Pursuing Justice Podcast Episode 16: Running a pro bono program costs money ‒ and Indiana’s statewide legal services program faced a serious financial challenge. Find out how Indiana’s pro bono stakeholders pulled together and, with a law firm’s help, turned a financial crisis into an opportunity.
This podcast provides a behind-the-scenes exploration of pro bono and public interest legal work. These heartening stories are told from both clients’ and lawyers’ perspectives to showcase intimate portraits of lawyers helping those with limited access to justice.
Please note: CLE is not offered for listening to this podcast, and the views and opinions expressed within represent those of the speakers and not necessarily those of PLI.
FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE
Charles R. Dunlap
Mr. Dunlap is the President & CEO of the Indiana Bar Foundation in Indianapolis, Indiana and has been in that position since 2001. Mr. Dunlap graduated Cum Laude from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis in 1996. As the President & CEO of the Indiana Bar Foundation, Mr. Dunlap is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations and programs of the Foundation which include administration of the Indiana Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA) program, various civil legal aid and pro bono programs, grantmaking, and several civic education programs including We the People, and the Indiana High School Mock Trial Program.
Prior to joining the Indiana Bar Foundation Mr. Dunlap was the Assistant Director of Planned Giving for the Indiana University Foundation in Bloomington, Indiana where he worked on numerous complex charitable gifts involving a variety of trusts, bequests, insurance gifts, and gifts of real estate. Prior to his work at the IU Foundation, Mr. Dunlap was an associate in the Muncie, Indiana law firm of DeFur, Voran where his practice focused on estate planning, trust and probate administration, charitable gift planning, charitable organization law, and business law.
Mr. Dunlap is a past President of the National Association of IOLTA Programs, Treasurer of the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance, a member of the National Advisory Committee for the Indiana University Center for Civic Literacy, a past member of the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs Distinguished Alumni Council, and a past Board Member of the National Conference of Bar Foundations. Mr. Dunlap is also an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University’s School of Public & Environmental Affairs, and a participant in the IU McKinney School of Law Military Commission Observation Project at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, and previously worked as a member of the timing and scoring staff of the Indy Car Series.
Melissa S. May
Born in Elkhart, Indiana, Melissa S. May studied criminal justice at Indiana University-South Bend before earning her law degree from Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis in 1984. She then launched a 14-year career in private legal practice in Evansville that focused on insurance defense and personal injury litigation.
Judge May moved directly from private practice to the Court of Appeals in 1998 and was retained by election in 2000 and 2010. Prior to this year, she served as Presiding Judge of the Fourth District, which covers all of Indiana.
Judge May has long been active in local, state and national bar associations and foundations, with a particular focus on continuing legal education and appellate practice. At various times, Judge May has chaired the Indiana State Bar Association’s Litigation and Appellate Practice sections and was secretary to the Board of Governors.
As chair of the Indiana Pro Bono Commission (for the public good), Judge May worked with 14 pro bono districts to train lawyers and mediators on how to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. She currently serves on the Coalition for Court Access which provides a focused and comprehensive organizational structure for Indiana’s civil legal aid programs.
Judge May teaches trial advocacy at Indiana University McKinney School of Law and frequently speaks on legal topics to attorneys, other Judges, schools, and other professional and community organizations. She is special counsel to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Attorney Specialization, on which she’s served since 2003.
In October 2011, Judge May received the Women in the Law Recognition Award from the Indiana State Bar Association for her dedication to helping women advance in the legal community.
Kelly Tautges
Kelly Tautges serves as Faegre Drinker’s pro bono counsel and leads the professional team that manages and supports the firm’s pro bono practice and community service activities. Before joining the firm, Kelly was the Chicago Bar Foundation’s (CBF) Director of Pro Bono & Court Advocacy. She led the organization’s pro bono efforts, including work with lawyers, law firms, corporations, the courts, and pro bono and legal aid organizations to maximize the impact of pro bono work in ensuring access to justice. She also led the CBF’s advocacy efforts with the courts and administrative agencies for policies promoting access to justice, including policies that make the courts and administrative agencies more accessible for people without lawyers. Kelly began her legal career practicing civil and commercial litigation with Vedder Price in Chicago for six years, where she also served on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and represented children and families pro bono in adoption, delinquency and guardianship proceedings.
Scott Wylie
Mr. Wylie presently serves as Executive Director of Pro Bono Indiana, which coordinates pro bono civil legal aid programs in 87 of Indiana’s 92 counties. He is also the managing attorney of the Volunteer Lawyer Program of Southwestern Indiana. Both are located in Evansville, Indiana. Before returning to the Evansville area in 2005, Mr. Wylie spent seventeen years practicing and teaching law in Southern California. He is a nationally recognized speaker and commentator on attorney pro bono efforts, nonprofit governance, and poverty law.
From 1999 until 2005, Mr. Wylie served as the Associate Dean of External Affairs and held the John FitzRandolph Director of Clinical Education Chair at Whittier College School of Law. This work was preceded by a seven year stint as Executive Director of the Public Law Center in Orange County California, one of the largest pro bono programs in the nation. In 2002, Mr. Wylie served as Vice-President of the State Bar of California, the largest mandatory bar association in the nation and he served as President of its charitable foundation until December of 2008.
For nearly thirty years, Mr. Wylie has been active with the American Bar Association Center for Pro Bono, where he is a peer consultant and frequent lecturer throughout the nation. Mr. Wylie received his undergraduate and juris doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, and now lives in Evansville.
