Indianapolis Law Blog

What Greek organizations should know as pledge season arrives

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office on Wednesday, September 4, 2019.

Fall can be a busy season for Indiana college students who are involved in Greek life. A new year means new leaders, new schedules and adapting to no longer having the members who graduated last semester. One of the first orders of business they have for the year is recruiting new pledges into their groups.

This is a crucial time of the year as not only are you expanding your roster, but you are also being tested by your university. Pledge season is the most popular time of the year for the most common Greek life crime: hazing. As you begin planning your recruitment events and your annual rituals, it is important to review the following so you and the fraternity avoid potential legal and academic troubles:

Indy 500 winner pleads guilty to drunk driving

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in dui/ovwi defense on Wednesday, August 14, 2019.

The retired racing driver Al Unser Jr. was spared jail time for driving while under the influence of alcohol by entering into a negotiated plea agreement with prosecutors. The 57-year old two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 will perform 480 hours of community service and spend 363 days on probation for getting behind the wheel after drinking on May 20. He has also been ordered to attend a victim impact panel. Details of the deal were published on Aug. 6.

Unser was taken into custody after police pulled his Volkswagen Beetle over for speeding in Hendricks County during the early morning hours of May 20. Officers at the scene say that he had bloodshot eyes, was unsteady on his feet, and was unable to speak clearly when he was ordered to exit his vehicle. Officers say that they detected the odor of alcohol on Unser and asked him to submit to a field sobriety test. Unser allegedly refused and denied that he had been drinking. According to media reports, Unser staggered as he approached the officers before losing his balance and falling down an embankment.

Service members are required to pay child support

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in military divorce on Thursday, August 1, 2019.

Each branch of the armed forces considers it a duty of service members to provide child support regardless of their marital or custodial status. Federal rules do not conflict with or override state child support rules, but they require servicemembers and veterans in Indiana to pay child support for noncustodial and custodial children. If there is a court order or a written agreement between the parents in place, the servicemember must abide by its terms.

In cases where no order or agreement is in place, federal rules provide guidelines for calculating payments in the interim. The calculation is based primarily on the servicemember parent's income. The first step is determining the amount of money the person makes. The military pay chart can be useful for getting an estimate with payments included in the leave and earning statement added on. Other income should be included as well. The Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Subsistence or Separate Rations should also be counted toward income.

Study finds binge drinking, DUIs increasing among U.S. veterans

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in dui/ovwi defense on Thursday, July 18, 2019.

Military veterans in Indiana and across the U.S. are binge drinking and drunk driving in higher numbers according to a recent study by the American Addiction Centers. The authors of the study believe the spike in these risky behaviors could be linked to emotional and physical trauma.

For the study, AAC researchers analyzed behavioral risk factor data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in order to understand the reasons behind a recent rise in binge drinking and drunk driving incidents among U.S. veterans. They found that binge drinking rates among veterans increased from approximately 14% in 2013 to just below 16% in 2017. They also found that the rate increased the most among female veterans. For reference, binge drinking is defined as having five drinks within a two-hour period for men and four drinks within the same period for women.

How can an OVWI affect my career?

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office on Wednesday, July 17, 2019.

An arrest or conviction for operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVWI) can have many legal implications. It can mean jail time, fines and license suspension among others. But effects on your professional career can last much longer than the legal penalties.

An OVWI can affect you whether you currently have a job or are in the market for a new one. Here are some effects an OVWI can have on your professional career:

More couples marrying choose to keep separate accounts

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in complex property division on Friday, July 5, 2019.

Many young people in Indiana are choosing not to fully combine their finances, even when they decide to get married. According to one survey, over one-quarter of all millennials are opting to keep two separate bank accounts after marriage rather than launching a joint account. This is more than double the number of couples from older generations who manage their money in this way. There are a number of reasons for the change, including the fact that many couples both have strong careers. In addition, online apps make it easy for people to quickly transfer money from one person to the other without delay.

In some cases, however, people may see maintaining their separate accounts as a form of security against divorce. They may have seen their parents fighting over money and want to avoid the same future for themselves. However, simply maintaining separate accounts does not effectively remove them from the marital estate and therefore from potential conflict during a divorce. Of course, the two parties can simply choose to accept that each walks away from the marriage with his or her own accounts, but this setup does not provide certainty if circumstances change in the future.

Notre Dame administrator charged with drunk driving

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in dui/ovwi defense on Thursday, June 20, 2019.

Police in Indiana have reported that a senior administrator at the University of Notre Dame was taken into custody on June 12 following a traffic stop. The 61-year-old man, who has worked as an associate vice president at the University since 2011 according to media reports, faces a raft of charges including a felony drunk driving count and a misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident count. He is being held at the St. Joseph County Jail.

Officers from the St. Joseph County Police Department pulled over the man's Hyundai SUV after being dispatched to Portage Road. A police report reveals that officers stopped the vehicle because it was traveling slower than the posted speed limit and appeared to be damaged. Officers say that they noticed severe front-end damage on the vehicle, and the man behind the wheel was incoherent and told them that he had struck a tree. The man was asked to perform a series of field sobriety exercises after officers allegedly detected the odor of alcohol on his breath.

Why choose DeVries & Kelly Law Office?

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in complex property division on Wednesday, June 5, 2019.

The diverse team at Devries & Kelly have faced many of the situations that lead Indiana residents to seek out an attorney, and we call on these experiences every day to help our clients deal with the legal and emotional challenges of life's toughest moments. Our people are passionate about helping others, and we represent white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, entrepreneurs and homemakers with equal zeal.

At Devries & Kelly, we understand that each of our clients comes to us with a unique set of circumstances and challenges, and we are committed to helping each one of them to get through their legal difficulties so that they can move on and begin the next chapter of their lives. Our mission is to give our clients the professionalism and results they expect while treating them with the compassion and respect they deserve.

Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. facing drunk driving charge

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office posted in dui/ovwi defense on Wednesday, May 22, 2019.

A routine traffic stop during the early hours on May 20 led to a night behind bars for the former race car driver Al Unser Jr. The 57-year-old racing legend has competed in the Indianapolis 500 on 19 occasions and took the chequered flag in 1992 and 1994. He was taken into custody by police in Hendricks County after his vehicle was pulled over on Ronald Reagan Parkway at approximately 3:21 a.m.

Unser was booked on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. An Avon Police Department officer signaled his Volkswagen sedan to pull over after allegedly observing it exceeding the posted speed limit and straying between lanes. The officer says that Unser's eyes were red and glassy and his speech was slurred. He was brought into custody after allegedly refusing to take a sobriety test and stumbling down an embankment.

Why women initiate divorce more than men

On behalf of DeVries + Kelly Law Office on Monday, May 13, 2019.

Women are often big dreamers of falling in love, having the wedding of their dreams and raising children together in a fairy-tale life. However, the age-old complaint among many women is how difficult it is to get a man to commit. But interestingly, when it comes to divorce, men are not typically the initiators, women are.

After many studies conducted of heterosexual marriage couples calling it quits, the majority show women as the pursuers of divorce. Why is this? Here are some ideas to answer this puzzling question.