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.
A northern Indiana attorney charged with felony forgery of a judge’s signature received her fifth suspension of the year for failure to cooperate with another Disciplinary Commission investigation of a grievance against her. Four of the suspensions remain active.
A lawyer who formerly worked in northern Indiana and already was ordered to repay more than $2.5 million to clients now is facing criminal charges. Federal prosecutors say 61-year-old Sven Eric Marshall, formerly of South Bend, is facing five counts of mail fraud for allegedly running an “elder abuse scam” through an investment company named Trust & Advisory Services of Indiana Inc.
The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission is warning lawyers of the potential ethical pitfalls that can arise when Hoosier attorneys affiliate themselves with out-of-state law firms or non-lawyer legal services companies. Such relationships could allow the non-Indiana groups to offer legal services in the Hoosier state without actually having to be a member of the Indiana bar, the commission said.
Read who was suspended from the practice of law during the most recent reporting period.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a public reprimand of an Evansville attorney and accepted the resignation of a Brown County attorney who was facing multiple professional misconduct and trust account violations.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday again suspended from the practice of law a northern Indiana lawyer who is charged with felony forgery and was found to be noncooperative with another Disciplinary Commission investigation of a grievance against her.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended a Valparaiso attorney who faced multiple criminal charges of violating protective orders and was convicted of one count in a bench trial a day earlier.
Read who has been disbarred, has resigned, or was suspended in the most recent reporting period.
A Marion attorney already under interim and administrative suspensions has been suspended from the practice of law for at least three years for professional misconduct, including her continual abuse of cocaine.
Legal professionals work within the Rules of Professional Conduct, so they don’t want to make any comments that might be perceived as unduly critical of others in the profession — a profession built largely on respect and civility. But according to an Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law professor, the unease surrounding Rule 8.2(a) is not a matter of respect, but rather a matter of lawyer fear.
A prominent Indianapolis employment attorney is facing a disciplinary complaint for his involvement in the botched investigation of a former Park Tudor basketball coach who later was convicted of coercing a student into exchanging sexually explicit images and texts. Ice Miller LLP partner Michael Blickman, 65, is accused of possessing and copying child pornography, failing to immediately report child abuse and other ethical rule violations.
The Indiana Supreme Court has accepted the resignation of a Hoosier attorney who faced multiple felony drunken-driving counts. Justices also ordered reciprocal discipline for another lawyer who was removed from the practice of law by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
A Florida-based attorney who was found to have violated a dozen of Indiana’s professional conduct rules has lost his Indiana law license, effective immediately. The Indiana Supreme Court found the lawyer’s dishonesty and neglect of cases had harmed clients and placed himself and others in legal peril.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is seeking public comment on a proposed amendment that would completely reframe its current discipline enforcement rules.
Read who has been found in contempt, reinstated, reprimanded and suspended in the most recent reporting period.
An Indianapolis attorney who has been suspended from the practice of law since 2009 has been ordered to pay a $500 fine for continuing to offer legal services despite her suspension.
The Indiana Supreme Court privately reprimanded an Evansville attorney Friday after he failed to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in communicating with clients whose homestead was burned in an act of vandalism that appeared to be racially motivated.
Read who has been suspended from the practice of law in the latest reporting period.
An Indianapolis attorney who violated the terms of her Supreme Court-imposed probation must now serve the full length of her suspended discipline after failing to comply with her Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program monitoring agreement.