2012 NEWSMAKER: Crime stance returns Hogsett to political spotlight
U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett’s openly tough-on-crime approach has some political insiders speculating whether he’s seeking a higher office.
Attorneys
Articles
Toyota reaches $1B-plus settlement in acceleration cases
The company said the deal will resolve hundreds of lawsuits from Toyota owners who said the value of their cars and trucks plummeted after a series of recalls stemming from claims that Toyota vehicles accelerated unintentionally.
Pence appoints veteran Indiana aide chief counsel
Indiana Gov.-elect Mike Pence announced Wednesday that Mark Ahearn would serve as his general counsel. Ahearn comes from the Indiana Department of Transportation and previously worked for Pence and former Sen. Dan Quayle in Congress.
Local lawyer key figure in felling Armstrong
Bill Bock, lead counsel for the U.S Anti-Doping Agency’s case against cyclist Lance Armstrong, spent two years investigating the allegations.
Small law firm sees faith in WellPoint class-action suit pay off
A federal judge in June granted preliminary approval to a deal under which WellPoint Inc. would pay $90 million to settle a lawsuit charging it undercompensated policyholders when it converted into a public company in 2001.
Local attorney facing fraud charges dropping lawyers
Richard Kammen and Dorie Maryan, who are representing William F. Conour, will ask a federal judge Thursday to be removed from the case, at the request of Conour, citing a strained relationship.
’80s anti-takeover law helped sow Emmis win
The Indiana Business Corporation Law—enacted to help Hoosier companies fight off a wave of attacks by corporate raiders—gives boards of directors unusually broad authority to exercise judgment as they see fit.
State high court to hear Simon defamation suit
The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments Oct. 24 in the case involving a California lawyer that stems from a separate suit filed by a former nanny of Herb and Bui Simon.
Faction turns on trustee in Eastern Livestock bankruptcy
Things have suddenly taken an ugly turn for veteran Indianapolis attorney Jim Knauer and his legal advisers at Faegre Baker Daniels, who are under attack by parties that want them bounced from the massive bankruptcy case for Eastern Livestock Inc.
Local attorney facing fraud charges released from jail
Lawyer William F. Conour had been held in a Decatur County Jail since July 25 on a contempt of court charge until a judge on Monday ordered his release. Conour is accused of defrauding clients of $2.5 million.
Local attorney facing fraud charges resigns from bar
High-profile Indianapolis attorney William F. Conour, 65, who is accused of misappropriating $2.5 million in client funds, has relinquished his law license to the Indiana bar.
Outlook improves for Fair Finance investors
A New York firm is contacting Fair Finance Co. investors seeking to purchase their bankruptcy claims—a sign of growing optimism that investors in the defunct business will secure a sizable recovery.
No lockstep defense strategy for Durham co-defendants
Tim Durham and his co-defendants in the fraud case involving Fair Finance sit on the same side of the courtroom, but that doesn't mean their interests are always aligned.
Jury selection set to start in Durham fraud trial
The criminal case against Tim Durham and co-defendants Jim Cochran and Rick Snow is set to begin Friday in front of federal Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson. Prospective jurors in the high-profile trial will be asked whether they can be impartial and not be influenced by what they have heard, read or seen about the case.
Vaunted attorney Bill Conour has lots of explaining to do
A large question looms in the wake of the April 27 announcement that Conour has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with misappropriating more than $2.5 million in client funds from December 2000 to March 2012. If he is indeed guilty of the wire-fraud charge he faces, where did all the money go?
Local attorney charged with defrauding clients of $2.5M
William F. Conour, 64, turned himself in to federal authorities Friday morning, accused of engaging in a scheme from December 2000 to March 2012 to defraud his clients, using money obtained from new settlement funds to pay for old settlements and debts.
Ice Miller lawyer contributes far and wide
Melissa Proffitt Reese joined Ice Miller LLP straight out of law school, and has spent the next three decades juggling an employee-benefits practice there with a whirlwind schedule of community involvement.
Lawsuits filed over school bus crash that killed 2
Indianapolis-based personal-injury attorney Ken Nunn says some of the injuries to children from a school bus crash in Indianapolis that killed the driver and a student could have been prevented if the bus had seat belts.
Indianapolis attorney pleads guilty to theft charges
An Indianapolis attorney has pleaded guilty to theft charges after prosecutors say she took nearly $600,000 from two accounts for which she was responsible.
Fair bankruptcy trustee alleges complicity by silence
Lawyers overseeing Fair Finance's liquidation charge that, every step of the way, businesspeople who crossed Tim Durham’s path and witnessed questionable behavior looked the other way—because it was highly profitable for them to do so.