I am going to say something that you may find controversial, but please hear me out before rushing to judgment – just use the Oxford comma. 

The use of the Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is recommended by the Oxford University Press for clarity and to avoid ambiguity. Somewhere along the way, I started to notice that lawyers stopped using this clarifying punctuation. Full disclosure, I take it upon myself to insert the Oxford comma in every document that I revise or update.

We recently sat down with Lucy Frick, an attorney at the Marion County Public Defender Agency (“MCPDA”), to chat about the recent efforts to unionize MCPDA. Read more about our conversation in this blog post!

Concord Law School through Purdue University Global is the first U.S. law school to offer a traditional law school program online. Currently, Concord finds its accreditations not through the American Bar Association, but through the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State of California. In 2022, Concord Law School filed a petition with the Indiana Supreme Court requesting an amendment to the bar admission rules so its graduates could sit for the Indiana bar exam immediately upon graduation. Members of the Young Lawyers Division reached out to several Indiana legal educators for comment. Read on to learn more. 

Metallica was recently denied insurance coverage for several canceled international concerts due to COVID-19 based on a policy exclusion that precluded coverage when a venue was closed by order of any government as a result of a "communicable disease."

This is another case among many across the country in which the courts have sided with insurers with respect to claims related to COVID-19.
 

If you are sweating the end of the year and the holidays, you are not alone. If you are stressing as a young lawyer in a general sense, you are not alone. Many young lawyers suffer from mental health issues and wellness issues. This podcast episode of Young Lawyer Rising by Montana Funk and Joe Ankus dives into mental health and wellness issues many young lawyers face and the importance of addressing these issues.

Congress recently passed the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act to protect federal judges’ personal information.

As I begin to reflect on this year’s trials and achievements, I can’t help thinking of those who were recently sworn into the bar and are beginning their legal career. It will be a challenging road ahead, but with the support of your mentors and the local bar, you will get through it and achieve great things. For my part, here is some practical guidance I would add to help you in your journey.

This October, the Young Lawyers Division partnered with the IndyBar Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, the IndyBar Solo Small Firm Division, and the Indiana State Bar Association’s Animal Law Section to host a Civic/Social event at Metazoa Brewing Company: Pups & Brews. Pups & Brews has become a YLD favorite over the last few years, and this year was no exception. 

From one young lawyer to another, you should attend that conference you're avoiding.

Representing an organization for the first time can be an exciting and challenging experience for you as a young lawyer. During the course of the representation, if the case proceeds into discovery, it is very likely that the opposing party will seek to depose your client organization. Your initial thought may be that the opposing party will want to depose an executive or business owner, but what is likely to happen is that the opposing party will issue a notice of 30(B)(6) deposition. What do you do? Read on to find out.