Kevin W. Betz
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Daniel Raess, M.D. v. Joseph Doescher Indiana Supreme Court Oral Argument
Kevin knew his career destination from law school. "I'm fortunate to be doing exactly what I had my sights set on way back when," he says. And his clients are the beneficiaries of that impassioned commitment to serving them as a well-qualified and experienced premiere plaintiff's employment law litigator in Indiana.
The Making of an Advocate
Kevin's practice of employment law is fueled by his empathy, compassion, and competitive nature. While an undergraduate at Indiana University, he focused his political science studies on matters impacting the workplace. This interest came about from his insight that workplace conditions impact individuals and their families far more than even government policy or constitutional rights. He realized that we can have great constitutional freedoms, but unless the workplace is fair and free of abuse, those freedoms can ring hollow to working Hoosiers and their families.
After graduating from IU in 1982 with double bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science, Kevin worked as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. There he spearheaded a union movement for Sentinel workers to join The Newspaper Guild. He was motivated to become involved as an organizer by witnessing the newspaper's labor practices. As a result, the Sentinel ultimately became unionized and workplace conditions improved, to the benefit of individuals and their families.
Prior to going to law school, Kevin helped in many other employee causes such as individual rights campaigns and working for the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the union for NFL players. He worked directly for Ed Garvey, founder of the NFLPA.
In 1984, Kevin received a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. This was followed soon after by admittance to the Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington. During law school, he worked as a law clerk from 1986 - 1988 for Marc R. Kellams, a prominent state trial judge in Monroe County. He performed legal research for Judge Kellams and assisted with court rulings. Kevin graduated from law school in 1988. Later that year, he was admitted to the Indiana Bar. From 1988 - 1990, he served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard of the Indiana Supreme Court (who is Indiana's longest serving chief justice). While clerking at the high court, he performed even more in-depth and extensive legal research as well as drafting for the Chief Justice of the State of Indiana. "It is a rare opportunity for any lawyer to see firsthand the decision making of a court of last resort such as the Indiana Supreme Court," he says of the experience. During his time clerking for Chief Justice Shepard, Kevin co-authored an Indiana Law Review article on the state's environmental statutes, focusing on the Responsible Property Transfer Act.
Following his clerkship and during the summer of 1990, Kevin traveled to Shanghai, China, as a participant in the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis' international study program with the East China Institute of Law and Politics. There he studied Chinese law and toured the country, visiting its legal institutions. This took place one year after the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations and massacre in Beijing. The most memorable image from that historic event - a lone individual standing up for democracy and against repression, boldly facing a queue of Chinese tanks - symbolizes the spirit of Kevin's advocacy mission to protect his clients' rights.
Acquiring Experience, Gaining Skill
Kevin's legal practice began in 1990 at Krieg DeVault Alexander & Capehart (now Krieg DeVault, LLP), where he practiced in the area of commercial/business litigation, which included the representation of multimillion-dollar international corporations on complex antitrust issues. During his five years at Krieg DeVault, Kevin honed his litigation skills under some of the finest litigators in the state while pursuing a wide range of claims, including commercial issues, freedom of speech and religious discrimination claims, and numerous matters of employment law.
Kevin left Krieg DeVault to serve in Govs. Evan Bayh and Frank O'Bannon's administrations as Chief Counsel and Deputy Commissioner for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), from 1995 - 1997. While at IDEM, he supervised 30 attorneys, 40 enforcement officers, and seven criminal investigators. He represented IDEM and the State of Indiana in consent decree negotiations with Westinghouse/General Electric, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Bloomington Office of the Mayor involving PCB contamination in Bloomington. Notably, Kevin also oversaw the largest state environmental settlement with a private corporation: approximately $100 million in fines and penalties paid by a polluter in northwest Indiana. As well, he was part of the executive team that managed IDEM's $100 million annual budget.
