Articles

Fraudster Durham wins hearing on whether lawyer’s $1M fee created conflict

Fair Finance fraud felon Tim Durham will get a chance to grill his former trial attorney over whether his $1 million wire fraud defense representation fee created a conflict of interest between money the lawyer could pocket versus paying for witnesses Durham claims could have testified in his favor. A federal judge recently granted a new hearing on that and other grounds as Durham seeks to chisel away at his 50-year prison sentence.

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Prosecutions fizzle in ‘pill mill’ case but suits proceed

Physicians and staff who were arrested and charged after Indiana and federal law enforcement officials claimed their medical practice was a pill mill are headed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals as they push forward with a civil lawsuit claiming their prosecution was built on allegations the government knew were false.

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Fired INDOT employee loses appeal claiming political firing

A former Indiana Department of Transportation supervisor who claimed his firing was motivated in part by his defense of a Democratic employee and a letter to the editor that the supervisor’s mother wrote criticizing former Gov. Mike Pence’s immigration policies failed to prove he was discriminated against, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.

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Southern District posts rule amendments effective Dec. 1

Numerous minor rule changes effective Dec. 1 have been made available by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The rule changes deal with appearances and substitution of counsel, continuances in criminal cases, grand jury processes and other matters.

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Desegregation advocate to mark Hispanic Heritage Month

A woman who fought to desegregate California public schools when she was 9 years old will discuss the lawsuit that altered the course of her life next week during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration hosted by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the Indiana State Bar Association’s Latino Affairs Committee.

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Proper forum for dispute is tax court, not bankruptcy

A federal appellate panel has answered questions as to whether a bankruptcy court can determine the amount of a debtor’s tax obligations when the debtor is unlikely to pay them. Although a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana answered yes to that question, a district judge disagreed.

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Federal court blocks Indiana law banning smokable hemp

Indiana’s law criminalizing smokable hemp has been snuffed out, at least temporarily, by a federal court, which found the proponents of hemp made convincing arguments that the federal farm bill of 2018, expanding the definition of hemp and removing the plant from the federal schedule of controlled substances, pre-empted the state statute.

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