Indiana

Now Wed to Lawyer, Owner Tries to Give Home Back to Habitat for Humanity, Could Face Suit

After marrying a lawyer and moving into his Indiana home, Yvonne Vanderaa (now Yvonne Parkinson) tried to do the right thing. She probably could have made a profit by selling her own West Lafayette home, which she got from Habitat for Humanity. But instead she tried to give it back…

Oct 14, 2010 10:33 PM CDT

Prosecutor Reprimanded for Working for Three-Plus Years with an Inactive License

An Indiana prosecutor has been reprimanded for handling cases while he held an inactive license. The Indiana Supreme Court reprimanded Newton County Prosecutor Ed Barce in a 3-2 decision (PDF), the Journal & Courier reports. Dissenters argued that Barce should have been suspended for 30 days. Barce had an inactive…

Oct 6, 2010 12:56 PM CDT

Prosecutor Fights Effort to Boot Him from Triple-Murder Case, Due to Book Deal

A county prosecutor in Indiana is fighting an effort to force him off a triple-murder case, due to his involvement in a potential true-crime book deal prior to the defendant’s sentencing. Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson, who reportedly inked a contract with a literary agent a week after defendant David…

Sep 21, 2010 5:04 PM CDT

Indiana Supreme Court Warns It Will Get Tough on Pro Hac Vice Paperwork

The Indiana Supreme Court has issued a private reprimand to a lawyer and a warning to others in an ethics case concerning a neglected application for pro hac vice status. The court found that an Indiana lawyer, who wasn’t identified, partnered with a Kentucky lawyer in a personal injury case,…

Sep 7, 2010 1:45 PM CDT

Pro Se Defendant Blames Judge for Conviction ... And Is Pro Se Again in New Trial

A pro se defendant who sat silently through much of his trial is now blaming the Indiana judge who oversaw the Vanderburgh County case for allegedly failing to warn him adequately of the dangers of self-representation and failing to notice his troubled mental state. As a result of his jury…

Aug 23, 2010 6:28 PM CDT

Prosecutor Candidate Accused of Accepting Sex for Fee After Ex-Client Claims Secret Tape

A prosecutor candidate in Southern Indiana has been accused of secretly videotaping a tryst with a former client who agreed to pay her bill with sex. The lawyer, 57-year-old William Wallace of Princeton, Ind., is a candidate for Gibson County prosecuting attorney and was formerly the contract lawyer for the…

Jun 17, 2010 11:53 AM CDT

No Permission, No Problem: Gary, Ind., Plans Michael Jackson Museum

You might think Indiana officials would have learned a lawsuit lesson from the Dillinger Museum. After a seven-year litigation saga, tourism officials in Hammond reached an undisclosed settlement with the great-nephew of notorious gangster John Dillinger that permitted the facility to reopen to the public. But now their Gary counterparts…

Jun 3, 2010 10:57 PM CDT

Clash of Rights over an Allergy-Detecting Dog Leads to EEOC Complaint

The rights of an employee who uses an allergy-detection dog are at odds with those of another worker with asthma in a complaint pending with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Emily Kysel brought her specially trained, $10,000 golden-retriever to work at the city of Indianapolis until a co-worker reacted to…

May 14, 2010 11:15 AM CDT

Cops on Paid Leave After Reported Use of Stun Gun on Boy, 10

Called to a home day care center to deal with an out-of-control 10-year-old who was kicking, screaming and spitting, one Martinsville, Ind., police officer reportedly used a stun gun on the boy and another slapped him in the face with an open hand. Both officers are now on paid administrative…

Apr 1, 2010 10:51 PM CDT

Benesch Friedlander Snaps Up Century-Old Indy Firm

Cleveland-based Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff announced this week that it has merged with Indianapolis-based Dann Pecar Newman & Kleiman as part of its continuing growth strategy. Benesch now counts 145 attorneys and 288 support staff in seven offices in the United States and Shanghai, according to a news release.…

Mar 3, 2010 12:36 PM CST

Onetime College Dropout Credits Big Breaks for Success as Partner

As his mother lay wounded at a hospital from multiple gunshots, Jimmie McMillian took stock of his life, including his status as a college dropout despite his mother’s sacrifices. And he bargained with God. If his mother would pull through, he’d go back to school and make something of himself.…

Feb 23, 2010 12:35 AM CST

It’s Airstream v. Airstream in This Cross-Country Cupcake Battle

In the “burgeoning local trailer-food market” in Austin, Texas, Hey Cupcake is an early pioneer, having established its presence in 2007, operating out of an airstream trailer topped with a giant iced cupcake. Hey Cupcake hopes to expand nationally at some point. So when it discovered the existence of the…

Feb 12, 2010 4:15 PM CST

Barnes & Thornburg Is New Home for Group from Dissolving Energy Boutique

Led by a former name partner, a team of lawyers from the dissolving Marshall & Lueder energy boutique in Atlanta has found a new home at Barnes & Thornburg’s growing Atlanta office. William Ewing and Michael Lueder are joining as partners in the business practice group and Steven Whitehead will…

Feb 3, 2010 9:45 PM CST

Lawyer Tips Feds to Alleged Plot to Kill Federal Prosecutor; 2 Charged

A defense lawyer for a former prison inmate who had been convicted of murder pointed authorities to an alleged plot to kill a federal prosecutor in Chicago, resulting in charges against two men. Two suburban Chicago men, Jack Mann, 41, and Frank Caira, 39, are the defendants in the case,…

Jan 19, 2010 9:28 PM CST

Judge Claims Head Trauma Caused Her to Forget Shooting Details

An Indiana judge acquitted last week of obstruction of justice is fighting a related judicial misconduct complaint stemming from a shooting at her home. The judge, Jennifer Evans-Koethe of LaPorte County, says she has no recollection of many events cited in the ethics complaint, according to the Herald Argus. The…

Jan 14, 2010 7:32 PM CST