On any given Wednesday, attorneys work to the rhythm of shuffling papers, keyboard clicks and coffee brewing. Conversation is cordial, sometimes adversarial, but moves toward one goal — a resolution.
Once the sun begins its rapid descent to the west, many will head home after a long day’s work.
But some attorneys in the Indianapolis area have one more task to complete before calling it a day. This one, however, doesn’t go toward billable hours.
From December through March, the attorneys trade dress shoes for sneakers and make their way to a local recreational center to argue their case at a different kind of court — on a basketball court.
This season’s participants are part of a more than 40-year legacy that is the Lawyer League, a recreational basketball league in Indianapolis that’s been offering area attorneys the opportunity to champion community and challenge colleagues.
Conversation on the court doesn’t center around briefs and caseloads. Rather, teams display their litigation strategies to the beat of a basketball.
Still, there’s no avoiding the reason why they’re spending their Wednesdays together in the winter. From gaming law to personal injury, real estate to M&A, attorneys on the league’s teams fall in sync on the hardwood, making the Indianapolis legal community tight-knit with every hoop shot and buzzer beat.
“It feels like the most Indiana way to network,” said Dakota Slaughter, a member of the Lawyer League and associate at Bose McKinney & Evans LLP.
The league’s beginnings stem from efforts by several attorneys to gather outside of the office. At the time, teams met at a local elementary school to play informally, said Lee Christie, partner at Christie Bell & Marshall and an early member of the league.
The attorneys later decided to make the games more formal, bringing in referees and keeping score of wins and losses. Eventually, the games were moved to the Indianapolis Basketball Academy.
At its height, around 20 teams were part of the league, with larger law firms sponsoring more than one team during the season.
But around the mid-2010s, the league lost steam, only to be picked up again by Christie and a few others.
“I think that the main motivation was just being able to go out and compete and get exercise and meet other lawyers outside of the courtroom and the litigation and the practice of law. Just meet them on a different arena,” Christie said of why he decided to revive the league.
After the pandemic caused teams to miss the 2020-2021 season, the league has been going strong since.
While not as high in volume as previous seasons, each year boasts around eight to 10 teams competing in single games, with multi-week playoffs at the end of the season.
Nine teams competed this season, which started in early December and ended mid-March. While not intentional, the league often runs alongside the college basketball season.
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