Indiana

Moonlighting Prosecutor Must Repay $18K, Faces Investigation

A prosecutor in Muncie, Ind., who moonlighted as a lawyer for a drug task force and was apparently paid attorney fees in drug cases involving confidential civil forfeiture agreements, must repay $18,395 in legal fees, a Delaware Circuit Court judge has ruled. Plus, prosecutor Mark McKinney also faces possible criminal…

Nov 13, 2008 9:11 PM CST

Truck Carrying Judge Crashes into Law Office of Opposition Lawyer

A pickup carrying an Indiana judge and six of his supporters crashed into the law office of a lawyer who represented his election opponent. Judge Abe Navarro of Clark County said the Sunday evening crash was a “freakish” accident, the News and Tribune reports. “It was surreal in a bad…

Nov 4, 2008 4:46 PM CST

2 Baker & Daniels Partners Leave for Athletics Director Posts

If you ever had a dream of becoming your alma mater’s athletics director, making partner at your law firm could be good job training. At least that’s what two former partners at the sports-savvy Indianapolis-based Baker & Daniels have discovered. In July, John “Jack” Swarbrick, a former Baker partner, became…

Nov 3, 2008 5:38 PM CST

Ind. Judge Accused of Slashing Sentence in Exchange for $100K Donation

A senior judge in Indiana’s LaPorte County is facing an ethics charge that claims he slashed a defendant’s drug sentence in exchange for a $100,000 donation to court programs. Judge Walter Chapala is accused of suspending 18 years of a defendant’s 20-year cocaine sentence after the convicted man’s father donated…

Oct 30, 2008 5:36 PM CDT

Indy Sheriff’s $3M Lock Reynolds Contract Under Microscope

Since 2003, Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson has spent more than $3 million in legal fees with law firm Lock Reynolds. Five three-year contracts signed by Anderson last year could produce another $1.5 million for the firm, significantly more than outside counsel for neighboring counties and similarly-sized Midwestern cities, the…

Oct 27, 2008 11:12 PM CDT

Lawyer Arrested for Bringing Gun to Use as Courtroom Prop

An Indianapolis lawyer is taking his lumps after his arrest last week for bringing an unloaded, but nevertheless real gun to use in a trial demonstration. “I should have got a squirt gun or a wooden gun,” Loren Jay Comstock told the Indianapolis Star. “It was a dumb thing, not…

Oct 20, 2008 5:05 PM CDT

Lawsuits, Disciplinary Complaints Over Indiana Defendant’s Delayed Release

An Indiana judge is facing potential discipline after court commissioner under his supervision delayed the release of a convicted rapist apparently cleared by DNA evidence. Although former Master Commissioner Nancy Broyles held a hearing in March 2005 to consider DNA evidence in the case of Harold David Buntin, it wasn’t…

Oct 9, 2008 5:31 PM CDT

New ‘Raising the Bar’ TV Show Raises the Toll Bar

Drivers on an Indiana toll road got two hours of free tolls on Labor Day and fliers about a new legal television show. The program is called Raising the Bar, so TNT, the network that is airing the drama, decided to “raise the bar” for toll payers, the Post-Tribune reports.…

Sep 2, 2008 3:28 PM CDT

Ind. Judge Gives No-Show Juror a Sign, Literally

A Northwest Indiana judge aggravated that a juror failed to show up during the second day of a murder trial decided to teach the 20-year-old no-show, and anyone harboring similar ideas, a lesson. But rather than hold Michael Leibengood behind bars for long, Lake County, Ind., Criminal Court Judge Thomas…

Aug 12, 2008 4:12 PM CDT

Kahn Kleinman Joining Taft Stettinius, Cleveland Office to Grow to 70

Continuing its merger-fueled growth spurt, a large midwestern law firm is about to become bigger, almost doubling the size of its Cleveland office via a combination with Kahn Kleinman. The merger, which is to take place Sept. 1, will give Taft Stettinius & Hollister an attorney roster of more than…

Aug 8, 2008 3:40 PM CDT

Barnes & Thornburg Eliminates Chicago Office Summer Program

Barnes & Thornburg is eliminating its summer associate program in Chicago, at least for next year, because it’s now so easy to hire first-year associates. The 450-lawyer Indianapolis-based law firm “typically has about two to three summer associates in the Chicago office,” offering successful tryoutsfirst-year associate jobd starting the fall…

Aug 6, 2008 5:13 PM CDT

Beyond Traditional Tort Law, ‘Desk Rage’ is Now a Potential Claim

Although not recognized as a cause of action in most jurisdictions, “desk rage”—i.e., abusive or threatening conduct at the workplace—is a growing problem and a growing concern to employers and the lawyers who advise them. At its worst, the occupational violence that can result from stressed and angry employees facing…

Aug 1, 2008 11:36 PM CDT

Judge Says His Courtroom Obscenities Tied to Son’s Death

An Indiana judge charged in a misconduct complaint says he had reason to be angry when he made disparaging remarks about a defendant during a sentencing hearing in another courtroom. Judge Kenneth Scheibenberger is accused of visiting another judge’s courtroom in 2007 and calling the defendant, charged with a weapons…

Jul 17, 2008 12:38 PM CDT

Tax Lawyer Held at Gunpoint Gets Chance at Trial

An Indiana tax attorney who police held at gunpoint after a pizza shop employee falsely accused him of pulling a gun will have a shot at winning damages at a false imprisonment and defamation trial. The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that Tennessee lawyer Sanford Kelsey, formerly of the…

Jul 15, 2008 7:19 PM CDT

Former Ind. Judge Gets 15 Months in Court Fraud Case

A former municipal judge in Schererville, Ind., who funneled defendants’ fees to a driving school she secretly owned and demanded kickbacks from a counseling firm that worked with her court, among other alleged misconduct, has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. Deborah Riga could have gotten two years,…

Jul 11, 2008 3:24 PM CDT