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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Ind. Law - Indianapolis attorney Merrill Moores dies at 84

The Indianapolis Star today has a lovely obituary. Some quotes:

He turned eighteen on V-J Day and would forever thereafter claim the Japanese heard he would be entering military service and had therefore surrendered. After serving in the U.S. Army he stayed in the Philippines and taught English to the locals.

Upon returning to the U.S. he enrolled in Indiana University, where he was member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He graduated with a double major which would have allowed him to go on to medical school or law school; he chose the law.

While in law school he lived in the basement of the law school, excelling in his studies, playing Hearts at a penny a point and making life-long friends.

He clerked for State Supreme Court Justice James A. Emmert. He graduated from law school Order of the Coif and continued on as faculty, teaching Contracts, while also serving as a deputy prosecuting attorney for Noble Pearcy.

He left the prosecutor's office to join the firm of Stewart Irwin Gilliom Fuller and Meyer (now Stewart & Irwin PC), where he practiced for several years before leaving to start his own practice.

He practiced with Dave Millen from Evansville and remained active in Marion County Republican politics. He was an avid Republican and served in the House of Representatives in the Indiana General Assembly where he chaired the Judiciary Committee as a freshman legislator.

Later in private practice he was joined by John L. Price, with whom he practiced law for more than thirteen years before Price was named to the Marion County Municipal Court bench. Some called them the "Mutt and Jeff" of the Marion County Bar—Merrill, a tall Republican and John, a short Democrat. Their friendship spanned decades and only ended with Judge Price's death in 2005.

ILB: One of Moores' daughters is Marion County Judge Marilyn Moores. See June 13, 2010 ILB entry.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 12, 2011 09:09 AM
Posted to Indiana Law