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Thursday, December 15, 2011
Vacancy on Supreme Court 2012 - Ten to Watch in 2012, Part 2
THE LIST (in alphabetical order):
Honorable Cale Bradford (link), Indiana Court of Appeals (Indianapolis). Only two of the fifteen judges on the Indiana Court of Appeals were appointed by Governor Daniels; the other thirteen were appointed by Governors Bayh, O’Bannon, and Kernan. Last summer, Judge Elaine Brown applied for the Boehm vacancy but did not advance past the first round. Judge Bradford did not apply, which could change this round. Prior to his appointment in 2007, Judge Bradford served for ten years on the Marion Superior Court, seven in the criminal division and three in the civil division. He was twice elected presiding judge by his colleagues. His legal career began with five years in private practice, followed by five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and two years supervising a staff of more than 100 lawyers in the Marion County Prosecutor’s office.
Deborah Daniels (link), Krieg DeVault (Indianapolis). For a minute, ignore the name and consider this resume: partner at a prominent Indianapolis law firm and “former U.S. Attorney and U.S. Assistant Attorney General” with “lengthy experience in criminal and civil investigations and public safety.” Her awards include the Antoinette Dakin Leach Award, Women and the Law Division, Indianapolis Bar Association; Nancy Maloley Outstanding Public Servant Award, Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series; Indianapolis Business Journal, Influential Women in Indianapolis. Most recently, she has led the Data Analysis Workgroup of the Criminal Code Evaluation Commission, which is tasked with recommending “a new structure on all felony classifications to reduce recidivism and prison overcrowding.” Not mentioned on the resume, but perhaps most significant for these purposes: sister to Governor Daniels. Although concern is properly expressed when a person secures a job because of family connections, but should a family connection preclude a person from a job?
Honorable Mary Margaret Lloyd, Vanderburgh Superior Court (Evansville). Chief Justice Shepard was appointed to the Supreme Court after serving as a trial judge in Vanderburgh County and maintains close ties there. Judge Lloyd, daughter of the former mayor for whom the Chief Justice once worked, is the only female judge on the superior court and has presided over both civil and criminal cases. She was first elected in 2001 and previously served as a law clerk to Chief Justice Shepard and a deputy prosecutor. She spearheaded the Family Court project, which was featured in an Indiana Court Times article. A quick Lexis search suggests her cases have fared well on appeal, including the much-discussed Barnes case, which was affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court.
Mark Massa, Executive Director, Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (Indianapolis). Massa began his legal career as a law clerk to Chief Justice Shepard and has spent most of the time since as a prosecutor, with a three-year stint at the U.S. Attorney’s office and primarily as a deputy prosecutor and later Chief Counsel of the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. He served as counsel to Gov. Daniels from 2006 to early 2010, when he resigned to run for Marion County Prosecutor, a race he lost narrowly to Terry Curry. More recently, he served as chair of the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission and, since May of this year, the executive director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
Patricia Caress McMath, Marion County Public Defender Agency, Appellate Division (Indianapolis). If you run a search for “excellent brief” on Lexis or Westlaw, you will find a handful of Indiana Supreme Court cases where the Chief Justice (seldom any other justice) has complimented an attorney. One member of that exclusive club is McMath, who was lauded for her brief in Young v. State, 699 N.E.2d 252, 255 (Ind. 1998). McMath served as a law clerk to Judge Staton and Judge Barteau of the Indiana Court of Appeals for several years, separated by a two-year stint with a law firm, followed by work as an adjunct or full-time legal writing professor. For the past fifteen years she has done appellate public defender work on contract or full-time. Few applicants could rival the appellate experience of her or Maggie Smith. McMath frequently and very effectively argues cases before the Court, including a case just this morning.
Honorable Rudolph Pyle III (link), Madison Circuit Court. Before attending law school, Judge Pyle worked as a state trooper for three years. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Darden of the Court of Appeals for more than three years, a year in general private practice, and nearly six years as a deputy prosecutor in Madison County. Gov. Daniels appointed him to the bench in 2009 to fill the remaining term of a judge who had resigned, and Pyle was re-elected in 2010. At the time of his appointment, the Gov.’s spokesman commented: “Rudy Pyle’s devotion to public service and diverse range of real world and academic experience show he has the necessary traits to be a great judge. . . . The governor is confident he will bring new energy to the bench and will help establish a more effective and efficient court system in Madison County.” The Chief Justice is rightfully very proud of the ICLEO program he founded, and Judge Pyle is one of the first graduates and one of many who has gone on to an impressive legal career.
Melissa Proffitt Reese (link), Ice Miller LLP (Indianapolis). Last year’s vacancy produced impressive applicants from most of Indianapolis’s large law firms but no one from Ice Miller. If that changes this time around, Reese would be an especially strong candidate. She is a former managing partner of the firm and as chair of the Agribusiness Group has been involved in economic development and energy initiatives, including international trade missions with Gov. Daniels and Lt. Gov. Skillman. Her law firm bio notes she has served on “boards of many community organizations and volunteers her time for causes supporting economic development, diversity, and women's issues.” A 2009 article recognizing her as “volunteer of the year” by the Indiana Chamber is well worth reading and includes this quote, “I think it’s also very important to set role models for young women.” She, or any of the other women profiled here, could serve as role models for the thousands of Hoosier girls and female law students who visit the Supreme Courtroom and see just one woman among the 106 pictures on the wall or watch the webcast of an oral argument and see none on the bench.
Steve Schultz, Executive Director, Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority (Columbus). Like the Chief Justice, he earned his law degree at Yale. He practiced corporate law at Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis and with a large international firm in London. He served as general counsel to Irwin Financial Corporation in Columbus and most recently has been developing a financial plan for the Ohio Rivers Bridges Project. Perhaps most significantly, he was Gov. Daniels first chief counsel. His fans include B&T managing partner Bob Grand, who recounted that Schultz impressed colleagues with this thoughtfulness and intelligence. Schultz would seem an especially strong applicant if Gov. Daniels is again looking for, as he said in the press release announcing Justice David, a “breadth and diversity of his experience,” including years “spent years in business, on the receiving end of law and regulation.”
Maggie Smith (link), Frost Brown Todd (Indianapolis). Smith served as a law clerk to Justice Dickson while her husband (and now Supreme Court Administrator and Clerk of Courts) Kevin was clerking next door for Chief Justice Shepard. She has been actively involved in the drafting of and amendments to the appellate rules, including service on the Indiana Supreme Court’s Rules Committee since 2009. She has held many significant roles within the Appellate Practice of the state bar, most recently as the chair of the section. She is one of the most experienced appellate advocates in the state, having represented “businesses, individuals, and groups in all types of appellate proceeding at every level of the state and federal appellate courts, and also has significant experience representing amicus curiae parties before Indiana's appellate courts.”
G. Michael Witte (link), Executive Director, Indiana Disciplinary Commission. Witte served as a trial judge in Dearborn County for more than 24 years and was the first Asian-American on the bench in Indiana. In 2008, he was one of the three finalists for the Court of Appeals seat vacated by Judge Sharpnack to which Judge Elaine Brown was appointed. He was appointed Executive Director of the Indiana Disciplinary Commission in 2010, at which time Chief Justice Shepard noted: “Mike Witte has dedicated his career to public service . . . . He is well known to attorneys across Indiana as thoughtful and fair and energetic.” His experience leading the Disciplinary Commission would likely enhance his application considering the Court’s role in overseeing matters of admission and discipline.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 15, 2011 03:55 PM
Posted to Vacancy on Supreme Court 2012