JEFFREY SALMON, ‘92, joins Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, an intellectual property law firm, as special counsel.
He will focus on patent prosecution, strategic counseling, transactional matters, licensing and litigation.
GERALD W. ROBERTS, ‘96, has been elected to partnership status at Thompson & Knight. A member of Thompson &
Knight’s Intellectual Property Practice Group in Dallas, Roberts focuses his practice on complex business litigation, including litigation involving patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other forms of intellectual property, and unfair competition. He also has more than ten years of experience as an electrical engineer and engineering manager, has held a U.S. Department of Defense security clearance, and is a registered patent attorney in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
SANDRA SOVINSKI DRUMMOND, ‘97, has been named Managing Partner of Myers & Kaplan, Intellectual Property Law, LLC’s new Orlando, Florida office. The Florida practice will focus on patents, copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property matters, including prosecution, litigation, and transactional matters.
GRETCHEN K. GUTMAN, ‘97, a partner at Taft Stettinius
& Hollister LLP, has been selected as Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs’ (SPEA) 2008 Distinguished Alumna of the Year.
JOAN E. CHAMPAGNE, ‘98, recently par tnered with Tess A.
White to found the law firm of White and Champagne. The firm is located on the nor theast side of Indianapolis, and the practice focuses on personal injur y, estate planning and family law.
JAMES J. BELL, ‘99, has been appointed a 2009 Vice President of the Indianapolis Bar Association. He is a litigation attorney at Bingham McHale LLP. Currently, he is on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Justice Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association (IBA). He is a member of the Indiana
Assessment Team of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. He teaches Criminal Procedure for the IBA’s Bar Exam Review.
ERIN M. ENGELS, ‘99, joined IUPUI’s Paralegal Program as a lecturer for the Political Science Department. She previously served as adjunct faculty in the department for nearly 8 years.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD TROUBLE determining if a colleague with a J.D. from “Indiana University” graduated from our law school or the school in Bloomington? If so, you are not alone. The law school is working very hard to raise its reputation, and this effort depends, at least in part, on making sure that the school’s many distinguished graduates are identified as IU Law - Indianapolis graduates. You can help us by making sure your resumes and online biographies clearly state the name of our school: Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis. We know it’s a long name, but it’s a proud tradition! Thanks for your help!
“I see you graduated from IU.
That’s in Bloomington, right?”
Class Notes
2000S
CATHERINE MICHAEL, ‘00, an attorney for Hollingsworth Cassman & Zivitz, PC, presented on the topic of Article 7 at the Applied Behaviour Center for Autism on October 17.
KELLY ESKEW, ‘01, is one of four officers leading the Indiana Debate Commission responsible for organizing the state’s gubernatorial debates this election season. In January, Eskew was elected to the Commission’s Board of Directors and represents the Indiana State Bar Association in that capacity.
In May, she was elected secretary of the 20-member board.
Eskew is a member of the Bingham McHale Appellate Team and Litigation Department.
KENA S. HOLLINGSWORTH, ‘01, a founding partner of Hollingsworth Cassman & Zivitz PC was one of the 100 finalists in the 2009 Junior Achievement of Central Indiana’s Best & Brightest Awards.
ELIZABETH B. HOWARD, ‘02, has been awarded a BV Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell. She is a member of the construction litigation practice group at Rogers Towers, P.A..
AMBER R. VANTIL, ‘02, vice-president for government relations of the Indiana Bankers Association, won the Banking &
Financial Services category for the Junior Achievement of Central Indiana Best & Brightest awards.
M. EDWARD KRAUSE III, ‘04, joined the firm of Cohen Garelick & Glazier as an associate. Krause made the move
Alumni Honored at IBA Event
The Indianapolis Bar Association/Indianapolis Bar Foundation Recognition Luncheon on November 20 at the Hilton in downtown Indianapolis recognized 12 alumni of the law school.
Hon. Paul H. Buchanan Jr. Award
Hon. James A. Kirsch, ’74, Indiana Court of Appeals Dr. John Morton Finney Jr. Excellence in
Legal Education Award
Hon. Cynthia J. Ayers, ’82, Marion Superior Court Board of Directors Award
IBA Diversity Job Fair Planning Committee
Brita A. Horvath, ’02, Baker & Daniels LLP; Shelley M.
Jackson, ’07, Ice Miller LLP; Jasmine T. Parson, Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, J.D. candidate;
Chasity Q. Thompson, ’02, Office of Professional
Development, Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis.