Establishing an Employment Law Practice to Serve Individuals
Desiring to focus his practice of law on advocating for individuals, Kevin established Betz & Associates in 1997. Since then the firm has blossomed, with as many as five attorneys and two paralegals practicing employment law, as well as in the sister areas of business and commercial law, civil rights and constitutional law, and professional licensing and discipline. Betz & Associates is also known throughout the state for its appellate law practices. Additionally, the firm is experiencing growth in its class actions and environmental law practice. Kevin and his associates have won six-figure jury verdicts in damages for a number of clients in both state and federal court jury trials. Since starting his practice, Kevin has been lead counsel in more than 500 matters for individuals (the vast majority of these cases have been settled out of court). He has served as lead or co-counsel in more than 25 jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations, or administrative hearings as well as in more than 150 mediations. Of note, Kevin served as co-counsel in the first jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana involving the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), successfully representing the plaintiff in that case against an international corporation. In March 2005, Kevin won a $325,000 jury verdict award for his client, the plaintiff in a potential landmark case involving bullying in the workplace committed by the chief heart surgeon of an Indianapolis hospital. (Doescher v. Raess)
Betz & Associates has been selected by the state's largest newspaper, The Indianapolis Star, to represent and advise the company regarding several First Amendment and public record disputes. One case involved The Star pursuing public records from a state agency, a matter in which our firm prevailed in obtaining the records involved in the 1999 White River fish kill. Another higher profile case, ongoing since 2000, involves representing The Star in pursuing public records relevant to the investigation and termination of former Indiana University basketball Coach Robert (Bobby) M. Knight.
Further Qualifications
Reflecting his entrepreneurial bent and ability to organize a successful statewide effort, Kevin and his wife, real estate lawyer Holly Hapak Betz, created The Lawyers Bar Review in 1993, a biannual, six-week bar candidate preparatory course. Kevin also served as editor for the entire set of bar review materials, which covered more than 20 areas of state and federal law. A great success - capturing more than 80 percent of the statewide market at the four Indiana law schools by 1995 - The Lawyers Bar Review was purchased by BAR/BRI Bar Review in 1998. Kevin is the Indiana state director of the BAR/BRI Bar Review, which is the only national bar examination preparatory course in all 50 states. He has lectured on the subject of contracts, as well as tactics and techniques, for those preparing to sit for the Indiana Bar Exam.
Kevin is a regular speaker at seminars held in Indiana regarding the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Indiana Civil Rights Commission, where he has addressed human resource officers and recently spoke on remedies under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also presents on employment law on behalf of the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum.
Because of his considerable experience in appellate law, Kevin is also sought out as an appellate consultant by major Indiana law firms to analyze appellate arguments and petitions to transfer to the Indiana Supreme Court. Since 1990, he has been the lead author of the annually published Indiana Law Review article "An Examination of the Indiana Supreme Court Docket, Dispositions, and Voting." He is the lead author for more than 10 such law reviews published by the Indiana University School of Law.
Kevin is admitted in all state and federal courts in Indiana as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. For matters involving the U.S. Offices of Personnel Management, he is admitted to the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Kevin has represented clients in all of these courts, as well as in most every state and administrative forum.
His memberships include the American Bar Association, Indiana State Bar Association, and Indianapolis Bar Association. He is also a master in the Sagamore American Inns of Court. Since 1997, Kevin has been an active participant in the National Employment Lawyers Association, which is the national organization that provides continuing education and exclusive support for plaintiff's employment lawyers. As well, he has served on the Indiana Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center's Board of Directors since the center's founding in 1998. The IHTC is one of the largest hemophilia treatment centers in the United States, with revenues exceeding $30 million annually. In 2000, he was named to the Indiana Supreme Court's Committee on Character and Fitness, an appointment made by the Indiana Supreme Court and the Indiana Board of Law Examiners. The committee's role is to examine the background and documentation of candidates for the Indiana Bar Exam and to conduct personal interviews with candidates to assess their moral character and fitness to honorably practice law in Indiana.
Kevin married Holly Hapak in 1991. They have three children.
Bar Admissions:
Indiana, 1988
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, 1988
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, 1988
U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1988
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2000
U.S. Supreme Court, 1995
Indiana Supreme Court, 1988
Education:
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana: B.A. in Journalism and B.A. in Political Science, 1982
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois: M.A. in Journalism, 1984
Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana: J.D., 1988
American Jurisprudence Award, Torts
Professional Associations and Memberships:
Member - American Bar Association
Member - Federal Bar Association
Member - Indiana State Bar Association
Member - Indianapolis Bar Association
Master - Sagamore American Inns of Court
Member - National Employment Lawyers Association