Web Exclusive: Meet the Judges: Fulton Superior Court Judge Greg Heller

Fulton Superior Court Judge Greg Heller and his wife.

Not feeling quite ready for law school, Greg Heller initially managed a trucking terminal in Wisconsin. 

That’s what he did after graduating from Indiana University Bloomington in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in public affairs. 

“We moved back to Indiana to start our family to be close to family. I then decided to go to law school. Find out the best way about entering this profession but then I worked full time during the day up in Wabash County and then commuted four hours a night down to Indianapolis,” Heller said. 

He graduated from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and joined the state bar in 1998. 

Heller is currently in his sixth year as Fulton Superior Court Judge and will be up for re-election in November. 

Heller is the latest Indiana trial judge to be featured in Indiana Lawyer’s Spotlight series profiling jurists in more rural counties. Here is what he had to say about life on and off the bench.

What was your practice area following law school? 

I got hired out of law school with a two-person law firm here in Rochester. Alan Burke, and Christopher Lee. Christopher Lee is actually the judge in the circuit court now. Alan Burke was the older attorney since retired. … So, when I came to Rochester, I had great mentors to really help me along and have a general practice in a small community. And so, what that entails are your bread-and-butter practice areas, family law and criminal law. I did a lot of those practice areas, both family law and criminal law, and also ended up doing private criminal work and also one of the public defenders here in the county. And then also as my kind of my third practice area represented government entities. I was like the county attorney, the plan commission attorney, and the library attorney, representing small towns, so I got a lot of government practice too. So those are my three main practice areas, particularly criminal and government work. And I did that for 20 years until I became a judge.

What is something that surprised you about being a judge? 

The biggest surprise was I really thought after having a private practice for 20 years, and especially in the areas that would be the type of cases coming through the Superior Court that I was very experienced. But the biggest surprise was, that’s still a big learning curve, even after 20 years of private practice and in areas that I (was) … pretty familiar with. … I think the second biggest surprise was the amount of time that you spend in the courtroom. There is an equal amount of time, if not more, outside the courtroom with the preparation of orders. And so, the time management came as a surprise to me also. Because the day is very structured as far as your court hearings, but then sometimes the time is very constricted. Once you come out of the courtroom, to deal with not only the orders but then also the administrative and other duties being a judge. So I still spend time coming in on the weekends much like I did in private practice. There doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day. So that was a bit of a surprise.

When not on the bench, what are some of your hobbies? 

Well, I like to exercise. … Being on the bench, it’s made that more important. Exercising both for physical health and mental health. I enjoy reading all genres, I mean, fiction, nonfiction, history, biographies. So, a lot of reading. I like to listen to a lot of music …  We’ve got two golden doodles that I enjoy taking my daily walks with them and winding down at the end of the day. And I certainly enjoy good wine from the Mediterranean region. Take your pick. Can be France, Italy, or Spain. … When I’m not at work all the time, I’m with my wife I’ve been married to for 38 years, happily.

If you didn’t choose a career in law, what would you be doing? 

Well, that’s a good question, because even though it took me a while to get into the profession of law, I think, I think it just suits me. I like the analytical thinking of being a lawyer and a judge. I like that’s the other aspect of being a judge. I like the aspect of being able to look at every legal issue that comes into the courtroom and trying to fit the facts with the law and, and making a fair decision, a just decision, and then think that suits my personality better than just being a pure advocate. But to answer your question, what would I be doing if I wasn’t? … Well, that’s the great thing about not going into law school right away out of college because I worked a lot of jobs while going to college, factory jobs and everything else I worked, even though I settled in the transportation industry. … And so, I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of work prior to going to law school, and I think that probably convinced me that I didn’t want to be doing those things for the rest of my life. So really, I think being in the law (is) kind of my comfort zone.