One of the best ways to respond to lawyer jokes and criticism of the profession is to conduct ourselves as helpful, reasonable professionals who genuinely care about our clients and our profession.
As this year’s graduates prepare to take the July bar exam, I cannot help but think back to when I was taking the bar and preparing to begin my legal career. A daunting task, certainly. But with the support of many in the Indianapolis legal community, I got through it with only a few bumps and bruises. And I learned a lot along the way. For the developing young lawyer, this article offers some practical guidance to help you continue growing professionally.
When the federal district court in Washington, D.C., ruled in a dispute over the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), Indiana State Bar Association president Todd Spurgeon heard the screech of a locomotive coming to sudden stop.
Tune in each week for webinars on a variety of practice management topics with IndyBar Law Practice Management Consultant Jared Correia. Each webinar will pack in helpful tips, useful information and plenty of time for Q&A with our expert.
The nominations for IndyBar’s 2020 Board of Directors are now open, and it’s up to you to help determine the future of your local bar association! Several positions, noted below, will be available in 2020.
Nominations are being accepted for the 2019 Antoinette Dakin Leach Award and attorney and judicial professionalism awards.
“Lawyer-only” coworking facilities are popping up in bigger cities. Coworking facilities help address confidentiality concerns and other lawyer-specific concerns while saving a small/solo practitioner money by reducing overhead and allowing a la carte pricing, depending on one’s needs.
Why is the Tax Section hosting an event on unclaimed property? We sat down with Ben Blair of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP and speaker at the upcoming program on August 6, “Escheat Happens: What Lawyers Need to Know About Unclaimed Property Liability” to talk a little bit about it.
I’ve always been fascinated by the law of unknown consequences. Books have been written and movies have been made about the dominos that fall after some seemingly random act. But most of these stories are negative. We focus less on the positive, perhaps because we hear less about it. Yet I would argue that we have overlooked one of the most important aspects of human existence — the positive impact we can have on others whom we may never see again.
In many instances, a policy-limits demand results in a discussion between defense counsel and the policyholder about the policyholder’s desire to settle the lawsuit to avoid the risk of personal exposure and/or to avoid the emotional stress of litigation. But what if the policyholder does not want to settle the lawsuit? What if the policyholder wants her day in court? What if the policyholder is willing to risk personal exposure? What should defense counsel and the insurance company do if they believe the case should be settled?
An Indianapolis attorney with a long resume of bar association leadership is now representing a three-state contingent on the American Bar Association’s Board of Governors.
DTCI Young Lawyers gathered for Happy Hour in the private pub room of The Tap in downtown Indianapolis on June 5. The event, hosted by Exponent, an engineering consultant firm, was a hit!
The Sedona Conference was delighted to be cited in David Beach and Ryan Cook’s timely article “DTCI: The Scope of Discovery Standard — Is It Time for an Update?” (May 29, 2019). Indeed we agree that the explosion of information and information sources and the rapid technological advancements have markedly changed the complexity of discovery.
Attorneys engaged in defending workers’ compensation claims in Indiana may occasionally encounter a situation in which a claimant chooses to maintain claims in multiple states arising out of the same incident or injury. Potential issues in practice may arise where injured workers pursue claims in multiple states, implicating res judicata and collateral estoppel concerns.
It’s a phone call or email that no family law attorney wants to hear in a divorce case — that the custodial parent has passed away in a case where the noncustodial parent had supervised parenting time. Apart from your own personal reaction, there are questions whirling through your mind — does custody automatically transfer to the other parent? Even if their parenting time was restricted? What action do I need to take regarding the custody of the child?
In 2018, the Indianapolis Bar Foundation (IBF) awarded its $50,000 Impact Fund Grant to Indiana Legal Services (ILS), an outstanding organization that provides legal services to the poor and indigent. Recently, ILS attorney Michael Hurst reported the group’s progress and use of that grant to create a new program to help people avoid eviction.
Attorneys from opposite ends of the state were honored for their contributions to the legal profession Friday during the Indiana State Bar Association Solo/Small Firm Conference. Joseph D. O’Connor, an attorney with Bunger & Robertson in Bloomington, and Jack L. Walkey of Ball Eggleston P.C. in Lafayette each received the GP Hall of Fame Award from the ISBA’s General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section.
A few months after a criminal appeal I was handling had been fully briefed, the Court of Appeals set it for oral argument. Fortunately, one of my partners told me about the IndyBar Appellate Institute’s moot court program.
To recognize the accomplishments of female attorneys in central Indiana, the IndyBar’s Women and the Law Division presents the Antoinette Dakin Leach Award. Nominations are now open.
Connecting with potential clients is a crucial first step in business development for lawyers, especially as consumers increasingly turn to the internet for their search. Now, an even better way to capture those leads is available from the Indianapolis Bar Association with the launch of a brand-new artificial intelligence-fueled lawyer referral platform.