ABA President Addresses ISBA Solo, Small Firm Conference

Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com

The legal industry is evolving quickly, with technological advancements and societal shifts making the traditional paper-and-pencil model of practicing law nearly obsolete. But for solo and small firm attorneys, the administrative burdens of simply running their firms can significantly eat into the time they would otherwise devote to developing new and more efficient methods of doing their work.

American Bar Association President Linda Klein, addressing Indiana solo and small firm attorneys Friday morning in French Lick, said she understands the impact of that administrative burden. She spent her year as ABA president-elect meeting with lawyers across the country, listening to their concerns and soliciting their ideas for ways the ABA could help improve their practices.

Throughout her travels, Klein said the administrative burden of running a firm was the concern that was most troubling to solo and small firm practitioners. Whether it is devoting time during the work day to handling client billing needs or something as simple as answering the phones because they can’t afford a receptionist, the ABA president said solo and small firms consistently told her they needed tools to make their practices more efficient.

Once she officially became president, Klein told attendees of the Indiana State Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference that she, together with ABA Deputy Executive Director Jim Dimos, took those concerns and turned them into a new tool solo and small firm attorneys, and all ABA members, could use to help alleviate their administrative burdens – ABA Blueprint.

Launched in late 2016, Blueprint is designed to be a one-stop shop where attorneys can access various legal tech tools to make the practice of law more efficient. For example, a trip to the ABA Blueprint site could yield a trove of software related to digital credit card processing, marketing and e-discovery, Klein told Friday morning’s audience. There’s even a “Ruby the Receptionist” tool that can facilitate live call answering for small firms that can’t afford to pay an employee to field client calls, she said.

“I think it’s turning out to be the tool that we envisioned it would be, and people seem to be excited about having the hard work done for them,” Klein told Indiana Lawyer after her presentation.

Aside from the tools Blueprint can offer, Klein also encouraged the solo and small firm lawyers to take advantage of other ABA offerings, such as the association’s cybersecurity handbook that provides guidance for avoiding and responding to data breaches and similar cyberattacks. Adam Gwaltney, an agent with conference sponsor Ritman & Associates, told attendees Friday morning the FBI reports roughly 4,000 cyberattacks daily, but estimates the number of actual attacks is likely three times higher.

But more important than the assistance the ABA offers to solo and small firm attorneys, Klein stressed the importance of attorneys from all firms stepping up to help the ABA advocate for the most basic judicial right – equal access to justice.

The ABA president raised concerns about access to justice for veterans – many of whom face homelessness due to legal concerns – as well as concerns about planned cuts to federal legal services funding. Wearing a pin on her lapel that advocated for legal services dollars, Klein urged the attorneys to contact their representatives and tell them not to support cuts to legal services programs.

“There’s never a wrong time to defend the rule of law, but this is a particularly important time, and with that the ABA needs your membership support now more than ever,” Klein told the audience. “This is a defining moment for our country.”

Finally, during his Friday morning presentation, ISBA President Mitch Heppenheimer cautioned attendees to be aware of the effect online services such as Avvo and LegalZoom are having on the practice of law. Attorneys who turn a blind eye to the changes those services are making will get left behind, Heppenheimer said, so attorneys must embrace the changes and adapt accordingly.

But Klein told IL she is still optimistic about the future of the legal profession. Though online services may be more convenient than meeting an attorney in his or her office, she said clients will always need a certain level of human interaction to help them through their legal issues.

“Clients hire lawyers because of their ability to solve problems,” Klein said. “As long as lawyers remain dedicated on a very personal level to helping their clients solve problems, lawyers will always be relevant.”

The Vanderburgh Humane Society is celebrating 60 years of serving the pets & people of our community with an Ice Cream Social, sponsored by Nomad Technology Group and Pet Supplies Plus! Saturday, June 24^th, 2017 from 11:00-4:00, the public can enjoy free ice cream, hot dogs, kids’ activities, and behind-the-scenes shelter tours on the VHS campus.

The entire event is FREE to the public! The event will be held indoor/outdoor, rain or shine, and has public restrooms and wheelchair accessibility in most areas. Kids and leashed pets are welcome!

This summer happens to also be the VHS Low-Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic’s 10^th birthday, and Cardio for Canines’ FIRST birthday! The public will not want to miss this party.

The VHS is the Tri-State’s largest animal welfare agency, serving more than 10,000 animals in three states every single year. But there are still people who don’t know about their lifesaving programs. Who have never even been to their “new” facility, built in 2004. There are many who don’t know about the services they offer, or what they do every day. This is the perfect chance to get to know the VHS! Ask questions, and learn about the past 60 years AND what the future holds.

