SEPT. 30-OCT. 13, 2020

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.

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SEPT. 16-29, 2020

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.

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SEPT. 2-15, 2020

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.    

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JULY 22-AUG. 4, 2020

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. 

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JULY 8-21, 2020

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.

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MAY 27-JUNE 9, 2020

Suspended Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is fighting to stay in power, facing political rivals as well as a lawsuit that seeks to disqualify him from office. Juvenile probation officers in Marion and Monroe counties delivered for their young clients and their families, providing a gift in tough times. And as law school graduates faced unprecedented challenges from the coronavirus pandemic leading up the July bar exam, quick action by the Indiana Supreme Court delivered some certainty in uncertain times.

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