IBA: Techniques for Controlling Challenging Witnesses That Work, Some with Risk
Third in a series of articles on Witness Control and Cross Examination.
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Articles
Technology Untangled: Dropbox offers simple file storage and sharing
If you find that you are often having to e-mail files to yourself or are constantly transferring files via USB drive, then Dropbox online file storage and syncing may be for you.
Weather causes closures, cancellations
The ice and snow falling in central Indiana has led to cancellations of two court events and closed the Indiana General Assembly.
3 dozen TTALT sites around the state
While some attorneys got a day off of work Jan. 17 when courts, government offices, banks, and many businesses were closed to honor the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., more than 200 lawyers volunteered to spend two hours answering legal questions from the public as part of the Indiana State Bar Association’s 10th annual Talk to a Lawyer Today event.
New assistant dean named, school partner to help Haiti, prof studies Belize
Law school briefs on Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis and Notre Dame Law School.
Opinions Feb. 1, 2011, ILD
Indiana Supreme Court had posted no opinions at IL deadline.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Walsh & Kelly, Inc. v. International Contractors, Inc., et al.
64A03-1006-PL-284
Civil plenary. Affirms judgment in favor of Signature Properties Inc. with respect to Signature’s claim that it was not fully indemnified for its damages by a collateral assignment agreement and with respect to Signature’s claim that Walsh & Kelly slandered the title of Signature’s property. The agreement does not fully indemnify Signature such that Signature has not suffered a pecuniary loss. By filing an action to foreclose the lien instead of releasing the lien after it received notice that it was not legally entitled to file the lien, Walsh acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
L.C. v. R.C. (NFP)
23A05-1002-DR-200
Domestic relation. Affirms dissolution order distributing the parties’ property, awarding primary physical custody of the children to mother R.C., and granting R.C.’s motion to relocate.
Charles Pennington v. State of Indiana (NFP)
15A01-1007-CR-345
Criminal. Affirms sentence following guilty pleas to Class B misdemeanor public intoxication, Class D felony operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction, Class D felony possession of a controlled substance, and Class D felony possession of a legend drug in three separate causes.
Joshua Hooten v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1006-CR-684
Criminal. Affirms revocation of probation.
David Harrold v. Robert Thornburg, Personal Rep. of the Estate of Roland Walker (NFP)
68A05-0911-CV-671
Civil. Affirms judgment in favor of Robert Thornburg, as the personal representative of the estate of Roland J. Walker in the estate’s action against Harrold as a result of Harrold’s transfer of real estate to himself while acting as attorney-in-fact for the decedent, Roland J. Walker .
Indiana Tax Court had posted no opinions at IL deadline.
Motion & discovery
A settlement is the quicker resolution. A trial is the longer resolution. How the initial give and take between attorneys determines what happens.
Court won’t rehear stun-belt case
The full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has said it will not rehear an Indiana case focusing on a convicted murderer’s ineffective assistance of trial counsel claims relating to a stun belt used in court.
Will SCOTUS weigh in on canons?
The Supreme Court of the United States could soon decide if it will take on cases that question Indiana’s judicial canons and whether those types of rules infringe on the free speech rights of seated jurists or those vying for the bench.
Lawyer practiced realty, construction law
The Indiana legal community has lost a former prosecutor and private attorney who, during his five decades of practice, established himself as a state and national expert in realty and construction law.
Counsel sees benefit of ‘growing up’ with the company
Working for a company while in law school then staying at that company as a lawyer is fairly rare, but it happens. Even less common for today’s in-house counsel is starting at a company without a bachelor’s degree making $6 per hour doing data entry work and staying with that company through the completion of undergraduate and law school degrees.
Pro bono districts hire new plan administrators
With almost half of the pro bono districts losing plan administrators since mid-2009, it is not going to be an easy job to replace the institutional knowledge of the outgoing plan administrators. Districts 2, 3, 6, 9, 11, and most recently 7 have been forced to tackle that task.
Same firm, but different cases before Supreme Court on same day
For appellate attorneys Paul Jefferson and Mark Crandley at Barnes & Thornburg, this double-argument day Jan. 20 was a new experience that many say isn’t very common in the legal community.
Law schools discuss loans, jobs
School administrators respond to a widely circulated The New York Times article, "Is law school a losing game?"
Opinions Feb. 1, 2011
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States of America v. Derrick L. Bullock
10-2238
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, Fort Wayne Division, Judge Theresa L. Springmann.
Criminal. Bullock pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute at least five grams but less than fifty grams of cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). His plea was conditioned on his ability to appeal the District Court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence of the crack that led to his conviction. Affirms District Court ruling there was reasonable suspicion to detain Bullock during the search, probable cause existed to arrest Bullock for visiting a common nuisance under Indiana law after police found marijuana in plain view and other evidence of recurrent and widespread drug activity within the residence. His detention was lawful under principles set forth in Terry v. Ohio, and the subsequent arrest was supported by probable cause.
Indiana has received 14 multidistrict litigation actions over four decades
It began with a mid-air plane collision over Shelby County in 1969. That deadly aviation action symbolized Indiana’s introduction to multidistrict litigation.