Laramore to Lead Poverty Law Firm
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana Legal Services Inc. has named Jon Laramore executive director. He previously served as chief legal counsel to governors Frank O'Bannon and Joe Kernan. Laramore is currently a partner with Indianapolis-based Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.
April 6, 2015
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — Indiana Legal Services, Inc. (ILS), the state's largest poverty law firm, has announced that Jon Laramore, a partner with Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, will become its new executive director starting April 1, 2015. ILS serves residents of all 92 Indiana counties through its eight branch offices located in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Merrillville, New Albany and South Bend. Laramore, a native of Plymouth, has focused his law practice primarily in the appellate courts at both the state and federal levels. Laramore will succeed Norman Metzger who is retiring after leading the organization for more than 44 years.
“The ILS Board of Directors is very pleased to have someone with Jon's background, experience and strong commitment in serving the legal needs of the poor in Indiana to head ILS,” said Mary Fondrisi, the President of the ILS Board of Directors and a partner at the firm Smith Carpenter Fondrisi & Cummins in Jeffersonville. “After conducting an exhaustive nationwide search, we are delighted that Jon is willing to devote the next phase of his career to making equal access to our legal system a reality in Indiana for all Hoosiers.”
Laramore has argued more than 100 appeals in state and federal appellate courts and those courts have published more than 200 opinions of his cases. As a founder of the Indiana State Bar Association's appellate pro bono project, Laramore was named the 2013 Appellate Lawyer of the Year in Indiana by Corporate International Magazine. Since 2009, he has been an elected member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Laramore is a past recipient of both the Distinguished Barrister Award given by The Indiana Lawyer and the David Hamacher Public Service Award given by the Indiana State Bar Association.
Laramore was chief legal counsel to Governor Frank O'Bannon and Governor Joseph Kernan. From 1993 to 2001, Laramore worked in the Indiana Attorney General's office as a Deputy Attorney General and then served as Chief Counsel and Special Counsel to the Indiana Attorney General. He is a former adjunct faculty member at Indiana University's Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. Laramore is a member of the Indiana State Board of Law Examiners and was its President from 2010 to 2013. On January 14, Laramore argued Mellouli v. Holder, an immigration case, in the United States Supreme Court. The case asks the Court to determine whether federal law allows deportation of a noncitizen based on a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia conviction in the absence of any proof that the conviction is related to a federally controlled substance.
Laramore received his J.D. in 1983 from Harvard Law School, cum laude, and his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, magna cum laude. Laramore is admitted to the bars of Massachusetts and Indiana. Of note, Laramore was a staff attorney for the South Middlesex Legal Services Program in Massachusetts from 1984 to 1989. South Middlesex Legal Services (since 2008, MetroWest Legal Services) is a legal aid program created in 1976, funded in part by the Legal Services Corporation, to assist low income clients with their civil legal problems. During the same period, Laramore was a staff attorney for the Massachusetts Volunteer Lawyers Project.
ILS provides free legal assistance and representation to financially eligible clients on variety of civil legal issues. In addition to operating regional branch offices in eight major Indiana cities, ILS offers specialized legal services through projects and centers like the Housing Law Center, the Consumer Law Center, the Immigrants' and Language Rights Center, the Migrant Farmworker Law Center, the Community/Economic Development Project, the Military Assistance Project, the Homeless Legal Project, the Medical-Legal Partnerships, the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic and the Senior Law Project. With Jon at the helm, ILS will continue the noteworthy labors of ILS and also expand services to downtrodden Hoosiers through collaboration with the Indiana Commission to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services, the Pro Bono Commission and other service providers.
Source: Indiana Legal Services Inc.