Investiture ceremony for Judge Hanlon Friday

Judge James Patrick Hanlon, the newest addition to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, will be formally sworn in at a special ceremony starting at 2 p.m. Friday in the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse. Southern Indiana Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson will preside over the en banc ceremony in the William E. Steckler Ceremonial Courtroom.

Hanlon was confirmed by a voice vote in the U.S. Senate in October 2018. He filled the last open seat on the busy district court, filling the vacancy that was created in July 2018 when Judge William Lawrence took senior status.

“The court is delighted to have Judge Hanlon on the bench,” Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson said. “He is an immensely talented attorney and his experience and success in private practice, with the United States Attorney’s Office, and as a law clerk make him the perfect person to fill the latest vacancy on the court.”

Hanlon has already taken his place on the court. His caseload is drawn from the Indianapolis and Terre Haute divisions. In addition to drawing newly assigned cases, he has been reassigned cases from other judges.

“The addition of Judge Hanlon brings the Southern District of Indiana back to its full complement of five full-time district judges and we are grateful to be at full strength once more,” Magnus-Stinson said.

Along with the five full-time judges, the court also has Lawrence and Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker, who continue to carry heavy caseloads.

Prior to his appointment as district judge, Hanlon was a partner in the Indianapolis office of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, where he served as co-chair of the firm’s white-collar defense and investigations practice. Hanlon became a partner at the firm’s predecessor, Baker & Daniels LLP, in 2006.

From 2001 to 2006, Hanlon served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. He was also a law clerk to the Honorable Robert L. Miller of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana from 1997 to 1998. Hanlon was in private practice with Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago from 1996 to 1997, and again after his clerkship, from 1998 until his move to Indianapolis in 2001.

A native of Evanston, Illinois, Hanlon earned a B.A. from DePauw University in 1992. In 1996, he earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Valparaiso University Law School, where he served as articles editor of the Valparaiso University Law Review.