It's the season of giving and even during the hardships of 2020, generous sponsors, bidders and donors helped the Indianapolis Bar Foundation raise over $26,000 during IndyBar's Giving, this year's online silent auction to benefit the programs and initiatives of the foundation.

For the first time since the 2016 establishment of Commercial Courts as a pilot, the Courts are expanding. Four new counties will have a specialized commercial court docket starting January 2021: Hamilton County (Jon Brown), Madison County (Mark Dudley), St. Joseph County (Steven Hostetler), and Vigo County (Lakshmi Reddy). 

The Southern District of Indiana, in VPG Grp. Holdings LLC v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, No. 1:20-cv-01505 (S.D. Ind. 2020), recently issued a ruling that serves as a cautionary tale for a practice likely used at some point by most litigators who have removed a case to federal court.

Roger A. G. Sharpe, Clerk of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that the Clerk's Offices in the four divisions of the Southern District of Indiana are closed to the public, beginning today, November 23, 2020. 

The United States District Court hereby gives public notice of the amendments to its Local Rules for the Southern District of Indiana, which take effect December 1, 2020.

In the case of In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of K.R. 2020 WL 6065769, decided by the Supreme Court of Indiana on October 15, 2020, the issue before the court was whether the drug tests performed on Mother and Father by an outside drug-testing facility were inadmissible hearsay. Evidence Rule 802 states, “Hearsay is not admissible unless these rules or other law provides otherwise.” The court discussed if the results we admissible under Evidence Rule 803(6). 

2020 has been (and no doubt will continue to be) like riding a roller coaster in a hurricane. Fortunately, for the IndyBar, we have a committed membership that has responded in amazing ways. While the pandemic will affect the practice of law for years to come, we can all be proud of the work our association did to respond in positive and uplifting ways. In a non-COVID year, we would typically recognize our IndyBar award winners at our annual Recognition Breakfast — typically a packed event with comradery and good cheer. Like many things this year, we will recognize our award winners in different (but no less important) ways.

The Sedona Conference® and its Working Group on Data Security and Privacy Liability (WG11) recently published the Commentary on a Reasonable Security Test addressing what “legal test” a court or other adjudicative body should apply in a situation where a party has, or is alleged to have, a legal obligation to provide “reasonable security” for personal information, and the issue is whether the party has met that legal obligation.

IndyBar will be offering free wills to Indy-area residents who cannot afford an attorney on Tuesday, November 10. This offering was originally being offered exclusively to veterans in conjunction with Veteran’s Day; however, we have a few openings still available so we are opening the opportunity up to all residents subject to meeting financial requirements at 150% of the Federal Poverty guidelines.

As 2020 ticks to a close, IndyBar sections and divisions are in the process of evaluating their committee rosters and determining vacancies for 2021. Now is the perfect time to indicate your interest in serving on a committee. While space is limited, every effort will be made to involve anyone expressing interest in some capacity.