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The French Lick Resort and West Baden Springs Hotel offer visitors a chance to travel back in time. The properties are ornately decorated with gold crown molding, intricate tile work, rich fabrics, and, of course, the famed West Baden dome. It is against this backdrop that the Indianapolis Bar Association will be holding its 2024 Bench Bar Conference, presented by Wilson Kehoe Winningham LLC, from June 13-15. While the venue may evoke thoughts of days of old, the programming of the Conference is decidedly focused on the future. With sessions like “Cyber Threat: Addressing the Newest Attacks to Indianapolis Firms,” sponsored by Eskew Law, and “Artificial Intelligence in the Law,” the 2024 Bench Bar Conference will provide up to 7.0 hours of CLE focusing on preparing attorneys and judges for what’s next in the legal field.
Bench Bar offers top notch legal education and skills-based training for criminal, family, and civil law attorneys. Additionally, the In-House Counsel Getaway takes place alongside the larger Bench Bar Conference. This year, IndyBar will celebrate Juneteenth with a lunch and discussion sponsored by Ice Miller LLP. The Hon. Charnette Garner will moderate a discussion with the Hon. Cynthia Ayers about her career and the challenges she has faced as a Black woman on the bench. Additionally, Mag. James Schneider and Jon Ferguson will be discussing the State of LGBTQIA in the law. Don’t need CLE? You can be part of a live studio recording for a podcast episode with the always entertaining James Bell. (You heard it here first, IndyBar is resurrecting its podcast!) There will be programs to help you chart your legal career, sharpen your negotiation, cross examination, and discovery skills, as well as learning more about arbitration in family law, direct representation, and childhood trauma. Bench Bar has something to offer attorneys of all practice areas and skill levels!
Historically, French Lick has been a gathering place for many notable people and groups and IndyBar is no exception. The Bench Bar Conference is the largest gathering of Indianapolis lawyers and judicial officers in one place each year. IndyBar anticipates hosting more than 400 central Indiana attorneys and more than 50 judges and judicial officers at this year’s event! While Bench Bar offers great educational programming, what really makes the Conference special is that it also offers the opportunity for connection with other legal practitioners. If you come to French Lick for Bench Bar, you are bound to leave with a new or deepened connection. Come play a quick round of euchre at check in or sip a cool beverage with a new friend on the large, wrap-around porch. Anxious to attend as a first-timer? Staff and volunteers will connect you to other attendees so you can network in a casual environment. The Indiana State Police will practice administering Portable Breath Tests (“PBTs”) and standardized field sobriety tests on willing participants at the Plews Shadley Dessert Reception on Thursday Evening. Who would want to miss that?!
After a day of learning, take a dip in the indoor or outdoor pool. The indoor pool is a unique experience with its large dolphin fountain centerpiece. Paganelli Law Group will sponsor a cocktail mixer and dinner on Friday night, complete with the chance to win big during the dinner raffle! After dinner, show off your random knowledge skills at the Indianapolis Bar Foundation’s Trivia Night sponsored by Johnson Jensen LLP. If you’re on a hot streak after trivia, keep your luck alive at the French Lick Casino located on the resort property.
By offering the chance to visually transport to another time, the French Lick Resort allows us the chance to let go of who we are at home and be open to new people and experiences. Bench Bar capitalizes on this feeling by creating space to learn and grow as legal practitioners while connecting with new friends. The 2024 IndyBar Bench Bar Conference is an opportunity travel back in time, prepare for the future, and leave with new skills and connections. I hope to see you in French Lick!•
Sonya Seeder serves as General Counsel at BSA LifeStructures. She is a member of the 2024 IndyBar Board of Directors, serving as Co-Chair for the Bench Bar Committee.
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