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Lafayette lawyer to head DTCI 

The president-elect projects continued growth for DTCI. 

By Abigail Johnson ajohnson@ibj.com 

As the year winds to a close, Stephen Pennell is gearing up to take on the presidency of Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana (DTCI).

Pennell, a Lafayette attorney who is a partner with Stuart & Branigin, has been a member of the organization’s board since 1990 and has also been active with DRI, formerly the Defense Research Institute. He will assume presidency of DTCI in January 2004.

“As I told the board, the organization has never been bigger, better, or stronger,” Pennell said. He plans to encourage continued growth in size and strength during the term of his presidency.
Pennell received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University in political science and went to law school at IU’s Bloomington campus, graduating in 1976. Pennell has been with Stuart & Branigin in Lafayette since graduating from law school. He married his wife, Diana, in 1974 and they have two children.

Over the years, Pennell said he has had several significant cases. One that stands out, from about six years ago, was the case of a child who sat down in a wading pool at a Maryland hotel and suffered evisceration.

Pennell said he represented the company that manufactured the pump, successfully defending them against a lawsuit by the child’s parents. The suit eventually resulted in a multi-million dollar verdict against the hotel, but the pump manufacturer was not liable for damages, Pennell said.

His work often allows him the opportunity to travel. He represents a company in Atlanta and attends conferences with DRI in various parts of the country.

“It’s fun to do, as long as it’s not too often,” he said.

Pennell said he has had the opportunity to do some work with Purdue University, and in one case represented former football coach Jim Colletto, who was sued for battery by one of his football players.

“After I deposed the plaintiff for three days, he decided to dismiss the lawsuit,” Pennell said. Pennell said he is still an IU fan, despite being in the heart of Boilermaker territory. But he does root for Purdue teams – as long as they aren’t playing IU.

In the next year, Pennell said DTCI plans to launch a defense law publication, the Indiana Civil Litigation Review. The Review will be a periodic journal and is slated to publish within the first two months of 2004. It will include scholarly articles from the profession and from academe, as well as book reviews and notes of interest to the defense practitioner, said Molly McClellan, DTCI’s director of publications.

McClellan will serve as managing editor, and attor- ney Mark Lienhoop from LaPorte will be editor-inchief.

Pennell said DTCI members will be writing for the publication. “Our goal is to have these of such quality that they will be cited by courts eventually,” he said.

Recruiting members for the organization as a whole will be a focus for Pennell in the next year. In the time since he first joined the board, membership in the organization has tripled, from 250 in 1990 to 754 today.

“It has been really enjoyable to watch the organization grow and develop,” he said.

John Trimble, an attorney with Indianapolis firm Lewis & Wagner and a member of DTCI, said Pennell will be a strong leader for the organization in 2004.

“Steve first made his mark on our organization when he was the state representative for DRI, before he became a board member for our organization,” Trimble said. “He impressed everybody locally and nationally with his dedication to about any task that he was asked to do, and he gained a national reputation with DRI in the area of membership cultivation.”

Trimble said those same qualities will serve Pennell well in his current position. “He may be the most detail-oriented, reliable, dedicated, and motivated president that we’ve ever had – and we’ve had some good ones,” Trimble said. “He may prove to be one of the most energetic presidents that we’ve ever had.

“He is an outstanding defense lawyer, who is highly regarded by his peers. He’s a gentleman,” he said. “We’re all very proud that he’s going to be our president.”

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