Indiana Court of Appeals traveling oral arguments returned to campus for first time since 2002
For a few hours, the Indiana University Northwest Theatre stage transformed into a courtroom.
The Indiana Court of Appeals hosted its traveling oral arguments, or “Appeals on Wheels” on Friday, Feb. 7, which aims to help Hoosiers around the state learn more about the judiciary and its role by exposing citizens to the court.
It was the first time the event was held at IU Northwest since 2002. These arguments are real court cases, with a bailiff calling the court into session, three judges and lawyers representing a plaintiff and defendant. It’s a typical court proceeding, except with a much larger audience than usual.
Around 350 attendees, mostly made up of high school students from several schools throughout Northwest Indiana but also including IU Northwest students, faculty, staff and dignitaries from the area, attended the proceeding.
There was an obvious interest among the students. Throughout the argument, they eagerly listened and, afterward, asked questions to the judges and lawyers.
For more than 30 minutes, Judges Nancy Vaidik, Elizabeth Tavitas and Paul Felix fielded thought-provoking questions from dozens of students, talking about the steps they took to become judges, the mental challenges of some court cases, being impartial and so much more.
The engagement is what makes the traveling oral arguments different and why the Court travels throughout the state hosting the event.
“We try to pick cases that students can learn from, something they can understand and something that will hopefully teach out something at the end of the day,” Tavitas said. “Also, we came here because we want to show you what the judiciary does since not everyone gets to be in a court. … We hope that we’re inspiring you all to choose a career in law or become a judge one day.”
Vaidik, who grew up in Portage, Indiana, asked how many students were considering a career in law. Hands throughout the nearly 500-seat auditorium promptly went up, bringing a smile to all the judge’s faces.
There’s an attorney shortage in Indiana, with the Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future calling it an “existential threat to the legal profession and those we serve,” in its Interim Recommendations report in 2024.
The event exemplified the interest in law among students in the region. Exposing those students to a courtroom is the first step in getting students interested in pursuing a law degree in the future and, at the very least, making them comfortable in a courtroom if they ever have an obligation that brings them into court, like jury duty.
“We know we have students that want to be attorneys, not only at IU Northwest but in Northwest Indiana,” IU Northwest Interim Vice Chancellor Vicki Román-Lagunas said. “This region doesn’t have a law school currently, so it’s great to have the students get excited about the law because the law is coming to them.”
While Northwest Indiana has not had a law school since 2020, Rep. Earl Harris authored a bill, House Bill No. 1546, which would look into creating a study for the feasibility of establishing a law school in Northwest Indiana.
IU Northwest offers a pre-law degree and has a partnership with the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, creating a pipeline for IU Northwest students to get into law school.
Graduate and first-generation student Izabela Kolevska began studying at IU Northwest as a pre-dental student but changed to pre-law after taking a legal aspects of healthcare administration class with School of Public and Environmental Affairs Professor Susan Zinner.
Kolevska, a Masters of Public Affairs student, served as the student bailiff for the court hearing at IU Northwest and was recently accepted into the IU McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. She said she’s thankful for IU Northwest opening her eyes to her future career.
“Appeals on Wheels is amazing for high school students to get into a courtroom,” Kolevska said. “… There’s not a specific field or major that’s required for acceptance into law school. In SPEA, we study a lot of different things, I know it opened the doors for me.”
Following the event, which was organized by Business Academy Director and pre-law advisor Jana Szostek, several pre-law students got to meet and talk with the judges and lawyers in an informal setting.
One day, maybe those same students will be able to return the favor when they become judges and lawyers themselves.
