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Monday, March 07, 2011

Ind. Courts - Practitioner questions to COA staff attorneys

If you have a case pending before the Indiana Court of Appeals and have tried to call one of their staff attorneys recently to ask a "quick question," you likely were surprised to find you could no longer chat with the attorneys and instead were informed by the person now taking calls that "staff attorneys will no longer take phone calls and all inquiries need to be by way of motion."

This appears to be a very recent change. Some have said is a significant departure from decades of practice. No formal order has been issued or notice given to the bar and public.

And the change is limited to the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court staff and Clerk's office continue to informally answer questions.

Fortunately, it turns out to be a policy still under development.

Questions asked of COA staff in the past have varied from those that could/should have been answered by the practitioner taking a look at the court rules or the case docket, to those coming close to ex parte inquiries, e.g. whether the practitioner should strike the opponent's motion.

The Appellate Section of the ISBA has recently become aware of the problems facing the COA and the COA's proposed resolution, and is gearing up a task force to help. Maggie Smith, chair of the section this year, points out that some resources already exist for its section members, such as the section's Appellate Manual, and the "in the process of being activated" Appellate Section listserv. Upcoming may be a wiki or FAQ.

Pro se litigants may find the Court's Self-Service Legal Center especially helpful. The Pro Se Guide to Appeals Procedures is currently under revision.

Some questions still may continue to be appropriate to pose to one of the three Court of Appeals staff attorneys, but there needs to be some way of identifying what are, and what aren't. Danielle Sheff, Deputy Administrator of the Court of Appeals, explained this afternoon:

Because the staff attorneys have always said that they cannot give legal advice and said roughly what we have asked our receptionists to say, I did not realize that the adjustment to our policy would cause consternation.

Your draft captures the tenor of what our receptionists have been asked to say (which loosely boils down to the receptionists explaining that the Court prefers to consider questions presented in Motions served on all parties).

The Administrator and I have told our receptionists that all callers: litigants, attorneys, and concerned public members are to be treated the same.

If anyone has a concern that really cannot be addressed by a motion or someone has a matter of urgency, the receptionists have been instructed that the Administrator, Steve Lancaster, or I will attempt to assist the caller. Truly, the intention is to be as responsive as possible while treating everyone the same.

Questions from readers?

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 7, 2011 04:08 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts