By Jeff R. Hawkins, ISBA President, 2014-15 INDIANA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF DELEGATES FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015 FRENCH LICK, INDIANA REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION JEFF R. HAWKINS, SULLIVAN, PRESIDENT Madam Chair, Chief Justice Rush, Judge Crone, Chief Deputy Attorney General Light, fellow delegates, friends all: It is my great honor to
October 9, 2015
Short URLAmerican Bar Association Commission on the Future of Legal Services, AVVO, Board of Governors, Carol Adinamis, diversity, DIY legal service, House of Delegates, Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct, Indiana State Bar Association, Indiana Supreme Court, Law School Admission Council, Leadership Development Academy, LegalZoom, pro se litigation, Professor Bill Henderson, SOGI Committee, technologyCommentary, INside the Bar
We, the citizens of the United States of America, celebrate our Declaration of Independence 239 years after a small group of rebels told the king of the world’s most powerful nation that he could not rule over them. Those radical men dared tell the king that their individual rights were more important than their mother
July 4, 2015
Short URLAbraham Lincoln, by the people, Declaration of Independence, for the people, Gettysburg, government of the people, King George, King John, liberty, Life, Magna Carta, Obergefell v. Hodges, pursuit of Happiness, Runnymede, same sex marriage, unalienable Rights, United States Constitution, United States Supreme CourtCommentary
An eye-catching Indiana State Bar Association email occupied my inbox for a few weeks. I normally file email messages in my practice management system after I have read them to keep my inbox contents more manageable. In this case, I was inspired to keep the email in my inbox to avoid the consequence of ignoring
June 17, 2015
Short URLBarpac, Casemaker, Indiana Bar Foundation, Indiana State Bar Association, ISBA, Membership renewal, Sustaining Member, Tax on servicesCommentary, INside the Bar
The 2015 Leadership Development Academy class convened in its fifth and final session last Thursday, May 14, and Friday, May 15, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and received graduation certificates during a dinner held at the Embassy Theater Friday evening. Like their three predecessor classes, LDA 4 class members immersed themselves in crash courses on leadership,
May 18, 2015
Short URLbig tent, civic leadership, community development, Creative problem-solving, Diverse perspectives, diversity and inclusion, economic development, Inclusion, Indiana State Bar Association, intellectual cross-pollination, intellectual homogeneity, intellectual inbreeding, ISBA, LDA, Leadership Development Academy, Legal profession, nonprofit organization leadership, plurality of voices, pro bono legal service, public service, teambuildingCommentary, INside the Bar
April has filled this small town lawyer with rich and diverse experiences and memories. All of those experiences and memories have derived from and informed my identity as an Indiana lawyer and my responsibility as President of the Indiana State Bar Association. The month stormed in at the climax of Indiana’s RFRA political firestorm when the
April 19, 2015
Short URLABA Day, ADR Section, American Cancer Society, Capital Hill, Congress, Dean Len Fromm, Indiana State Bar Association, ISBA Board of Governors, ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference, IU McKinney School of Law Board of Visitors, IU Provost Lauren Robel, Military & Veterans' Affairs Committee, National Archives, RPC 8.4(g), U Maurer School of Law Board of Visitors, US Bankruptcy Judge Jeffrey J. Graham, US Supreme Court, Washington DCCommentary, INside the Bar, Legislative Update, Public Service
When the Indiana Lawyer ran a story in December about the Indiana State Bar Association’s legislative proposal for a new statute of repose, the story quoted me as follows: ISBA President Jeff Hawkins said the proposal to limit the timeframe for malpractice was developed by the bar’s Probate, Trust & Real Property Section, driven in
April 8, 2015
Short URLExtended Reporting Period, Indiana Lawyer, professional liability insurance, Ritman & Associates, tail coverageCommentary, INside the Bar, Legal News
It is unfortunate that the State of Indiana has been embroiled in controversy that no peaceful person of any perspective would desire since the enactment of SB 101. With the enactment of Senate Enrolled Act 50, perhaps our fair state will heal from the wounds of division that the world has witnessed these past few days.
April 2, 2015
Short URLage socioeconomic status, bias, disability, gender, Hoosier, Indiana General Assembly, Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct, Indiana State Bar Association, Indiana Supreme Court, national origin, open to all, prejudice, race, religion, RPG 8.4(g), SB 101, SB 50, sexual orientationCommentary, Legislative Update
Former US Congressman Lee H. Hamilton, former Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, and Indiana Bar Foundation President Donald Lundberg gathered lawyers, college and law school representatives, congressional staffers, and several high-ranking Indiana government officials at a Monday luncheon to discuss Indiana’s civic health. The event kicked off a series of presentations that the luncheon’s
March 24, 2015
Short URLIndiana Bar Foundation, Indiana Civic Health Index, Indiana State Bar Association, Indiana Supreme Court, Leadership Development AcademyCommentary, Public Service
The school of hard knocks taught me that written correspondence delivers news, information, and legal notices very effectively, but it usually ruins complex conversations. Written communication insulates people from a sense of accountability for civil and professional discourse. That lack of accountability often deteriorates into a mob dynamic that can crowd logic and reason from conversation.
March 7, 2015
Short URLdiscussion forum, e-discussion list, technologyCommentary
ISBA President-Elect Carol Adinamis and I attended the National Conference of Bar Presidents (NCBP) meeting in Houston, Texas, Feb. 6-7, with Executive Director Tom Pyrz and Associate Executive Director Susan Jacobs. The conference featured several plenary and breakout sessions on numerous topics about bar association leadership in the practice and administration of law, but a
February 11, 2015
Short URLCommentary
ISBA Prez Blog 
2015 Annual Report of the President of the Indiana State Bar Association
By Jeff R. Hawkins, ISBA President, 2014-15 INDIANA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF DELEGATES FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015 FRENCH LICK, INDIANA REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION JEFF R. HAWKINS, SULLIVAN, PRESIDENT Madam Chair, Chief Justice Rush, Judge Crone, Chief Deputy Attorney General Light, fellow delegates, friends all: It is my great honor to
October 9, 2015 0 Comments Short URLAmerican Bar Association Commission on the Future of Legal Services, AVVO, Board of Governors, Carol Adinamis, diversity, DIY legal service, House of Delegates, Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct, Indiana State Bar Association, Indiana Supreme Court, Law School Admission Council, Leadership Development Academy, LegalZoom, pro se litigation, Professor Bill Henderson, SOGI Committee, technologyCommentary, INside the Bar