Indiana

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

Obama Renominates Controversial Law Prof to Head OLC

An Indiana law professor who drew fire over her abortion views has been renominated to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. President Obama renominated Dawn Johnsen, who once served as legal counsel to the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, according to the New York Times and The…

Jan 8, 2010 4:11 PM CST

FBI Raids Offices of ‘Flashy Financier,’ a Former Ice Miller Lawyer

The FBI has raided the offices of an Indianapolis lawyer-turned-financier who was featured on the CNBC feature “Rise of the Super Rich.” The FBI raided two businesses of “flamboyant lawyer” Timothy Durham: Obsidian Enterprises in Indianapolis and Fair Financial in Akron, Ohio, the Indianapolis Star reports. The article says Durham…

Nov 25, 2009 12:56 PM CST

After BigLaw Deferral, 2008 Grad Finds New Job as a Judge

Having his start date deferred from a BigLaw job in Chicago turned out to be a positive career development for a 2008 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. Forced to look for other work, Michael Edwards found a U.S. Navy job in Indiana that made use of his law degree…

Nov 18, 2009 11:40 PM CST

Law Prof Proposes African Boarding School for Troubled Indiana Kids

An Indiana University law professor is proposing an unusual way to help troubled kids: Send them to boarding school in Africa. Law professor Kevin Brown is leading a group of Indiana professors backing a school in the West African nation of Ghana, according to the Associated Press and the Indianapolis…

Nov 17, 2009 3:47 PM CST

Attorney Charged With Attempted Murder in Bizarre Attack on Lawmaker

Watching his father fight a gut-wrenching legal battle motivated Augustus Mendenhall to go to law school. But the decades-old property dispute still festered, resulting in a bizarre incident this past weekend that left the 38-year-old attorney jailed in an attempted murder case and a 66-year-old Indiana state lawmaker battered and…

Nov 2, 2009 10:05 PM CST

Ind. High Court Allows MySpace Entry as Evidence in Murder Trial

Saying that statements made on social networking sites are admissible as evidence of a defendant’s character, the Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a Northern Indiana man who beat his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter to death in 2007. Ian Clark, a confessed drunken “stoner,” had appealed his conviction,…

Oct 16, 2009 4:59 PM CDT

Law Firm Agrees to Pay $40K to Lawyer Who Lost Job After Military Stint

An Indiana law firm accused of refusing to rehire a staff lawyer who served in Iraq has agreed to pay $40,000 to resolve a suit filed by the Justice Department. The suit claimed the Indianapolis firm Mike Norris & Associates refused to rehire Mathew Jeffries after he returned from service…

Oct 1, 2009 1:04 PM CDT