« Law - It was certainly the first thing I thought when I heard the news yesterday | Main | Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 4 today (and 7 NFP) »
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Courts - Oral Advocacy of Ellen Boshkoff
As explained in this post Tuesday, headed "A New Voice at Oral Argument," this week the ILB is featuring the oral advocacy of the three semi-finalists for the current Supreme Court vacancy who have argued cases before the Court. This feature on Ellen Boshkoff's oral advocacy, from IU Law-Indy Prof. Joel Schumm, is the first of those entries.
Ms. Boshkoff’s practice focuses on employment law, which means many of her cases have been in federal court. (Unfortunately, federal court means -- no videos available.)
In 2003, however, Ms. Boshkoff represented Indianapolis Public Schools in a case where the Indiana Supreme Court granted emergency transfer to decide whether a teacher facing a termination hearing was entitled to discovery under Trial Rule 28(F).
The oral argument in Board of School Commissioners of City of Indianapolis v. Walpole was held at the Indiana University School of Law—Indianapolis on October 1, 2003. The entire argument may be accessed here. For those who simply want to get a taste of Ms. Boshkoff’s outstanding oral advocacy, two short excerpts are available.
In the first, Justice Sullivan asks about “an interesting hypothetical” involving teachers exercising their First Amendment rights.
In the second, Justice Boehm asks Ms. Boshkoff, as she walks to the podium to begin rebuttal, about concerns of "a surprise, unknown witness."
Ms. Boshkoff’s position prevailed in a 4-1 opinion by Justice Boehm; Justice Sullivan dissented. The Court held that Rule 28(F) does not apply to termination hearings, which are governed by statute. Consistent with Ms. Boshkoff’s response to Justice Boehm’s question, the Court reasoned that “[m]assive, hurry-up discovery can divert attention from other aspects of operating a school system. We do not believe the legislature intended to impose those costs on either school boards or teachers.”
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 14, 2010 09:30 AM
Posted to Vacancy on Supreme Ct