By Anna Marie Kukec
"I hold every man a debtor to his profession."
--Lord Byron"Every lawyer is a debtor to the profession."
--Retired Judge Paul Buchanan Jr.Retired Judge Paul Buchanan Jr., of Indianapolis only donates money to his church and to the bar. His recent donations to the Indianapolis Bar Association and the Indianapolis Bar Foundation have been in the tens of thousands of dollars--and anonymous (up to this point). Only one string was attached: the money must support a program that improves the image of lawyers.
"He’s putting his money where his mouth is. When he sent his check, he attached a note that said, ‘This will keep the wolves from the door,’" says Julie Armstrong, the bar’s executive director.
The 81-year-old retired appellate judge, who continues to play tennis and make the rounds as a speaker on legal issues, is partnering with the foundation’s $100,000 endowment to support a multifaceted bar-foundation project that includes ongoing stories in the media about good deeds by lawyers; editorial columns distributed to general circulation newspapers; and an Ask A Lawyer program at area grocery stores for Law Day.
"I have a total dedication to the profession. It’s been too maligned and treated irresponsibly by the press. I’ve known hundreds of lawyers, and 98 percent of the lawyers are good, honest and hard-working professionals. That fact has been overlooked," Buchanan says. His devotion to the profession began after a three-year stint as a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He earned his law degree at the University of Denver and returned home to Indianapolis to set up his solo practice in 1949. By 1955, he had joined a college friend to establish the law firm of Bose Buchanan McKinney & Evans, and he served as its managing partner until 1971. (Today, the firm has 85 lawyers.) When Buchanan was president of the Indianapolis Bar Association in 1968, he helped create the bar’s Young Lawyers Section and the Indianapolis Bar Foundation. In fact, he served as the foundation’s president for 10 years.
For creating those entities, Buchanan earned the American Bar Association’s Citation of Merit, among other awards. But he didn’t stop there. He also debuted the Ask A Lawyer program in Indianapolis by placing lawyers at various shopping districts to provide free legal advice.
During those years, he married and raised a family. Today, he and his second wife of 13 years, Ruth, have five children, five grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Love for writing
Buchanan’s love for writing made him pursue the bench, where he stayed for more than two decades. "I decided I wanted to go on the wrong side of the bench and become a judge," he jokes.
As a judge, he could do what he loved: write opinions, offer decisions that would impact the law and stimulate his legal bantering as a public speaker. He served on the Indiana Court of Appeals for 22 years until 1993, and was chief judge during this time. After that stint, he spent two years as senior judge in the Indiana Trial Courts.
"It was a helluva good job," Buchanan notes.
During his time on the bench, he computerized the court and helped write legislation that limited a judge’s career to age 75. Then when Buchanan turned 75, he became the first judge to follow that new law and retire from the bench.
"I practiced what I preached," he adds.
Although now retired, he remains active in the profession. He writes the "Ex Parte Line" column for the Indiana State Bar Association’s Res Gestae magazine. Also, his public speaking engagements focus on the direction of the law, the appellate procedure, the gentle art of persuasion, the treatment of criminals, and the image of lawyers. "It’s the main focus of my life at this point," he says.
Other interests that occupy Buchanan are the Washington Park Cemetery Association, of which he is president; and Flanner and Buchanan Inc., a funeral and mortuary business whose Board of Directors he chairs. His investments in shopping centers have made life comfortable, he admits, and allow him to make large donations to the bar foundation. (He prefers to keep the amount of his contribution private, as well as his identity within the membership of the Indianapolis bar and foundation.) "I want to give more to the profession. I only give to the bar and to my church (as a 50-year member of the Meridian Street United Methodist Church in Indianapolis). They are the only things I give to because I feel that I am a debtor to my profession. I’d like to see more champions helping the bar," Buchanan adds.
The author is the reporter for Bar Leader
