Judge slashes punitive damages awarded by jury in case against Wabash National
Judge Christopher E. McGraugh said the original $450 million amount awarded by the jury was “grossly excessive” and not in line with the company’s constitutional rights.
Legal Issues
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Helping legal aid: ILAS has full agenda to raise money, build its identity
Even as Indianapolis Legal Aid Society has been successful at bringing in more money from grants and private donors in recent years, the nonprofit is still facing an identity crisis with people getting confused about its name as well as the services it provides. The new chair of the nonprofit’s board of directors is launching an effort to clear the confusion and grow the contributions.
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Back to the border: Notre Dame law legal aid team sees increased hardship for asylum seekers
Instead of spending his holiday season surrounded by all things merry and bright, immigration attorney Rudy Monterrosa spent days at what he described as an ominous place akin to a concentration camp. For the second year in a row, Monterrosa took a team to the Texas-Mexico border to offer free legal services to women and children seeking asylum in the United States. His experience this time, however, was quite different.
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Alternative approaches: Pew study finds civil legal problems impacting 47% of US households
After finding the need for civil legal assistance in the United States is widespread across all income levels — and perhaps spread wider than previously thought — The Pew Charitable Trusts sees a need for new solutions to addressing the problems experienced by many individuals and families.
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Articles
Regulatory panel denies Stifel’s claim against Indy competitor
A financial industry arbitration panel has ordered Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. to pay $7 million in attorney’s fees to a group of former Stifel advisers in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis couple sues IU professor, students for $2B alleging they stole project plans
Tim and Doris Anne Sadler say the students disclosed the couple’s plans for a 1,550-acre development in Puerto Rico to a company that used the information to take over the project.
Prominent Republicans back ‘safe and regulated’ marijuana legalization group
A Republican-backed group pushing Indiana’s lawmakers to “adopt safe and regulated” marijuana policies launched on Wednesday.
State bar association looks at limited legal licensing for non-attorneys
At its annual summit Thursday, one of the bar association’s breakout sessions,”Exploring Alternative Forms of Licensure,” allowed members to give their own feedback on what they think about having non-attorneys perform certain legal services and what those services might be.
U.S. drug control agency moving to reclassify marijuana in historic shift, sources say
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country.
Marijuana recommendation by U.S. health agency hailed as first step to easing restrictions
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana policy, and Senate leaders hailed it Wednesday as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug.
Report offers recommendations on how allied legal professionals can help fill ‘justice gap’
A new report from the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System recommends being thoughtful about titles given to allied legal professionals and incorporating practices such as estate planning in their work as part of an effort to meet the high demand for legal services.
NCAA approves new guidance on player endorsement deals
The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors approved on Wednesday new guidance to members on name, image and likeness activities, clarifying how schools, coaches and staffers can be involved with athletes’ endorsement and sponsorship deals.
Smith & Wesson sued over link to July 4 parade mass shooting
Survivors of the mass shooting at a suburban Chicago Independence Day parade and family members of those killed filed 11 lawsuits Wednesday against the manufacturer of the rifle used in the attack.
Report shows despite increase in funding, LSC grantees not able to meet demand
A report analyzing the 2020 activities of Legal Services Corporation grantees, which includes Indiana Legal Services, shows that even as federal funding for legal aid has climbed to $440 million, the highest amount ever appropriated, the number of cases closed has slumped and more than 70% of the assistance offered is classified as “limited.”
Biden orders better access to legal services for poor, minorities
The president wrote in a memo that the pandemic “has further exposed and exacerbated inequities in our justice system” as legal services were curtailed. He added that the problems “have touched the lives of many persons in this country, particularly low-income people and people of color.”
LSC prepares another supplemental legal aid funding request
Saying civil legal aid can help make the American Jobs Plan “work the way Congress intends,” the Legal Services Corp. is requesting supplement funding between $350 million and $500 million be included in the infrastructure package proposed by the Biden administration.
Left out of COVID relief, Legal Services Corp. prepares $1B budget request
Legal Services Corp., the national funder for legal aid providers across the country, including Indiana Legal Services, was unable to get additional funding through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, but the organization is planning to nearly double its annual budget request to more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2022.
ILAS gets $250,000 boost from Lilly Endowment
Indianapolis Legal Aid Society has received a $250,000 COVID-19 relief grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., providing much-needed support for legal assistance to low-income Hoosiers in central Indiana who have been acutely affected by the ongoing pandemic.
Pro bono filing fee bill needs buzzer-beating play to pass Legislature
Although the Indiana General Assembly has unanimously supported a $1 pro bono surcharge tacked onto the state’s filing fee for civil cases since 2012, a bill that would have increased the amount to $3 did not get a committee hearing this session, raising alarm that the key funding stream for legal aid could run dry just as the need is growing.
Advocates, landlords have differing views of housing bill veto override
Legal aid providers are uncertain what will happen now that the Indiana General Assembly has enacted a law that is seen as giving more favor to landlords, but they fear it will exacerbate the growing problem of evictions in Indiana and lead to more families being put on the street.
Cy pres from Celadon judgment benefitting legal aid
The remainder of a multi-million-dollar judgment won by Cohen & Malad against the former Celadon Trucking Services is providing welcome support to civil legal aid in Indiana.
Spending package contains historic appropriation for legal aid
With the president’s signature on the $2.3 trillion spending bill, the Legal Services Corporation is set to receive $465 million, the largest appropriation in actual dollars for the organization in its history.
ILAS starts annual fundraiser amid growing need
For the first time in its history, the Indianapolis Legal Aid Society’s holiday dollar campaign is going virtual. The fundraiser has become a tradition since it was started in the mid-1990s but will be critical this season to meet the needs created by the pandemic.