IndyBar: Judge Cynthia Ayers 2024 Antionette Dakin Leach award recipient

By Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt

Each year, the IndyBar Women in the Law Division presents the Antionette Dakin Leach Award to recognize the accomplishments of a female attorney in central Indiana. The award—named in honor of the first Hoosier woman to challenge bar admission based on gender—recognizes a trailblazing female attorney who carries on the Dakin Leach legacy.

Throughout her career, Judge Cynthia Ayers has exemplified the trailblazer spirit. She recently assumed senior judge status after 32 years on the bench of the Marion Superior Court, making her one of the longest sitting judges in the state of Indiana. Throughout those 32 years she has taken an active role in mentoring and providing opportunities to advance the careers of hundreds of women and minority lawyers in the legal profession. She exemplifies professional excellence and has actively paved the way for many others, including myself, to succeed.

Practicing law was a second career for Judge Ayers. She started her career as a Social Worker, then went on to become a probation officer for the Marion Superior Court, and later a parole agent for the State of Indiana. As a young wife and mother in the late 1970s, she decided to change course and enroll in law school. She courageously navigated parenting and law school with tenacity and grace and graduated with honors from what is now Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 1982.

Her accomplishments are many: Judge Ayers served as a Marion County Deputy Prosecutor from 1983 to 1985. After leaving the Prosecutor’s Office, she spent three years in private practice in Indianapolis and worked as litigation counsel for the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor. Judge Ayers was appointed Master Commissioner of the Marion Circuit Court from 1986 to 1988, and later as a Magistrate in the Title IV-D Child Support Enforcement Court during the late 1988 to 1990.

Undaunted by the challenges of sexism and racism, she ran for a seat on the bench as a Republican candidate in 1991 and won, becoming the first African American woman elected to the Marion Superior Court. She was overwhelmingly re-elected to the Superior Court on five occasions and appointed by the Governor and retained on two occasions. Her work on the bench has been impressive. Judge Ayres has presided over thousands of cases, including many that were complex or high profile. Her decisions are sound, her temperament balanced. Her jurisprudence has been described as pragmatic, balanced, and fair. She is highly respected by attorneys and fellow judges for her legal knowledge, fairness, and dedication to the legal community.

In addition to her work on the civil bench, Judge Ayers previously supervised the Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau, the Family Resource Center, and the Ordinance Violation Court. She served as Associate Presiding Judge of the Marion Superior Court in 1998 and later as Presiding Judge of the Superior Court from 2000 to 2002. Judge Ayers has chaired and served on a multitude of committees and task forces for a variety of judicial administrative efforts in Indianapolis, including the construction of the new Marion County Justice Center.

Throughout her legal career Judge Ayers has been active in the Indianapolis Bar Association and worked her way up the ranks of the Association by chairing and serving on numerous committees. She was elected President of the Indianapolis Bar Association in 2006, becoming the first African American to serve as President of the prestigious organization. In that role, she initiated a diversity and inclusion initiative that is still prominent in the IndyBar today. She has also served in leadership roles with the Indiana State Bar Association, the Marion County Bar Association, the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association, and the Indiana Judges Association.

For many years she has been an adjunct professor at IU McKinney School of law, teaching ethics/professional responsibility to law students. Her leadership and dedication to legal training that is practical and focused on the real world is an asset that has benefited our community and this nation as she provides training to the future leaders in the law.

On and off the bench, Cynthia Ayers possesses a sophisticated understanding of people, a capacity for fairness and the wisdom to determine an appropriate course of action in often complicated matters. She has relentlessly supported other women in the profession. She is a tireless advocate for justice who has shattered many glass ceilings. Judge Cynthia Ayers is deserving of the 2024 Antionette Dakin Leach award.•

Hon. Tanya Walton Pratt was appointed judge of the U.S District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in 2010 as the first African-American federal judge in Indiana history. Previously, she served as a judge in the Marion Superior Court, Probate Division and as Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division.