Web Exclusive: Year in Review — continued

In addition to the “big news” of the year, Indiana Lawyer in 2023 also provided readers with stories exploring attorneys’ off-the-clock interests, obituaries of lawyers and judges who died, and summaries of disciplinary actions. Here’s a sampling of each of those:

All in the family: Bob Hammerle and his son, Chris, used to go into the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office on Saturday mornings with a sack of doughnuts and a chunky TV. Bob, then a brand-new lawyer, worked on files while Chris watched cartoons.

Decades later, Chris picked up the exoneration of a case his father had worked on in the 1990s.

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For Lena Pratt Sanders, it was perfectly normal growing up to have her Polly Pocket dolls in one judge’s chamber, a special nameplate and mail slot at the family law office, and a seat at the bench.

Sanders, the Marion Circuit Court magistrate judge, has continued her family’s legal legacy of three generations of Black attorneys in Indianapolis — and has now started the family’s second generation of judges.

Her parents, judges Marcel Pratt and Tanya Walton Pratt, forged their own paths as attorneys and judges, and Sanders is now following suit.

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More from Year in Review: Top 10 stories

Time of transition: Being a first and an only is something Barnes & Thornburg LLP partner Alan Mills has worked to prevent from happening ever again. Now, Mills is preparing to pass the baton of trailblazing to the next generation when he retires at the end of 2023.

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The path to judgeship wasn’t a straight shot for Chief Environmental Law Judge Mary Davidsen, but she let her curiosity lead her along the way. Now, after 20 years as director of the Office of Environmental Adjudication, Davidsen is prepared to spend time with her father and see where the journey of retirement takes her.

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Thomas M. Fisher said he had no immediate plans to leave the Office of the Attorney General and his position as the state’s first solicitor general when he recruited James Barta to be his deputy. Still, Fisher said he knew he wanted to hire someone who could succeed him. And as it turns out, that’s what he did.

After 20 years in the role, Fisher announced in August that he was stepping down as solicitor general to work for EdChoice, a nonpartisan group that advocates for school choice. In November, Barta succeeded Fisher to become the state’s second solicitor general, a role in which he will oversee litigation involving constitutional challenges and other issues of interest to state government.

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More from Year in Review: Honorable mentions

Out of office: There’s a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hayrides, apple cider slushies, lemon shake-ups and more waiting for visitors who make the trip to Lark Ranch in Loogootee, Greenfield or Lanesville.

For attorney and owner Matt Lark, the plan was to stop running the farm once his kids were grown. But they had other plans.

The fall attraction is growing and has become a staple for many.

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The Egyptian god Bes is short and squat in many depictions, with bowlegs, a feathered headdress and a protruding tongue designed to ward off misfortune.

That’s what drew Shelli Wright Johnson to the diminutive dwarf god: His appearance is unique and a contrast to other taller, more picturesque Egyptian deities.

The Valparaiso attorney has pursued her passion for Egypt, and Bes, with books and tours.

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More from Year in Review: What you read

Lawyers we lost: Each year, Indiana Lawyer seeks to honor the Hoosier lawyers and judges who have died over the last 12 months. The following are the lawyer/judge deaths in 2023 that were known to IL staff as of Dec. 19:

• Judge Shatrese Flowers, 50, Marion Superior Court
• Judge Viola Taliaferro, 94, formerly Monroe Circuit Court
• Mary Myers, 63, Kroger Gardis & Regas paralegal
• Timothy Morrison, 73, formerly interim Southern District of Indiana U.S. attorney

Discipline decisions: The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission and the Commission on Judicial Qualifications hand down decisions each year disciplining — and sometimes acquitting — lawyers and judges accused of misconduct. Here’s a look at a handful of notable disciplinary decisions that were handed down in 2023:

Indianapolis attorney Quentin Cantrell was suspended for noncooperation with a Disciplinary Commission investigation following his conviction of federal misdemeanors related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

According to the Indiana Supreme Court’s November order, Cantrell is suspended until the executive director of the Discipline Commission certifies to the court that he has cooperated fully with the investigation. He was also ordered to reimburse the commission $524.97 for the costs of the proceedings.

Cantrell is also currently under suspension for CLE and dues noncompliance.

St. Joseph Probate Judge Jason A. Cichowicz was suspended in August for 45 days without pay, with automatic reinstatement, and was ordered to pay $3,824 in costs.

Cichowicz violated Rules 1.2, 1.3, 3.1(c) and 3.8 of the Code of Judicial Conduct related to efforts to fund improvements to the county’s juvenile justice center.

According to the Indiana Roll of Attorneys, Cichowicz’s law license is active in good standing.

Hancock Superior Judge Donald Jack “D.J.” Davis was admonished by the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission in July for “injudicious” comments made during an incident at his son’s home in June 2022, when he said his use of legally prescribed narcotics “affected (his) judgment.”

“The Commission further would note that judges need to be cautious about appearing at emotionally charged scenes, especially if there are any challenges to their maintaining appropriate demeanor,” the commission wrote in its July order.

Davis’s law license is active in good standing, according to the Indiana Roll of Attorneys.

Decatur Circuit Court Judge Timothy Day was publicly reprimanded in April for unauthorized ex parte communications and failing to take appropriate remedial measures regarding those communications.

According to the Indiana Roll of Attorneys, Day’s law license is active in good standing.

Attorney Robert C. Neary was initially suspended for four years but was reinstated in February on the condition that he serve at least three years of probation that includes monitoring by the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program.

Neary was suspended in November 2017 for four years without automatic reinstatement after listening in on two defendants’ privileged conversations.

Neary is still on probation, according to the Indiana Roll of Attorneys.•