Dave Stafford - The Indiana Lawyer

State, community group urge SCOTUS to reject Lake Michigan access case

January 15, 2019

The state of Indiana and a community group favoring public access to the shore of Lake Michigan have filed briefs urging the Supreme Court of the United States to reject an appeal that could partly privatize the state’s 45 miles of Great Lakes beaches. Briefs filed Friday urge the high court to affirm the Indiana Supreme Court ruling that found the public has a right to walk along the shore of Lake Michigan from the water’s edge to the ordinary high water mark.

Decatur lawyer sentenced to jail for forgery, counterfeiting

January 14, 2019

A suspended northern Indiana lawyer was sentenced Friday to nearly nine months in jail for forging a judge’s signature on a phony divorce order and sending a client a bogus email that she represented as coming from a deputy prosecutor. Jill Holtzclaw of Decatur was sentenced to serve 270 days behind bars followed by a year of probation for her convictions of Level 6 felony counts of forgery and counterfeiting.

State court suit aims to ban Indiana death penalty

January 11, 2019

A lawsuit naming Gov. Eric Holcomb filed on behalf of a prisoner on Indiana’s death row urges a state court to issue an injunction halting capital punishment and rule that the state’s ultimate criminal penalty violates the Indiana Constitution.

SEC wins order to depose Canadian suspect in nearly $1M penny stock con

January 10, 2019

A Canadian accused in an Indiana federal court of a “scalping” scheme to fraudulently drive up the price of a penny stock while selling off his own shares for a profit of almost $1 million must answer questions in a U.S. deposition before the Securities and Exchange Commission, a judge has ruled. The SEC accuses Michael Skerry of New Westminster, British Columbia, of executing the scheme, in which regulators allege he profited by about $950,000.

Sovereign citizen’s prison religion suit may be revisited

January 2, 2019

An Indiana prisoner and professed sovereign citizen who claimed his religious rights were violated when he was forbidden from fully participating in certain religious services may get another review, the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

Ruling for insurance producer in licensing case affirmed

January 2, 2019

A trial court order lifting a regulator’s nonrenewal of an insurance producer’s license stemming from his unauthorized use of funds from his homeowner’s association was affirmed by the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday. The appellate panel agreed that the man’s actions in this case did not warrant such a severe sanction. Jeffrey A. Schumaker’s […]

Probation sanction affirmed on ‘unduly harsh’ appeal

January 2, 2019

A man’s argument that the execution of a suspended sentence for a crime he committed while on probation was an unduly harsh sanction failed before the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Appeals panel upholds Charlestown water utility sale

January 2, 2019

A southern Indiana community’s sale of its water utility was affirmed Monday after a challenge by a nonprofit group opposed to the deal. The Indiana Court of Appeals let stand the sale of the City of Charlestown water utility to Greenwood-based Indiana-American Water Company, Inc.

Mobile home parks lose appeal of IURC classification

December 27, 2018

Several Kosciusko County mobile home parks lost their appeal of an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission decision that impacted their sewer billing. The Indiana Court of Appeals on Thursday affirmed the IURC’s entry of summary judgment for a regional sewer district and dismissal of the parks’ appeal in Northcrest R.V. Park, et al. v. Lakeland Regional Sewer District, and Indiana Regional Sewer District Association, 18A-EX-1243.

Year in Review: Attorney discipline orders drop, but major misconduct cases tarnish profession

December 26, 2018

The rare subset of attorney discipline cases brought by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission are the result of criminal charges against lawyers that could result in jail time. In that regard, the Hoosier State had plenty, even as total attorney discipline orders declined in 2018.

Year in Review: Fascinating faces of 2018

December 26, 2018

Indiana lawyers’ pursuits outside the office span the globe but also hit close to home. Here are some of the great stories we shared in 2018 about attorneys and folks in the legal community doing remarkable things.

Year in Review: Hill sexual misconduct scandal top legal news story of 2018

December 21, 2018

Indiana Lawyer’s top story of 2018 began inside an Indianapolis bar in the cool early-morning hours of Thursday, March 15. Attorney General Curtis Hill had had a few drinks. A few too many, several witnesses would later claim.

Stafford: Resolve to honor attorneys who honor the law

December 21, 2018

In this season of reflection, I hope you’ll think about friends and colleagues who live up to and exceed the legal profession’s loftiest ideals. Think of those who embody the very best of what it means to be a great lawyer. Those are the people we seek to honor in Indiana Lawyer’s 2019 Leadership in Law Awards.

Lawyer doesn’t help his own cause in federal court discipline matter

December 19, 2018

A Merrillville lawyer who asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to reconsider discipline imposed on him drew a harsh reply from the court, which said his conduct “lends further support to … concerns about his competence as a lawyer.” The district court denied John H. Davis' motion to reconsider his removal from the court's Roll of Attorneys last week.

Lawyer facing jail time for forgery, counterfeiting

December 18, 2018

A northern Indiana lawyer could be sentenced to nearly two years in jail after she pleaded guilty Tuesday to forging a judge’s name on a phony divorce decree and sending a bogus email bearing a deputy prosecutor’s name. Jill N. Holtzclaw of Decatur pleaded guilty to Level 6 felony counts of forgery and counterfeiting Tuesday in Adams Superior Court.

COA remands, finding man didn’t knowingly possess cocaine

December 7, 2018

A man convicted on a variety of counts of drug possession will be resentenced after the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with the state that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of possessing cocaine.

COA: Lake County court overstepped in awarding fees in Illinois case

December 5, 2018

A Lake County court lacked jurisdiction to award nearly $2 million in attorney fees arising from a permanently injured man’s Illinois worker’s compensation case. The Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday vacated the judge’s order on fees entered in the man’s guardianship case.

Appeals court remands Hamilton Southeastern rate case to IURC

December 5, 2018

A Hamilton County sewer utility rate increase case that went all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court is going back to the state agency where it originated after an Indiana Court of Appeals ruling Wednesday.

Judge strikes lethal injection secrecy law, says lawmakers ‘overstepped’

November 30, 2018

The Indiana Department of Correction has again lost a suit in which it argues to keep secret the drugs it would use in a lethal injection. The judge in the case extraordinarily outlined how the DOC, the governor’s office, and the Indiana General Assembly appeared to directly undermine her order that the department disclose the drugs it might use in a potential execution.

Alleged drug dealer’s tie to CI’s assault merits higher bond

November 29, 2018

An accused drug dealer who allegedly assaulted an informant then arranged a separate assault on her from behind bars in Columbus had his bond increased rather than lowered, and the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed Thursday.

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