoyed some of the best of times while nodding to fears that the 2020 graduates may experience the worst of times.
A well-written opinion or brief can change the course of legal thought, but while other parts of the practice of law have been upended by technology, the physical act of writing remains pretty much a job done by humans. However, new artificial intelligence software appears poised to rewrite the definition of writing.
Like the rest of the state, lawyers aren’t heading back to the office all at once — in fact, some aren’t heading back at all. The new normal of “working from home” has become so engrained that firm leaders say they don’t expect their employees to return to the old lifestyle of commuting into the office every day.
Marco Moreno was introduced to the idea of economic development by watching a rundown, forgotten neighborhood in Indianapolis get a second chance. He came to the Circle City to study law and was intrigued by the neighborhood redevelopment work. A few years later, his interest was reignited when he learned how regional centers were boosting international funding for projects designed to grow businesses and help communities in the United States. Now the immigration attorney is running a unique regional center in Indianapolis.
New lawyers preparing to launch their fledgling legal careers in 2020 look similar to the generations that came before them, but some things set millennial lawyers apart. Their ever-evolving professional aspirations and career trajectories appear less traditional than the routes taken by their predecessors in decades past.
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.
The Great Recession landed a powerful blow to law firms, forcing layoffs and closures in an industry long thought immune to business cycles, but the spreading downturn caused by the coronavirus brings vast uncertainty about the economic outlook for lawyers.
Numerous orders put in place to protect Hoosiers from the spread of the novel coronavirus during the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic have abruptly halted that routine for attorneys statewide. Unable to get into their brick-and-mortar locations for the foreseeable future, some lawyers with more traditional practices are scrambling to get up to speed in a virtual world.
As more and more attorneys and law firms work remotely in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those lawyers don’t have plans for disaster recovery or business continuity, according to a 2019 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report.
For those of us who manage employees, how we engage (or don’t engage) them impacts how our work gets done.
While various programs such as the Conference for Legal Education Opportunity encourage more diverse attorneys in the legal profession, a career in the law still seems unattainable for some. But many new attorneys are sharing their experiences with students in middle schools and high schools in hopes of showing what the profession has to offer.
To elevate Indiana women in the traditionally male-dominated white-collar defense bar, the Indianapolis chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association was founded in 2015. The primary goal of the group is to build a referral network so female lawyers are likelier to get handed a case or asked to represent a client.
Even after the advent of e-filing and some paperless offices, courier services are still available, and the need for such services persists. That need has evolved in the digital age, but attorneys and delivery companies say there are options available when technology can’t yet get the job done.
A new legal services company rooted in Nashville has recently settled in Indianapolis, with a Hoosier attorney at the helm. Latitude, a Tennessee-based legal services provider founded in 2014, announced the establishment of its Indiana office last month. The company claims it will provide on-demand, sophisticated attorney expertise for Indiana corporations and law firms while increasing flexibility and reducing costs.
The year 2019 broke the record for U.S. law firm mergers and acquisitions with 115 combinations announced, including Indianapolis offices in some of the biggest deals unveiled.
Like the entrepreneurs they represent, the three lawyers who recently formed JBJ Legal — Kimberly Jeselskis, B.J. Brinkerhoff and Hannah Kaufman Joseph — got restless working for someone else. Befitting their entrepreneurial spirit, the three have leveraged technology and capitalized on modern-day office concepts in starting their firm.
A few years ago, two Indianapolis law firms agreed to share office space. A few weeks ago, they joined forces in a merger that has them optimistic for what the future holds.
“I’ve had a great career,” said longtime Whitley County attorney and prosecutor John Whiteleather, “and I hope I have contributed back to the community for what it provided to me.” Whiteleather’s colleagues on the bench and bar assure him that he did, recognizing him as the Indiana Bar Foundation’s 2019 Legendary Lawyer.