With the most partisan vote in modern history closer to a presidential election than any prior confirmation, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judge and Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett ascended to the United States Supreme Court. As Indiana voters go to the polls, they'll be deciding on judges in any number of ways. And as Indiana welcomed 337 new lawyers to the profession, experts say new lawyers and law students are increasingly seeking to make change in their legal careers.

Lawyers who have taken Red Cross disaster deployment training are ready to roll to deliver emergency aid when they get the call. Women law firm equity partners have made slow but steady gains over the past decade, but they see more work ahead to increase diversity. And the deans of Indiana University Maurer and McKinney schools of law are co-chairing a panel weighing the naming of facilities for former president IU David Starr Jordan.

As Hoosiers reacted to the nomination of 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge and Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett to the nation’s highest court, they also fondly recalled the connections shared with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on her many visits here. And while new laws firms and those that reorganized just before the pandemic juggled numerous pressures, Indiana bankruptcy lawyers say they keep expecting a flood of COVID-related filings that so far has not come.

After a career as one of Indiana’s most prolific appellate practitioners that began clerking for a Court of Appeals judge, Leanna Weissmann has come full circle with her appointment to the appellate bench. Judges who wish to advocate for social issues must walk a fine line to preserve their impartiality. And as new and returning law students enter the unknown during a pandemic, those in the Class of 2020 who ended their law school experience virtually excelled in a one-of-a-kind bar exam.

An 8,000-hog farm in Hendricks County that neighbors say has harmed their health and property values is the subject of a lawsuit over the Indiana Right to Farm Act that plaintiffs hope to take to the United States Supreme Court. More than 40 percent of Indiana counties are “legal deserts,” with less than one lawyer per 1,000 residents. See how all 92 Indiana counties compare, and hear from people who are among a few who practice in their hometowns. And a trio of court rulings shook up Indiana election laws, leaving a still-unresolved picture of what voting may look like on Nov. 3.    

After winning the right to vote 100 years ago, women go to the polls in greater numbers than men, but their impact is limited. Students heading back to school amid the coronavirus pandemic created unexpected lessons for parents, teachers and education attorneys. And with calls for racial justice continuing to reverberate, statehouse leaders are pushing for policy changes to police law enforcement.

At 38, the new managing partner of Dentons Bingham Greenebaum’s Indianapolis office is taking charge at a challenging time, finding that “nimble” is her favorite word of late. Indiana’s new pretrial risk assessment tools is showing some initial success, new studies show. And a trio of northern Indiana judges have a honey of a hobby that keeps them busy as beekeepers.

As Indiana law schools prepare to welcome back students amid the COVID-19 pandemic, administrators are planning for a semester that will be unlike any other. Indiana willl have a new attorney general come January as Republican Todd Rokita and Democrat Jonathan Weinzapfel are gearing up for the November general election. The pandemic threw ice water on the red-hot law firm merger market, but Indiana, a state often absent from the list of merger activity, recorded two separate combinations just as the COVID-19 crisis was taking hold. 

Shining a light on a little-told success story — that two-thirds of Hoosier youths in foster care exit the system and are are successfully reunited with their natural parents — Marion County court staff held a celebration to mark National Reunification Month for the first time in Indiana. Like the rest of the state, lawyers aren’t heading back to the office all at once — in fact, some aren’t heading back at all. The new normal of “working from home” has become so engrained that firm leaders say they don’t expect their employees to return to the old lifestyle of commuting into the office every day. And as Hoosier trial courts prepare for the return of in-person proceedings with COVID-19 precautions, many unanswered questions remain about the best practices for safely conducting jury trials.

A new regional center in Indianapolis is bringing economic excitement as an immigration law firm plans to boost businesses, communities with foreign investors. The final chapter of Valparaiso Law School has brought bittersweet memories for alumni. And as a slate of new laws are set to take effect July 1, two lawyers whose clients lost in court saw new laws that adopted the positions they fought for.