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Six IU McKinney students have been spending a portion of summer 2020 working with judges in some of Indiana’s rural counties as part of the Supporting Rural Justice Initiative. The effort is a partnership between the law school and the Indiana Supreme Court.

The program's goal is to expose students to different facets of rural and small-city practice while letting them assist trial court judges with research, drafting motions and opinions, and learning about courtroom practice and procedure through judicial clerkships. IU McKinney students who took part and the counties in which they served are: Jacob Amstutz, Huntington County; Brianna Parker, Henry County; Amy Chassuel-Mahon, Clinton County; Ryan Graves, Tipton County; Kaleb Salisbury; Fountain County; and Jimmy Sedam; Vermillion County. In the photo at left, some of the students met via Zoom with Professor Joel Schumm, about their participation in the program.

“I was very pleased that the program was not only continued but expanded in 2020, even as COVID-19 was limiting many other opportunities for our students,” Professor Schumm said “We had an incredibly strong applicant pool and were wowed during the interview process. The students have been enthusiastic in their work for the judges and the opportunity to delve into issues that affect rural counties.”   

Indiana Supreme Court Justice Christopher Goff oversees the initiative and teaches as an adjunct professor at IU McKinney. You could consider him a natural fit to shepherd the program on behalf of the high court. After law school, Justice Goff served as a small-town practitioner in Huntington County for eight years before returning to his native Wabash County, where he served on the Circuit Court bench for 12 years. Both counties are small, with between 30,000 and 35,000 residents. He knows first-hand the kind of positive impact a young lawyer with a drive to create positive change can have in small communities. Justice Goff was able to start a court-appointed special advocate program in Huntington County a couple years out of law school and established a drug court in Wabash County not long into his time on the bench.

“There is so much need outside of the population centers for good lawyers,” Justice Goff said. “A bright person with a law degree can start making changes quickly. There’s real opportunity to put what you’ve learned to immediate work and save lives. Change lives. Change the fabric of a community.”

Amstutz is a 2L from Fort Wayne, who is working with Judge Davin Smith, ’03, and Judge Jennifer Newton, ’02, in Huntington County. He’s graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, where he majored in law and public policy. Amstutz worked as a paralegal for a firm in Fort Wayne for a year prior to enrolling at IU McKinney. He’d had zero exposure to criminal law prior to his participation in the initiative, and he’s learned a lot by watching the drug court. “This summer has been good at broadening my horizons,” Amstutz said. In the photo at left, from left, is Judge Davin Smith, Jacob Amstutz, and Judge Jennifer Newton. Judge Smith presides in Huntington Circuit Court, and Judge Newton presides in Superior Court.

Chassuel-Mahon, in the photo at left, is a 2L from Alsip, Illinois, a suburb on Chicago’s south side. She is working with Judge Brad Mohler, ’97, in Clinton County. Chassuel-Mahon has a degree in psychology from Loyola University Chicago, and a master of science degree in psychology from DePaul University. She’s leaning toward a career path in family law, but is intrigued by health law, and is enrolled in the introductory course in Fall 2020.

“So much of my substantive education has finally clicked!” Chassuel-Mahon said of her work in Clinton County. “For years we learn law in the abstract, and while it makes sense there's nothing like seeing the concepts applied in real life to truly understand them.  I have an entirely new level of confidence that my knowledge base will provide the skills necessary to practice as soon as a I graduate.” 

Graves is a 2L from a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He graduated from Michigan State University, where he majored in criminal justice. He is working in Tipton County with Judge Thomas Lett, ’85.

“The advantage of completing this externship in a ‘small-town’ courtroom is that you get to see a wide variety of legal disputes,” Graves said. “Also, getting to research and then discuss Indiana law with Judge Lett in Tipton County has been very informative. It's invaluable to see the process that judges go through when they rule on issues.”

Sedam, in the photo at left, is a 2L from Indianapolis, who is working with Judge Jill Wesch in Vermillion County. He graduated from the University of Indianapolis, where he majored in political science and minored in legal studies.

“It has been a great experience,” Sedam said. “I have had the opportunity to complete a lot of tasks and projects for the judge, which has provided a practical education that I wouldn't have otherwise gotten from a textbook or classroom. There is something about becoming a lawyer that inherently creates this tension in you to do something big for and in the world around you, and that tension may be greater now more than ever. I look forward to seeing what lies ahead.” 

Brianna Parker, an IU McKinney 2L and native of Henry County, returned to the program and to her home county to work with Judge Bob Witham, ’92, and Judge Kit Crane, ’89. 2L Kaleb Salisbury is working in Fountain County with Judge Stephanie Campbell, ’96. Judge Campbell participated in the program in summer 2019.

Each IU McKinney student taking part in the initiative receives three academic credits with 100 percent tuition and fee remission, and a $4,000 stipend for completing a minimum of 200 hours of work over the summer.