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Saturday, May 29, 2010
Ind. Courts - Details on the list of Supreme Court potential applicants
Because of interest in the list of "potentials" for the vacancy posted by the ILB yesterday, the ILB has received permission from Indiana Legislative Insight (the subscription-only weekly newsletter that developed and first published the list in its 5/31/10 issue) to post the biographical summaries it prepared to accompany each "potential's" name.
BTW, in case you are new to Indiana Legislative Insight, it has had a good track record on appellate appointments over the years, going back as far as the 1990s. Here, from its writeup on the potential applicants for Justice Boehm's seat.
Indiana Legislative Insight: We've heard a few names of female attorneys and judges mentioned that seem to fit most of the criteria that we think the Guv will be looking for. In no particular order, some of the names on this list – which is certainly not intended nor expected to be exclusive – include:
- Court of Appeals Judge Elaine B. Brown was appointed to the
intermediate appellate bench by the Guv in May 2008. Before
joining the Court of Appeals, she served as judge of the
Dubois Superior Court from 1987 to 1998 and from 2005 to
May 2008, and practiced law for 11 years. In the years between
her tenure on the bench, she maintained a solo practice in
Jasper and was a senior litigator with Fine & Hatfield in
Evansville. Earlier in the 1980s, she practiced law with the
firm of Thom & DeMotte in Jasper. She is a law school
classmate of Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr. Judge Brown was a teacher in the Jasper School Corporation
for three years before entering law school. A large part of her
professional focus on the trial bench was substance abuse
issues. Judge Brown served on the Board of Directors of the
Indiana Judicial Conference and on the Board of Managers of
the Indiana Judges Association. She is a former member of the
Indiana Supreme Court Character and Fitness Committee as
well as the Judicial Administration Committee of the Indiana
Judicial Conference. Given that Judge Brown made it through
the Nominating Commission process, was appointed by this
governor, and quickly developed a reputation for authoring
majority opinions (and some dissenting opinions) offering an
intriguing take on some key business issues that caught the eye
of the Supremes, some suggest she is the front-runner.
- MaryEllen Kiley Bishop of Carmel is an attorney with Cohen,
Garelick and Glazier in Indianapolis (formerly with Bose
McKinney & Evans) where she represents clients in the areas
of estate planning and administration, business succession
planning, probate litigation, and individual and fiduciary
taxation. Her expertise has been tapped by trial judges to
perform independent evaluations of complex estate issues. She
served two terms on the Indiana Probate Code Study
Commission under the appointment of two governors, and
has served as the National Chair of the Indiana University
Alumni Association. She is currently running for Indiana
University (alumni) Trustee.
- Maggie L. Smith is counsel with Frost Brown Todd LLC
(formerly Locke Reynolds LLP), and has been recognized as
one of the "Best Lawyers in America" in the field of appellate
practice. She has been involved in hundreds of appeals (she
successfully defended the constitutionality of the original
Indiana wine shipping statute on appeal in the federal courts),
and has 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 parties before Indiana's appellate courts.
She has also been actively involved in drafting the Indiana
Appellate Rules, is a leader in the state and national appellate
practice communities, and is a frequent presenter on appellate
topics. Smith served as a law clerk to Justice Brent Dickson, is
married to Clerk of the Courts Kevin Smith, and is well-liked
and respected by the justices.
- Melissa Proffitt Reese is a partner at Ice Miller, chairs the
agribusiness initiative, co-chairs the Employee Benefits Practice
Group, and is a member of the Strategic Planning Committee.
She concentrates her practice in employee benefits with a
focus on welfare benefit plans and qualified plans. She
counsels regional and international clients (among them,
major auto suppliers) on benefit issues, including plan
formation and design. In 2004, she was named the firm's first
female managing partner. She has also been active in the
Governor's and Lieutenant Governor's agricultural trade
missions and initiatives, and in the overseas activities of the
Mayor of Indianapolis.
- Debra F. Minott is another person to watch. She was one of
the Governor's first cabinet appointments, director of the
Indiana State Department of Personnel. She spent 11 years at
Eli Lilly and Company after starting her legal career at the of
Ice Miller, and served as general counsel and corporate
secretary for both Guidant Corporation and Fort Wayne's
Essex International before joining the Daniels Administration.
Minott left in late 2007 to join CarDon & Associates, Inc., a
senior housing and lifestyle support services company in
Bloomington, and is now senior legal counsel at Hill-Rom.
- Another prospective applicant could be Susan W. Brooks, the
former (six-year) U.S. Attorney who is now general counsel
and senior vice president for workforce and economic
development for Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. She
serves on more state and community boards than we can easily
count, was a member of Ice Miller's Government Services
Practice Group. and also spent a dozen years practicing
criminal defense law before she took the presidential
appointment. Brooks also served as deputy mayor for the City
of Indianapolis in the Goldsmith Administration.
- On the trial bench, Boone Superior Court II Judge Rebecca S.
McClure, a former Boone County Prosecutor and the assistant
director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council before
returning to Boone County, is a possibility. She applied for
the Court of Appeals vacancy filled by the Governor in 2008,
but was not one of the seven selected by the Judicial
Nominating Commission for a second interview.
- Lake County Superior Court - Juvenile Division Judge Mary
Beth Bonaventura has many backers, and some interesting
credentials. Despite her Republican credentials, she was named
to the bench in 1993 by then-Gov. Evan Bayh (D) to replace
a judge who left after being indicted (Jane Magnus Stinson,
now a federal judge, led that selection process for Bayh). Judge
Bonaventura quickly established a positive reputation among
her peers, and appellate judges involved in the juvenile justice
system. Her courtroom work with juveniles attracted lots of
positive attention, and when documentary producer Karen
Grau proposed highlighting her court in an MTV series and
MSNBC documentary, the Chief Justice felt comfortable
enough with Judge B to oblige, surprising some with approval
for unprecedented access. And NWI feels unloved by the Guv.
- Morgan Superior Court III Judge Jane Spencer Craney is also another prospect. She has served as a judge since 1991, and was the Morgan County Prosecutor before that. She clerked for a Court of Appeals judge, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Indiana Judges' Association, and is a member of the Indiana Mentor Judge Program and the Character & Fitness Committee of the Indiana State Board of Law Examiners. Judge Craney worked on the Governor's Task Force in Prescription Drug Abuse and the Governor's Task Force on Mental Health Issues in the Criminal Justice System. She was one of seven applicants for the 2008 Court of Appeals vacancy invited back for a second interview.
Predicting twists and turns of judicial politics is more difficult than doing so with plain old partisan politics, but we couldn't resist noting names that may be in the mix, if they so choose. However, the handful of applicants who are ultimately invited back for a second interview is probably more likely to consist of names not noted here than this group. The decision to apply and potentially relinquish a lucrative and rewarding legal practice or spot on a trial bench outside of the metro is intensely personal . . . and many who are highly qualified simply do not want to be judges.
(See a list of all the ILB's related entries via the category, "Vacancy on the Supreme Court.")
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 29, 2010 02:06 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Government | Vacancy on Supreme Ct