A collective approach to evaluate, critique, plan and deconstruct inequities within the legal system is the only way we can improve a legal construct created more than 240 years ago. How do we, in the state of Indiana, synthesize our efforts into a coordinated plan of action that addresses statewide and local issues of inequity?
While there is no playbook outlining the exact steps employers should take to address issues related to racial injustice, there are several actions employers can take to promote racial equity both inside and outside of the workplace.
Whether you’re interested in adding pro bono to your practice for next year’s reporting requirements or are simply interested in increasing the number of hours you spend on reportable pro bono legal services, there are several ways you can get involved.
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently published a decision that is instructive about noncompete agreements. It is one of the rare noncompete cases that does not contain the phrase: “Indiana courts are reluctant to enforce noncompete agreements because they constitute a restraint on trade.”
In the ongoing work conditions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, business owners may consider that their principal concern is how to make it easier and more efficient for employees to do their jobs remotely. But as businesses streamline connections and move information from office hardware to home computers, they should not forget to safeguard the trade secret information that may be moving around.
It is ironic that the highest court in our land, charged with ensuring that the rules and laws of the country are fair and legal, is itself guilty of enacting a most unfair and arguably unlawful rule explicitly forbidding unrepresented litigants from participating in the Supreme Court oral argument process.
Even though court appearances are rare these days, let me reflect on some funny moments that I treasure.
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged and changed how lawyers do business. Although law firms were considered essential businesses by Indiana’s stay-at-home orders, most lawyers responsibly transitioned their practices to remote working arrangements. This article focuses on how litigators used — and continue to use — technology to meet client needs and court deadlines.
Most people don’t want to think of their own mortality or the possibility that they may become incapacitated and incapable of expressing their health care wishes. Having an estate plan as well as a plan in place for end-of-life decisions will provide peace of mind for you and your family.
While I hate to admit this, the pandemic has inflicted a miserable toll on me. As a criminal defense attorney, personal interaction with prosecutors and court staff has been eliminated. This has made it difficult to resolve tough cases when you are reduced to using Zoom and emails. Yet it is the inability to travel that has sucked the wind out of my sails.
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.
To a savvy litigator armed with best practices to avoid ethical violations and ensure admissibility, social media can be utilized as an effective tool to gather information throughout litigation, including trial.
At a time when the American criminal justice system is under the most intense scrutiny of most of our lives, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling allowing the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee was slap in the face of the victims’ family members who opposed it and a bizarre, out-of-touch, wholly mean-spirited form of justice.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread changes to everyday life that have presented new questions for parents and family law practitioners alike. While we began in uncharted territory, this experience has been an opportunity for attorneys to creatively problem solve in a time when we, like our clients, are navigating many of the same uncertainties.
A courageous man, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once said, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” In so many words, Dr. King was describing courage. Now, more than ever, we all need courage.
I’m still processing the news that this morning my court-appointed death-row client, Wesley Purkey, was executed. I was his pro bono counsel on three civil-rights/conditions of confinement claims in the Southern District of Indiana. So as I wrestle now — and hopefully for some time — with the legal and moral aspects of capital punishment that otherwise have been remote, it seems appropriate and timely to discuss the needs and opportunities for pro bono service in civil cases in our local federal courts. Both are robust.
I write this article on the day our federal government executed the first prisoner in 17 years. His name was Danny Lee, and he was put to death in Terre Haute, Indiana. Our state. The original judge, prosecutor and victims’ family opposed killing Lee because the co-defendant was more culpable and received life in prison. They were ignored while our president had time to commute the sentence of his buddy Roger Stone. No time for Lee, however.
The Black Lives Matter movement jolted us from our self-satisfied stasis. But to change things, we must do things. If silence is violence, then speaking without specifics is only nominally better. To bring the justice protesters so desire, it is time to recognize the deeply embedded systemic racism in Indiana and develop a list of specific demands to yield measurable results. The risk of not doing so is too great: the country simply cannot become further torn over racial injustice.
Practicing law occupies your mind. Being a lawyer has been described as a thinking job and not just a doing job. Lately the news around us has been horrible, and the decisions we face about tasks as simple as buying groceries have been daunting. In these times, I have found my law practice to be a welcome respite from the world around me.
“Field of Dreams” (1989) captures the essence of baseball. The immortal line, “If you build it, he will come,” will always reminds me of my late father. As kids, he played catch with me and my brothers in a field near our house, and I still see him waving at me when I drive by that location in Batesville. As baseball tries to play a short season, I am reminded of my love of the game.