To elevate Indiana women in the traditionally male-dominated white-collar defense bar, the Indianapolis chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association was founded in 2015. The primary goal of the group is to build a referral network so female lawyers are likelier to get handed a case or asked to represent a client.
While reflecting on our time writing this column, it became clear that we have not addressed an important aspect of our lives and future legal careers: We are women in the law. Obviously, the legal field has historically been dominated by men, and usually those who are well-off. In our time in law school we have seen a growing movement of greater diversity in the field, paving the way for different groups of people to make their mark in the profession and on the legal landscape.
Each year, the Women and the Law Division presents its Mentorship Award, which seeks to honor a female legal professional who’s exhibited exceptional efforts to be a mentor to other women in the profession. This year, the division has selected Germaine Willett of Ice Miller LLP as the honorable recipient.
Rural communities’ access to justice, bail reform and ensuring voting rights for individuals with criminal convictions will be chief among several criminal justice topics set for discussion during next month’s 2020 American Bar Association Midyear Meeting.
A woman who fought to desegregate California public schools when she was 9 years old will discuss the lawsuit that altered the course of her life next week during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration hosted by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the Indiana State Bar Association’s Latino Affairs Committee.
The number of lawyers in the United States who report having some form of a disability is minuscule. But as small as the figures may be, a shift is taking place in the legal industry that has caused the numbers to double in the past decade.
As classes begin for the 2018-2019 academic year, all Indiana law schools are marking historical milestones.
Indiana’s chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association is hosting the national bar association’s regional conference later this month, bringing a famed member of the “Star Trek” cast to the Hoosier state.
Three weeks into the six-week long Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity program, ICLEO fellow Jasmine Lovelace felt like she was already immersed in law school, especially with her 100-plus-page reading assignments. The soon-to-be Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law student was one of 23 applicants from across the state selected to participate in the 2019 ICLEO summer preparatory institute, hosted at Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington.
Finding a disproportionate majority of state supreme court justices are white men, a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law highlights the lack of diversity on America’s highest state courts, which is being described as a crisis.
In a remarkable political repudiation, the Democratic-led U.S. House voted to condemn President Donald Trump’s “racist comments” against four congresswomen of color, despite protestations by Trump’s Republican congressional allies and his own insistence he hasn’t “a racist bone in my body.” Retiring Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks was among four Republicans joining the condemnation of Trump’s statements.
Eli Lilly and Co. announced Thursday that two of its top executives are leaving the company, including Mike Harrington, senior vice president and general counsel, who said he plans to retire at the end of the year.
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.
Law schools must now have 75 percent of their graduates pass the bar exam within two years of completing their J.D. degrees after a twice-defeated accreditation standard was approved Friday by the American Bar Association. Opponents worry the change will hurt efforts to diversify the legal profession.
Across the country, in-house counsel attorneys are taking steps to put their money where their mouth is — literally — when it comes to diversity in the legal profession.
Dozens gathered to belatedly celebrate Black History Month on Friday at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, but the delay only heightened the joyful celebration. A crowd gathered to hear from honorary guest Major General Marcia Anderson, the first African-American woman to achieve the rank of major general in the history of the United States Army.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana will celebrate Black History Month by welcoming Marcia M. Anderson, the first African-American woman to achieve the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army and an attorney who spent more than 25 years as the clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
As March 1, 2019, marks the beginning of the registration period for the 2019 Indianapolis Bar Association’s Diversity Job Fair from August 5-6, I want to reflect on my wonderful experience at last year’s fair and express my gratitude to all the organizers and participants who made the experience memorable.
The deadline to apply for the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity program is quickly approaching. Those interested in the six-week summer institute must apply this week.
While statistics have shown some progress and modest increases in the numbers of minorities and women within the legal profession as a whole, Indiana has seemed to lag behind. Accordingly, the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana has taken the initiative to help change that within this state.