The Indiana Lawyer Podcast with Maura Johnson

Some Indiana charter schools are weighing one-year agreements amid uncertainty over funding, transportation and school buildings. Heather Harris, chair of Barnes & Thornburg's Charter School and School Innovation Practice Group, explains the legal work behind school partnerships and the uncertainty facing her clients. Harris traces her involvement in education policy to negotiations over Indiana's first charter school law, describing the political compromise that helped it pass. A first-generation college student who grew up with few school options, she explains why preserving choices for families has remained central to her work. With some innovation agreements set to expire June 30, 2027, Harris discusses renewal negotiations with Indianapolis Public Schools and changes involving Enroll Indy. She also outlines the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation's anticipated role in school facilities and transportation, and the challenge of sharing costs across schools with different buildings, enrollment and student needs. The  conversation also covers the Institute for Quality Education, Harris' shift from opposing vouchers to supporting broader school choice, and scholarship tax credits. She considers when schools might benefit from combining operations, finding a partner or closing a building so more resources can reach classrooms. For attorneys, Harris points to discounted legal services, pro bono work and school board service as ways to support students and families. She describes what serving on a board taught her about budgets and governance, and why schools need lawyers willing to contribute their time and experience.

Solo law firm survival can depend on cash reserves, getting paid and knowing when to bring in co-counsel. Patrick Olmstead, an attorney who leads the solo law firm Patrick Olmstead Law LLC, explains how he built a practice serving lawyers while learning the business realities of running a firm. He traces his career from Thompson Coburn in St. Louis to Hoover Hull in Indiana, then describes the challenges of opening his own practice: setting up systems, collecting fees, pricing matters and rebuilding his reputation without a larger firm's name behind him. He credits the Indiana State Bar Association's General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section with connecting him to mentors and experienced lawyers willing to co-counsel on unfamiliar matters. The conversation also covers his board game law practice, including work involving designer Martin Wallace and Eagle-Gryphon Games. His advice for lawyers considering solo or small-firm practice is practical: Keep overhead low, know your weaknesses, use co-counsel when necessary, hire only when revenue is consistent and plan for retirement.

Big law recruiting now has some students committing to two summers at a firm after just one semester of law school. Anne Newton McFadden, dean of students at Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington, talks with Indiana Lawyer Podcast host Maura Johnson about applications opening in October and offers arriving in January for jobs that may not begin for another year and a half. McFadden explains how the shift away from on-campus interviews has given firms more control over recruiting and opened doors for students beyond the schools those firms traditionally visited. She also describes the pressure to choose a career before exploring other options, the limits of hiring based on one semester of grades and the potential for mismatches between students and employers. At Maurer, that pressure has prompted career programming before students arrive on campus, including networking instruction, resume resources and 20-minute resume reviews. About two-thirds of the incoming class used the reviews. Required advising meetings and informational interviews help first-year students assess their interests, values and career options. The conversation also covers two-summer commitments, recruiting at smaller firms and government offices, and a Bloomberg Law opinion piece proposing state supreme court intervention. McFadden questions how such rules could be enforced and considers whether hiring mismatches could eventually slow the process. She closes with concerns about student mental health and declining participation in journals and moot court.

Opera voice training can help lawyers sound more confident, grounded and persuasive by changing how they breathe, stand and use resonance in a room. Anne Fuchs, founder of Foxy Opera LLC and senior director of fellowship and statewide civics initiatives at the Mitch Daniels Leadership Foundation, explains how classical vocal technique became a framework for professional communication. She traces her start in a church choir, formal voice lessons at 13 and opera studies before a legal job introduced her to the professional world that would later become an early audience for her coaching. After four years with the Court of Appeals of Indiana, Fuchs describes the courtroom moment that crystallized the idea: watching an attorney argue while standing on one leg, then hearing the argument strengthen once the speaker planted both feet. From there, the conversation moves through posture, breath support, vocal tract alignment, resonance and the difference between sounding loud and being heard clearly. She also explains why confidence can be trained as a physical skill, why recorded voices sound unfamiliar because of bone conduction, and how singers learn not to trust what they hear inside their own heads. A live exercise shows how posture, breathing and connected sound can change vocal presence in real time. The discussion also covers private coaching for attorneys, work with leadership, human resources and sales teams, finding a speaker's natural tessitura, using songs to reshape vocal habits, and planning breaths so complex legal arguments stay clear for judges and juries. Fuchs also discusses presentations through the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the legal community's early support for Foxy Opera.

Indiana paralegals Monica D. Dabio and Dawn Edmondson explain how litigation work, AI tools and professional networks shape a career built on research, organization and problem-solving. Dabio, a paralegal at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP and past president of the Indiana Paralegal Association, and Edmondson, a paralegal at Bose McKinney & Evans LLP and president of the association, trace the different paths that brought them into the profession. They describe the appeal of digging into case facts, learning new industries and using technology to manage increasingly complex litigation. Their work can include collecting and reviewing documents, tracking deadlines, preparing deposition materials, drafting discovery, organizing exhibits and supporting evidence presentation at trial. They also explain how AI is being used for deposition summaries, audio transcription, research and comparisons of witness and exhibit lists, while stressing the need for human review, security vetting and training. The conversation also looks at the Indiana Paralegal Association's role in networking, continuing education, student outreach and career development. Dabio and Edmondson discuss internships, legal assistant roles and other ways new paralegals can gain experience, plus how professional relationships can open doors throughout a career. They also preview IPA's annual silent auction benefiting Outside the Box Inc., and explain how members and prospective members can connect through monthly meetings, the association's job bank and volunteer committees.