10202000 - News Article - Accused judge still working for town Town Court judge hires Chris Kouros as her replacement, despite his pending disciplinary action - ROBERT CANTRELL

Accused judge still working for town
Town Court judge hires Chris Kouros as her replacement, despite his pending disciplinary action
NWI Times
Oct 20, 2000
nwitimes.com/uncategorized/accused-judge-still-working-for-town/article_24334bcf-bd60-58a3-8260-112e94eeb895
SCHERERVILLE -- Despite a pending suspension from the practice of law for stealing client money to support a gambling addiction, a politically connected lawyer has continued serving as a temporary judge in the Schererville Town Court.

Town Court Judge Deborah Riga is defending her selection of Chris Kouros to sit as her judge pro tempore replacement on Oct. 12 in spite of a severe disciplinary action against Kouros Sept. 11 by the Indiana Supreme Court disciplinary commission.

Riga, who said she had selected Kouros long before his suspension because she knew she was going out of town, pointed out Kouros' suspension does not take effect until Monday, and said he is still able to perform all duties of a lawyer through then.

The judge said she was not concerned about having Kouros sit as her replacement.

"I answer to the Supreme Court, and they have said that Chris is still a lawyer through the 23rd," she said. "There was no violation on his part or mine in his sitting."

"I'm not even sure what all the allegations are," Riga said. "I don't feel comfortable commenting on some else's disciplinary action."

Kouros is the brother of former Schererville Town Councilman Tom Kouros, the nephew of longtime East Chicago City Councilman Gus Kouros and the cousin of Lake Criminal Court Judge Joan Kouros.

On Sept. 11, the disciplinary commission and Kouros came to an agreement under which he would be suspended for at least one year and have to petition the Supreme Court for reinstatement to the bar.

The allegations were that Kouros wrote checks to clients for settlements of $2,500 and $750 at a time when his account had a balance about $83 and that he also took $5,000 a client gave him to settle a suit with a third party but that he "failed to deposit it in his client trust account and instead used it for purposes unrelated to the client."

Four other counts detail similar allegations of juggling client money. Kouros, the disciplinary commission said, "repeatedly infused his own funds into his client trust account to cover shortfalls occasioned by his own misuse of funds."

In making the allegations, the commission said Kouros "converted the clients' funds," which is a criminal misdemeanor. "It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in a criminal act which reflects adversely on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer."

Kouros' actions, the commission found, "involved dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation."

However, the court noted that Kouros' bank covered all the overdrafts and that no client was deprived of funds at any time.

Kouros "temporarily used at least some client funds to cover his gambling debts," the commission found, but said "there was no intent permanently to deprive clients of their funds. This conclusion is fortunate for (Kouros) since outright theft of client funds generally warrants very severe sanction up to and including disbarment."

Although Kouros did not respond to inquiries by The Times, the disciplinary commission ruling said he cooperated with their investigation and suffers from a gambling addiction for which he is receiving counseling, including participation in Gamblers Anonymous.

Disciplinary Commission Executive Secretary Donald Lundberg said that, although Kouros cannot take on any new clients during the limbo period between the suspension order and the date it takes effect, "this situation (pro tem) was simply not contemplated by the rules, the possibility that a lawyer in that gap time would be asked to sit as a pro tem."

The purpose of the "gap" is to give a suspended lawyer time to wrap up pending cases so as not to inconvenience clients, "not so you can take on new clients when you know darn well you can't continue to represent them," Lundberg said.

The default position, in the absence of a rule, "is that unless it's excluded, it's permitted," said Lundberg. "If there is an issue, it's not the legality but the prudence on the part of the judge who made the appointment -- was it a smart thing to do?

"That's for others to judge. I'm not the judge of smartness, my job's tough enough."

Riga said she does not regret the decision, and said she has used Kouros exclusively as her substitute -- although she has only used a replacement on rare occasions.

She said she asked others to sit in for her as well, but it is hard to find someone willing to work nights in that unpaid position.

01222000 - News Article - County awaits go-ahead for family court

County awaits go-ahead for family court
NWI Times
Jan 22, 2000
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/county-awaits-go-ahead-for-family-court/article_2898c0cb-7aa6-5854-9469-3b9abf39e33b.html
VALPARAISO -- Porter County has been selected as one of six counties whose funding application for a family court pilot project will be reviewed by the Indiana Supreme Court.