Door prizes will be awarded. “2K Fetch” tickets are available for purchase for $10 each. Every ticket corresponds to one of 250 numbered tennis balls, one of which will be “fetched” by a shelter dog during the event. Purchase as many tickets as you’d like for your chance to win $500!

All Departments including Adoptions and the Happy Tails Resale Shop will be open!

Corporate sponsorships are still available for a limited time! Email a.coburn@vhslifesaver.org or call (812) 426-2563 x 218 for information.

Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com

A former attorney in the Indiana Attorney General’s Office has been relieved of a $15,000 judgment against him for his role in the raid of an alleged puppy mill, the most recent decision in a long-running case stemming from the state’s seizure of roughly 240 dogs.

After the Indiana Department of Revenue and Office of the Indiana Attorney General received information about the alleged puppy mill operating on a dairy farm without collecting sales tax or adequately reporting sales-related income, state officers conducted a raid on the Harrison County farm. Roughly 240 dogs, including several family pets, were seized in a “dramatically staged” raid in June 2009. The dogs were seized after the owners of the farm and dog breeding business, Virginia and Kristen Garwood, said they could not or would not pay the more than $142,000 they owed in assessed liabilities.

Former Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and then-Chief Counsel for Tax Litigation Andrew Swain celebrated the raid and the so-called “Al Capone” approach to taking down illegal puppy mill operations. Specifically, the state officers had issued jeopardy assessments, or “an immediate tax warrant that turns automatically into a tax judgment which is immediately collectible,” prior to the raid.

Both Garwood women pleaded guilty to Class D felony evasion of income tax, while Virginia Garwood also pleaded guilty to Class D felony failure to remit or collect sales tax. Both women had their sentences suspended to probation.

Meanwhile, prior to their guilty pleas, the Garwoods sought judicial review of the jeopardy assessments in the Indiana Tax Court, which held the jeopardy assessments were “void as a matter of law.” Virginia Garwood then sought a tax refund of more than $100,000, and the Tax Court held in January 2015 the DOR had improperly denied that refund on the value of the dogs. However, the Indiana Supreme Court vacated that ruling one year later.

Further, in the instant case of Virginia Garwood and Kristen Garwood v. State of Indiana, et al., 31A01-1603-CT-679, the Garwoods filed a complaint pleading seven claims against 56 defendants. They alleged state-law torts of conversion, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, as well as federal claims of due process violations, unlawful search and seizure, selective enforcement under the equal protection clause and a conspiracy to violate their civil rights.

The defendants included Zoeller, Swain and state and other officials, but only the claim against Swain was successful. A jury entered a $15,000 compensatory verdict against him, and the court awarded the Garwoods’ counsel a total of $89,500. The Garwoods appealed for a new trial against the same defendants, except Swain, while the state cross-appealed, arguing the Harrison Circuit Court had erred in failing to grant Swain either absolute or qualified immunity.

After clarifying the Indiana Court of Appeals, and not the Indiana Tax Court, had jurisdiction to hear the appeal because “neither the jurisdictional value of finality nor that of validity would be served by returning this case to the tax court to decide the constitutional and tort-law consequences of its earlier tax-law holding,” Judge Paul Mathias wrote in a 59-page opinion Monday that the $15,000 judgment against Swain was not supported by sufficient evidence.

The Garwoods failed to show a procedural due process violation for which Swain could have been held personally liable, because the state’s jeopardy assessment scheme has been held constitutional and because the Garwoods received a post-deprivation hearing in the Indiana Tax Court. Further, the Garwoods confused a state law violation with a due process violation when they claimed the tax’s court ruling made it as if the jeopardy assessments “literally never happened,” he wrote.

Additionally, Mathias wrote “The Garwoods’ substantive due process claim fails because Swain’s conduct was rationally related to a legitimate government interest and did not shock the conscience.” Further, the court rejected the Garwoods’ equal protection claim, finding that because they did not identify favorable comparators, the court “cannot review whether ‘there was no rational basis for difference in treatment.’”

Thus, Swain cannot be held personally liable in the case, Mathias said, which means the Garwoods are not a prevailing party, and their lawyers are not entitled to fees. The appellate court, therefore, vacated the award granting their attorneys nearly $90,000 in fees.

Finally, the appellate panel affirmed the decision of the Harrison Circuit Court in all other respects, finding the trial court did not abuse its discretion in relation to charging information, jury instructions, the admission of a court transcript or its decision to decline to give preclusive effect to the tax court’s decision to void the jeopardy assessments.