Jack Lugar is a candidate for Indiana’s 5^th Congressional District in the May 8 Republican primary. He is one of seven candidates listed who seeks the party’s nomination for the November election to replace long-time Congressman Dan Burton.

   On his website, one of the issues he lists is "Crime and punishment," in which he begins with:

"As a former attorney with the Appeals Division of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, Jack made sure that violent criminals remained where they belonged – in jail."

Ballotpedia identifies, under the subtitle "Career," Jack Lugar as "Former attorney at Indiana Attorney General’s Office."  

   Much of my Law practice consists of representing individuals or businesses on appeals, many of which, in regard to individuals, are of criminal conviction and/or sentences. I was curious about the breadth of Jack Lugar’s experience in the realm of criminal appeals. The Roll of Attorneys lists a John Ralph Lugar—the only person with that last name listed as an Indiana lawyer—and gives his law firm as "The Foster Group." Ballotpedia identifies Jack Lugar as employed at The Foster Group. On his website, Jack Lugar identifies himself as currently a lawyer with The Foster Group, PLLC.  So it would appear the John Ralph Lugar on the Roll of Attorneys also is the candidate for 5^th Congressional District, Jack Lugar.

   The Clerk of Counts On-line docket also lists, by search of last name, the appellate cases in which a lawyer has served as counsel. When I ran a search on Lugar’s last name, under "Search by Attorney’s Last Name," the result was: "No records found for this search." Just to make certain the Clerk of Courts’ website was functioning properly, I ran a search on my last name. I was listed, accurately, as counsel for various parties in a lot of cases.

   One might say that the Clerk’s On-line docket would not have listed Lugar in an appeal in which the Indiana Attorney General is counsel for the State of Indiana—that the AG himself is listed as counsel. The Indiana Attorney General is listed, by name, as counsel of record on every appeal of a criminal conviction and/or sentence I recall litigating. The deputy attorney general assigned to a case always enters her or his appearance in addition to the AG himself or herself. I ran a couple of searches of lawyers whom I know to have litigated appeals as deputy A.g.s. Their names came up.

   It appears Jack Lugar worked as a law clerk in the AG’s office while he was a student at Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis. He is listed on at least three (3) appeals—Griffin v. State, 899 N.E.2d 755; Jackson v. State, 895 N.E.2d 742; and Johnson v. State, 910 N.E.d2d 272—on WestLaw as a "law clerk." If so, he worked on those appeals. His claim, however, is he was "a former attorney with the Appeals Division of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office."  An "attorney" is "one who practices law."  Black’s Law Dictionary, Pocket ed.  A law clerk is a "law student who assists a lawyer or judge with legal research, writing, and other tasks."  Id. Again, a law clerk is not a lawyer or attorney. A legal intern can engage, to a limited degree, in certain acts as a lawyer, but only under the supervision of a lawyer, if that clerk has met the requirements to serve as a "legal intern" under Admission and Discipline Rule 2.1. However, that rule specifically states the legal intern cannot act as an attorney. Therefore his claim that he "made sure that violent criminals remained where they belonged—in jail" was not a matter over which he had any control. The control of the final form of any briefs submitted to the appellate courts was in the hands of, first, the Indiana Attorney General and then, second, Jack Lugar’s supervising Deputy AG. Also, one of the cases, Jackson, was a D-felony possession of cocaine case with two misdemeanors, one for possession of pot and the other for resisting law enforcement. None of the three opinions was published, meaning they have no precedential value outside the specific cases themselves.

   Thus I must ask the question: can Jack Lugar clarify this matter? Or is he misrepresenting his work experience as an attorney for purposes of this campaign? As a voter, I am reasonably entitled to answers to these questions.