President’s Award for Service to the IBA
Jeffrey A. Abrams, ’81, Dann Pecar Newman & Kleiman PC President’s Award for Service to the Profession
Go Green Committee of the Young Lawyers Division Jonathat P. Bryant, ’03, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP;
Jayna M. Cacioppo, ’05, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP;
Rachel L. Hazaray, ’06, Hostetler & Kowalik PC;
Kori McOmber, ’01, Schultz & Pogue LLP
Young Lawyer of the Year
Kori L. McOmber, ’01, Schultz & Pogue LLP
Pro Bono Award Recipients Practicing Attorney, Aiding Entities
Rhonda Yoder Breman, ’02, Bose McKinney & Evans LLP Practicing Attorney, Aiding Individuals
Karen Jensen, ’92, Attorney at Law
Immigration Clinic Students Help Family Stay Together
Left to right, back row: Andrea Schmidt, Mario Barrios, Anthony Barrios (age 13), Mario Barrios Jr. (age 15), Roberta Barrios, Lun Kham. Front row: Bryant Barrios (age 10).
Class Notes
to Indianapolis after practicing law in Muncie, Indiana and is admitted to practice before the Indiana Supreme Court, the Indiana Appellate Courts and the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana.
KIMBERLY RICHARDSON, ‘06, has been selected as one of the nation’s “Top 40 Under 40,” by The Network Journal for outstanding achievement, contribution, leadership and influence in the corporate arena and service to the African- American community.
BOBAK P. JALAIE, ‘07, has joined Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett and Henry LLP as an associate. His practice is focused on intellectual property law. Prior to entering law school he gained over ten years of engineering experience in electrical design and commercial software development.
KEITH BERLIN, ‘08, joined Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP as an associate. He is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Group. He was a Federal Court Judicial Extern for Judge Tinder in 2006.
KATE SHELBY, ’08, an associate in the Indianapolis office of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Young Professionals of Central Indiana (YPCI). YPCI is Indiana’s largest networking group for young professionals and offers networking, education and social events. Shelby is a member of the firm’s Environmental Law group. She is also a member of the United States Patent Bar.
ARGUING BEFORE THE CHICAGO IMMIGRATION COURT, law students Lun Kham and Andrea Schmidt recently secured lawful permanent residency for the immigrant parents of three American-born children. The father and mother of the Indianapolis family (from Guatemala and Mexico respectively) had both resided in the United States for approximately 18 years. During that time, they raised a family of three boys, all U.S. citizens, now ages 15, 13 and 10.
Professor Linda Kelly Hill, director of the Immigration Clinic at the law school, says, “The boys excel in school, taking advanced classes and having high ambitions for their college educations and futures. One of the children also suffers from severe migraines and weight loss and is under close medical supervision. Through championship soccer teams, church and school, the parents are also extremely active in the community and their boys’ lives.”
Kham and Schmidt were able to argue persuasively that the parents were eligible for “cancellation of removal” by proving the “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” that would have been imposed on these three U.S. citizen children if they were effectively deported upon their parents being ordered to be removed. The students’ representation included providing all necessary examination and argumentation in a four hour hearing, drafting a 50 page legal memo, submitting nearly 700 pages of documentary evidence and preparing over 10 witnesses, including family, teachers and doctors.
Because of the students’ work, the parents now have lawful permanent residency and already look forward to the day they can be sworn in as United States citizens.
The law school’s Immigration Clinic was established in 2006 by Professor Linda Kelly Hill, the M. Dale Palmer Professor of Law. Clinic students represent non-detained immigrants in immigration matters under the supervision of Professor Kelly Hill. Since its inception, approximately 30 students have assisted in Immigration Clinic cases.
Egypt Program Update
SEVERAL INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW – INDIANAPOLIS EMPLOYEES travelled to Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt in October for the Fall 2008 LL.M. - Egypt program orientation: Frank Emmert, Director of the Center for International and Comparative Law; Sonja Rice, Egypt Program Coordinator; Terri Cuellar, Director of Technology Services, and Jacob Manaloor, Assistant Director of Grant Administration.
On the Alexandria campus, twenty new students were accepted to our LL.M. program, and on the Cairo campus, thirty-nine new students were accepted, for a total active enrollment of ninety-four students. Our admissions enrollment for the Fall 2008 cohort saw an increase of over 60% from the Spring 2008 cohort.
For more information about the Egypt Program, please visit: http://indylaw.indiana.edu//llm/egypt.htm.