News & Updates

We would like to congratulate Dave Emhardt on his 50th Anniversary with the firm. The firm celebrated Mr. Emhardt’s anniversary with a firm-wide gathering on April 30, 2009. Mr. Emhardt began working at Lockwood, Woodard, Smith & Weikart in 1959, which has evolved into Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett & Henry LLP. Mr. Emhardt has been an integral part of the firm’s success over the years. He has seen the firm grow from 4 attorneys to over 30 and has seen the number of staff grow from 4 to over 40. Before joining the firm, Mr. Emhardt served as an Officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and was a Patent Attorney for Western Electric Company after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1955. Among his numerous accomplishments during his time with the firm, in February of 2006, Mr. Emhardt was honored as a Sagamore of the Wabash – the highest award in the State for civic achievement.

In his 50 year tenure, Mr. Emhardt has played a major role in maintaining our firm culture of excellence in a friendly environment. We are extremely grateful for his service, his leadership and the example he has set over the last 50 years.

Associate Marta Paul presented on Updates in Copyright Law for Photography at the April 9, 2009, meeting of the Photo Venture Camera Club (www.photoventure.org). The Photo Venture Camera Club is an Indianapolis-based organization with a membership of over 100 photography enthusiasts. The Photo Venture Camera Club is an active organization which meets weekly to share knowledge, participate in monthly photo competitions, take field trips, and host guest speakers, among other activities. Ms. Paul provided information on copyright protection and discussed federal copyright registration of photographs, right of privacy issues, and copyright infringement of photographs. Ms. Paul previously presented for the group on the same topic in March of 2007.

Partners Holiday W. Banta and T.J. Cole chaired the Eleventh Annual Elegant Vintages International Wine Auction, which raised nearly $100,000 for the Indianapolis Zoo and its conservation and community programs. Many other Woodard Emhardt members served on the event Steering Committee and volunteered to work at the event, which was held March 21, 2009 at the Conrad hotel in downtown Indianapolis. The crowd of 220 guests was treated to a 5-course dinner with world-class wines, while being entertained by the hilarious antics of David Reynolds, the country’s number one charity wine auctioneer, whose battle cry during the auction was “No spousal restraint!” More than 200 lots were auctioned off, including many rare and valuable bottles of wine generously donated by collectors from Indianapolis and throughout the Midwest. There were also many interesting non-wine lots, including a luxury South African safari, the opportunity to bathe an elephant and then ride it back to the elephant barn, as well as a custom haute couture beaded evening gown. T.J. and Holly will again be chairing next year’s event, to be held on March 20, 2010.

Partner Chuck Schmal was a patent law presenter at the 2008 IP Year in Review CLE sponsored by the Intellectual Property Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association on March 12, 2009. Mr. Schmal presented on updates and developments in patent law from 2008, including federal district and appellate court cases and new and proposed regulations. Other speakers at the CLE were Brad R. Maurer of Baker & Daniels LLP and David A. Wong of Barnes & Thornburg LLP.

Congratulations to Woodard, Emhardt partners Spiro Bereveskos, Thomas Henry, Daniel Lueders and John McNett for being named Super Lawyers in The Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition, August 2008.