The biblical words “love is patient, love is kind,” have significant meaning to close friends Lonisha Johnson and Kristy Johnson, both of whom are incarcerated at the Clark County Jail.
Looking up from her desk, Southern Indiana District Court Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson can have a moment of joy in a year where, as she noted, joyful moments have been too few. The object of her respite is “Her Honor,” a newly finished painting that depicts her and her female colleagues against a background of colorful bursts and expression to commemorate the achievement of women in the 100 years since the passage of the 19th Amendment.
Beneath a bright orange sunset, dozens of Indiana lawyers scattered across the field as Lee Christie, a partner at Cline Farrell Christie & Lee, stepped up to bat.
In law school, now-Judge Leanna Weissmann was a geek. At least that’s what she told well-wishers Tuesday when Gov. Eric Holcomb announced her appointment to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Get to know a new lawyer through this occasional feature from Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana.
Orville Copsey, Jr., an Indianapolis attorney whose work helping many elderly and disabled clients stay in their homes earned him the nickname “St. Orville,” died Aug. 4. He was 88. “We have lost a true gem in our legal community,” one attorney said in tribute.
It is easy to understand why Meg Christensen’s favorite word these days is “nimble.” The 38-year-old attorney became the managing partner of Dentons Bingham Greenebaum’s Indianapolis office during unprecedented challenges and about six months after the merger with global giant Dentons launched a new law firm business model.
Covered from head to toe in protective fabric and netting, three northern Indiana judges set out in the summer evening toward a buzzing stack of boxes settled against a tree line. The faded brown and green frames are home to thousands upon thousands of honeybees, going about their merry way gathering and storing food.
A well-written opinion or brief can change the course of legal thought, but while other parts of the practice of law have been upended by technology, the physical act of writing remains pretty much a job done by humans. However, new artificial intelligence software appears poised to rewrite the definition of writing.
The legal profession recently lost a bit of joy, comfort and unconditional love. Gus, the 10-year-old golden retriever and JLAP therapy dog who was a regular sight at state and local bar association events, died July 3.
Justice Clarence Thomas spoke and Chief Justice John Roberts ruled. The US Supreme Court’s most unusual term featured victories for immigrants, abortion rights, LGBTQ workers and religious freedoms. The usually quiet Thomas’ baritone was heard by the whole world when the coronavirus outbreak upended the court’s traditional way of doing business. When the biggest decisions were handed down, the chief justice was almost always in the majority and dictated the reach of the court’s most controversial cases, whether they were won by the left or the right.
Although many may be skeptical of parents whose children are removed from their care, statistics show that nearly 67% of Hoosier youths exit foster care and are successfully reunited with their moms and dads. Those stories of resilience inspired the Marion Superior Court Juvenile Division and the Marion County Public Defender Agency to celebrate National Reunification Month for the first time in Indiana.
Before she even saw the house at auction, Beverly Corn firmly put her foot down with a resounding no. “I kept saying, ‘I’m not doing it. I don’t know what donkey you think is going to drag me into this, I’m not doing it,’” Corn said. But that was two years ago, before the newly christened Riparian House in her childhood hometown came back to life with her help.
Before the signs were taken down and the remnants of the past 140 years were put into an archive, Nadia Wardrip took her 2-year-old daughter to Valparaiso Law School at the end of May to snap a couple of photos. The Lake County deputy prosecutor had spent 12 hours a day, six days a week at the law school so she could become a prosecutor, as she had dreamed of doing since high school. Going back one last time helped her explain to her little girl how she became who she is.
In a final twist of cruelty, the final graduating class of Valparaiso Law School and the alumni did not get to gather one final time to commemorate their alma mater. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented faculty, alumni and friends from saying goodbye together. So the institution closed quietly after the class of 2020 concluded their studies in May, ending a tenure in legal education that began in 1879.
It wasn’t the Lifetime Achievement Seminar that Frank Julian envisioned hosting, but the virtual Indiana Trial Lawyers Association conference last month gave the organization some ideas that likely will carry on even after the world stops social distancing.
New Indiana Trial Lawyers Association President Fred Schultz is looking at a challenging year ahead but seeing opportunities. The group’s most recent challenge was organizing a gathering for a key annual event last month in light of social distancing due to COVID-19.
Chief probation officer Christine Kerl and her team from the juvenile division of the Marion Superior Court Probation Department fanned out to Dollar Tree stores across Indianapolis earlier this spring and loaded their carts with items for families to enjoy together during these trying and tiring times.
Extra hours away from the outside world because of stay-at-home orders offered Indiana’s judges and attorneys at least one positive thing during the coronavirus-pandemic – time. Whether spending time with family or using quiet moments of solitude to revive rusty creative skills, many legal professionals are finding the joy and peace of everyday tasks in the midst of uncertain times.
A pair of Indianapolis attorneys have found their passion for auto racing made working on such issues a natural fit for their practices.