On May 9, Indiana was still awaiting word about whether Gov. Mitch Daniels would sign Senate Enrolled Act 590. After a protracted volley between the House and Senate, the bill designed to crack down on illegal immigration passed on April 29, its language considerably altered from the introduced version.
Ask if it is important for law firms to comprise a diversified group of lawyers, and the answer will be a resounding “yes.” Mirroring society’s cultural mix, expanding the firm’s thought pool, and improving the ability of clients to identify with their lawyers are all reasons diversity makes good business sense.
Minority bar associations continue to benefit the Indiana legal community by offering diverse perspectives. Members benefit from networking opportunities, and the bars help to maintain a positive professional presence in the communities they serve.
Having volunteers and staff who can relate to families that interact with Court Appointed Special Advocates programs has proven invaluable to a number of county-level CASA programs in Indiana. Indianapolis-based Child Advocates Inc. received the National CASA Inclusion Award for its inclusion and diversity plan March 20 at the National CASA conference in Chicago.
A case involving the issue of a prosecutor’s use of a peremptory strike against an African-American member of the jury pool has appeared before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals for the third time. This time, the judges vacated the two defendants’ murder and robbery convictions and ordered a new trial.
As a contentious immigration law that went into effect in Arizona last summer continues to be challenged and further changes are being considered by Arizona lawmakers, similar bills at the state and local level, including one in the Indiana Statehouse, have been gaining traction.
The National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association announced Thursday afternoon that it will honor Indianapolis-based Child Advocates Inc. with the National CASA Inclusion Award at their 30th Annual National CASA Conference in Chicago on March 20.
The Indiana Supreme Court posted a reminder on its website today that applications for the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity are due March 1 for the 2011 ICLEO summer institute that will take place at Notre Dame Law School from June 13 through July 22.
To help a diverse group of 2L students find summer employment in central Indiana, and to help Indianapolis-area employers connect with diverse, qualified students looking for summer associate positions, the Indianapolis Bar Association hosted its third diversity job fair at a downtown Indianapolis hotel in August.
When asked if diversity played a role in their decisions on where to attend law school, a handful of minority law students in Indiana said while it wasn’t the biggest or only factor, it often was a consideration.
Two Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs professors at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have received a $200,000 grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to study the records of juvenile delinquents in Indiana to determine if juvenile court personnel treated defendants differently based on race, the school announced today.
While family law cases can be complicated – especially if children are involved and a case has ended up in front of a judge after the parties couldn’t come to an agreement on their own through mediation – the issues only get more complicated when fundamental differences exist between the parties.
Hundreds of attorneys and judges converged on Indianapolis recently, attending the annual meeting of the Indiana State Bar Association, where the delegates dodged any new business.
When the Indiana State Bar Association gets law students, attorneys, professors, judges, court administrators, deans, and representatives of Indiana’s Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Disciplinary Commission, Board of Law Examiners, and the Indiana Bar Foundation are all in the same place for a few hours, some interesting dialogues are bound to take place.
The theme of this year’s Kuykendall-Conn Celebration, the signature event of the Marion County Bar Association, is “Resurrecting the Call of Justice for All.”
A former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, who was on the bench during Bush v. Gore, is the keynote speaker at this year’s President’s Dinner at the Indiana State Bar Association annual meeting in Indianapolis.
The state’s first African-American federal judge will be formally sworn in Friday afternoon at the United States Courthouse in Indianapolis.
Among the focuses for this year’s Indiana State Bar Association's fourth Legal Education Conclave conclave, which takes place every few years, were diversity, ethics, and stress among lawyers and law students.
Retired Vincennes attorney Ewing Rabb Emison Jr., 85, president of the Indiana State Bar Association from 1986 to 1987, died this morning.
When he was named to the Madison Circuit bench late last year, Judge Rudolph “Rudy” Pyle III made history in that he became not only the county’s first African-American jurist but also the first Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunities graduate to be elevated to the state’s judiciary at that level.