NEW LOCAL RULES TAKE EFFECT

Please review the changes to the Local Rules at http://www.in.gov/judiciary/stjoseph/docs/plr060311.pdf . The Family Law Committee will be meeting on January 26, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. to have a round table discussion on these changes. Location to be determined, contact Mark James at james@aaklaw.com or 574.288.1510 for more information.

Also, just a reminder that effective January 1, 2012, cell phones and PDA’s are NOT PERMITTED in any St. Joseph County Courthouse, with limited exceptions. Any person violating the rules regarding photography, cameras, cell phones, PDA’s or other electronic devices shall be subject to immediate confiscation of the device and may be fined up to $1,500.00 for violating the prohibition against an audio or visual recording or for permitting noise from an electronic device to disrupt court while in session. The penalty shall be imposed at the discretion of the judicial officer in whose courtroom the violation occurred.

WINE LAW
(1 CLE)

Presented by Bill Wilson

Thursday, January 19, 2012
4:00 PM - Presentation
5:00 PM Reception

Morris Bistro
211 N. Michigan St.
South Bend, IN 46601

• Why you can’t get some wines shipped to Indiana
• How the law affects what you see on a wine label and why you should care

Networking reception with sampling of wines, complements of Tiedmann Wines.

REGISTRATION FORM

VIEW FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOP AND HOW TO GET THERE
(1.5 CLE)

Doubletree by Hilton
123 North St. Joseph Street, South Bend, Indiana
February 23, 2012
3:00 PM – Check in
3:30 PM– 5:00 PM Seminar

Continuing Legal Education presented by Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven H. David and Appellate Attorney Robert J. Palmer, Esq. Moderated by Victoria R. Wolf, Esq.

• Preserving Error in the Trial Court
• Understanding Recent Amendments to the Indiana Appellate Rules
• Petitions to Transfer
• A view from Two Benches – Comparing the Trial Court with the Supreme Court

REGISTER TODAY FOR THIS UNIQUE CLE

WINTER BAR GATHERING

February 23, 2012
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
LaSalle Grille
2nd Floor - Club LaSalle
115 West Colfax, South Bend

Beer, Wine and Heavy Hors D’Oeuvres included.

$30 per Member until Friday, February 17; $40 per Member after 2/17/12

Only Members in good standing will be admitted.

REGISTER NOW!!

CIRCUIT COURT MAGISTRATE CHANGES

Elizabeth C. Hurley has been selected by St. Joseph Circuit Court Judge Michael G. Gotsch as Magistrate Judge for the St. Joseph Circuit Court. Hurley will assume the duties of Mag. Judge on January 2, 2012. For the past 10 years she was employed with the Prosecutor’s Office, prior to that she was in private practice at the law office of Fred R. Hains. She is a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, and Villanova University, cum laude.

Hurley will replace the Honorable David T. Ready, who is retiring from the bench after more than 12 years of service as Magistrate Judge in the Mishawaka Division of the Circuit Court. Ready has been certified by the Supreme Court to serve as a Senior Judge. As Gotsch said, “[Ready’s] retirement is well deserved, but he will be missed greatly.” Mag. Ambler will relocate to Mishawaka, as Mag. Hurley begins her appointment in South Bend.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS
From SJCBA Executive Director Amy McGuire

Happy New Year! Let’s resolve in 2012 to attend more local bar events, complete our CLE requirements early, pay our dues NOW (if you haven’t already!).

We would love to see you at the Winter Bar Gathering in February, the Baseball outing in June, and the Golf outing and Dinner in July. The Bar Association is also planning to offer at least one local CLE each month – please plan to join us at these and complete your CLE requirements easily, and over lunch in most cases. We hope to see you in 2012!

BRINGING TECHNOLOGY INTO OUR COURTROOMS
Submitted by Judge David C. Chapleau; St. Joseph Superior Court

In 2010, the St. Joseph Superior and Circuit Courts received a grant from the Indiana Supreme Court for improvement of our courtroom technology. Thanks to additional contributions from the St. Joseph County Bar Association and the Bar Foundation, we have been able to install audio/video systems in the seven jury courtrooms. Each jury courtroom has a high quality projector or a 60 inch plasma television. Images are projected to a 10 foot diagonal screen, either wall-mounted or on tripods. The new system allows large, clear images of pictures and videos to be projected to the public, the attorneys, the judge, and the jury. The Elmo document camera serves as a hub for images and other information which legal counsel can use to project information onto the display screens from a laptop computer or a SD card. In addition to displaying photo images, deposition videos can be projected through speakers installed in each courtroom. The Electrosonic sound mixer was purchased through a U.S. Department of Justice grant shared by the YMCA of St. Joseph County to facilitate the YWCA Courtwatch program.

In addition, the newly-installed Polycom QDX video conference equipment allows an image of a witness to be projected into the courtroom from a remote location. With established connections at the St. Joseph County Jail, the Indiana Department of Corrections, and Indiana State Mental Hospitals, the system can be used for live closed circuit testimony under I.C. 35-37-4-6, and within the parameters of Administrative Rule 14 concerning the use of audio and visual telecommunications.

Special thanks go to Bob Hennessey from the United States District Court Clerk’s Office under Clerk Steve Ludwig, the County’s in-house maintenance staff headed by John Embrickson, the computer department administered under County Auditor Pete Mullen, as well as staff members Scott Seniff.