Could it be true? Jeremy W. Richter, an attorney with a civil defense practice in Alabama, writes in his book “Building a Better Law Practice: Become a Better Lawyer in Five Minutes a Day” that reading one topic per day, “over about seven weeks, at the time cost of about 0.1 hours per day, you will have collected dozens of strategies for developing an efficient and collaborative practice that will set the foundation for good relationships with your clients.”

A selection committee acting on behalf of the Indianapolis Bar Association and the Foundation has announced the selection of Chief Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana as a recipient of the IndyBar's prestigious Luminary Award of Excellence. Chief Judge Pratt will be honored at the 2021 IndyBar Bench Bar Conference in Louisville, Kentucky on June 19.

While working at home, for albeit a relatively short period of time, I realized that the health of my professional working relationships was suffering. Perhaps you are still working from home. Perhaps you are still primarily attending meetings virtually. Perhaps you feel the same way.

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Under the dynamic leadership of IndyBar President Jimmie McMillian, we're celebrating Juneteenth at Bench Bar to bring awareness to our members about this significant piece of history. More importantly, the Juneteenth workshop session will highlight and recognize the experiences and significant contributions that Black attorneys have made to our legal community.

This Wednesday, April 21, we recognize the efforts of those individuals who keep our offices running smoothly every day—the paralegals, legal assistants, administrative assistants and other administrative professionals. While their work is often behind the scenes and therefore goes underappreciated, administrative professionals truly are the glue that holds every office together.

When racial disparity and inequality came to a head in Summer 2020, it quickly became obvious that the association had a responsibility to respond and to act on the many long-standing contributing structural issues present not only throughout the country but here at home in the Indianapolis community as well.

This is a great opportunity for law students who may be about to take on summer clerkships, lawyers and law firms who may be looking for a summer clerk and anyone who wishes to improve on the experience provided to their clerks.

Last year, the IndyBar established a standing committee on Racial Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The committee recognizes the IndyBar’s responsibility to bring about change to achieve equality, diversity and inclusion in the Indianapolis legal community and beyond. As members of the IndyBar, we have that same responsibility. I am calling on the members of the IndyBar to take the initiative with respect to our diverse colleagues who are not members of the IndyBar.

There are some who would read the title of this post and exclaim, “well, isn’t that ironic?”  Luckily, I surround myself with very forgiving people. My desire to improve my professionalism is what drove me to join the IndyBar Professionalism Committee several years ago.

When Norris Choplin Schroeder partner Cindy Lasher took the mediation training course during the summer of 2019, she was inspired by the dedication of her classmates to the idea of helping people resolve their disputes. She found a kindred spirit in her classmate David Honig of Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman PC. At lunch a few months after their training, David floated the idea to Cindy of a pro bono mediation project that would help pro se parties resolve their cases.