News Archive
Todd Shumaker, '07, Co-writes Series on Inclusivity Issues for State Bar Enewsletter
01/27/2023
Working with a colleague at his firm on issues of inclusivity and wanting to expand his work on a bar association committee led Todd Shumaker, J.D. ’07, to co-write a four-part series. Their writing about inclusive language was published in the Indiana State Bar Association’s biweekly enewsletter, Addendum.
Other colleagues where Shumaker is a partner, Church Church Hittle and Antrim, had been talking about inclusive language in the legal field. He practices education law and sports law and is a member of the state bar’s Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Committee. As he dove into the topic “one thing that was really interesting was thinking about how the law creates so much space for naturally inclusive language,” Shumaker said. “Words like ‘judge’ or ‘defendant.’ We may see a certain gender when we hear those terms based on implicit biases, but the reality is there’s no gender inherent in the terms themselves.”
The series tackles issues like the importance of an individual’s name, how society typically refers to men and women differently, the potential problems with misplaced manners, and shifting to neutral language wherever possible. The first article in the series, “Break Language Habits: What's in a Name? An Entire Identity of Which We Should Be Respectful,” was posted January 19, and the remaining installments will appear bi-weekly on the ISBA’s website.