The recommendation could be sent to the high court as early as Monday.

The court is expected to act quickly, said Appellate Court Judge Margret Robb, head of the special task force appointed by the high court to review applications.

If successful, Porter County could see the beginnings of a family court structure in as little as 14 days after acceptance by the high court.

The family court movement is a sweeping change in philosophy in which court cases involving various members of a single family are treated holistically by one judge rather than separately by judges without knowledge of all that is going on with that family.

Supporters say the court needs a coherent picture of the whole family to make decisions in each individual's best interest. Critics argue that approach taints the individual's right to a fair hearing.

In addition to Porter County, the special task force will be recommending proposals from Monroe, Johnson, Cass, Putnam and Posey counties. Three of those six counties will be chosen for the pilot project.

Porter, with a population of 145,000, is the largest of the contenders, followed by Monroe at 115,000 and Johnson at 110,000. Cass, Putnam and Posey have populations ranging from 26,000 to 38,000.

Robb said while the task force did not focus on size, it is a factor.

"Size is an issue," Robb said. "Theoretically, counties could have exactly the same project (in mind), and not be as effective in terms of resources."

The final victors will have to make do with an estimated $280,000 over two years between them.

The awarding of the grants, however, is far more flexible than originally proposed two years ago through a legislative initiative. At that time, the plan was to make like awards to a large, mid-size and small county. The legislative effort failed, but the court subsequently was successful in securing additional funds for its own budget in order to award the grants.

This time around, the court is expected to allocate the funds as needed, which means one county may get as much as two-thirds of the pie with the others sharing the rest. "We've asked each county to give us their financial needs, wish list and bottom line," Robb said.

In Porter County, the wish list would be augmented by funds from the budget of Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper as well as a contribution by Porter-Starke Services in the form of the salary paid to the project's local coordinator.

The proposal, authored by Harper, requests $61,100 annually from the state court with her court matching $31,600. In addition, Harper has requested supplementary funding of $18,000 from the Court Improvement Project, the state component of a national undertaking to improve family law adjudication.

The 22-page proposal is largely grounded in an expansion of community programs that have been under way for some years: the Chronic Repeat Offender Program in which juvenile court staff work closely with the schools, and the Juvenile Summit Team in which a coalition of the judiciary, social service agencies and schools work together to improve communication among agencies and collaborate on case handling. Pivotal to any family court structure is a computerized case management system, which is near completion.

"I hope to bring the same approach as the Juvenile Summit Team to the table," Harper said in discussing the focus of the family court project.

In her work over the past two years in formulating the proposal, Harper said she has found the two "absolute commonalties" in family troubles -- the combination of domestic violence and substance abuse. Her proposal includes bringing on board the assistance of extended family and mediation to aid such families.

"I hope the people in Indianapolis find that innovative," she said.

Harper's proposal indicates she has spent time bringing the community on board as well.

"We've got a terrific circuit court judge," said Lee Grogg, head of Porter-Starke Services. "We've been working on the Summit for the better part of three years, and we're hearing the cases encompass a broad spectrum of problems."

"One of the primary concerns among lawyers is how to best use their time," said Valparaiso attorney David Chidester, past president of the Porter County Bar Association and Harper's husband.

Chidester was president of the group when Harper presented her family court plan to the bar, which is said to be supportive of the initiative.

"If (a lawyer) can handle a CHINS (Child in Need of Services) case, a dissolution matter or an alcohol-related case all in the same place on the same day and help his practice and his client, I think that's why the lawyers are in favor of it," he said. "We see the same family in a myriad of courts."

Bar member Joanne Eldred agreed, citing a case in which custody issues involving two children in the same family were being heard in two different courts. "It doesn't make sense...," she said. "I think it's very good and very helpful for one judge to follow a family and how (one set) of issues can affect other issues."

While Harper, as juvenile court judge, has led the local movement toward adopting a family court model, the project is supported by her fellow judges.

"We're all in favor of it," Porter Superior Court Judge Thomas Webber said.

"The state has the money and they need to start spending it before they lose it. Things are pretty much in place to start the project."

Newly named Appellate Court Judge Nancy Vaidik said the new model allows the left hand to talk to the right. "That's not often the case with courts anywhere, and Judge Harper's plan does just that. It allows the free-flowing of information between agencies to serve the people of Porter County and particularly the families of Porter County."