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Local attorney facing fraud charges dropping lawyers

Scott Olson
September 24, 2012
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Lawyers for a high-profile Indianapolis attorney accused of misappropriating $2.5 million in client funds are requesting to withdraw as his defense counsel just a month before his trial date.

Richard Kammen and Dorie Maryan have represented William F. Conour, 65, since May, about a month after federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against him.

But their relationship seems to have soured to the point that the two are asking to be removed from the case, per Conour’s request, according to court documents.

Judge Richard L. Young of the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis is set to hear their motion to withdraw Thursday.

Reached by phone Monday morning, Kammen declined to comment on Conour’s request.

A two-page court filing, though, alludes to the rift between Conour and his lawyers.

Conour has made it “clear that the relationship between counsel and the defendant is so impaired that withdrawal is appropriate,” Kammen said in the filing.

Conour’s case is set to be heard by a federal jury Oct. 22.

Kammen and Maryan already are Conour’s second defense counsel. He first hired prominent Indianapolis defense lawyer Jim Voyles, who withdrew in May just a month after Conour’s arrest.

Court documents did not provide a reason for his withdrawal.

According to a criminal complaint filed in April, Conour is accused of engaging in a scheme from December 2000 to March 2012 to defraud his clients, using money obtained from new settlement funds to pay for old settlements and debts. Prosecutors charge he kept clients’ settlement proceeds for his own use.

In July, Conour relinquished his law license to the Indiana bar.

Under Indiana law, he will have to wait five years if he wishes to petition for reinstatement to the bar.

Conour was admitted to the bar in 1974 and had no previous disciplinary history.

For years, he had been among the highest-profile attorneys in Indiana, representing individuals seriously injured or killed in construction accidents.
 

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  1. Doug Henning!

  2. These guy were thugs — they grew up in freaking Haughville! Smh, sigh. If the mayor needs/wants "quality" Black Hoosiers who are NOT corrupt, give me a call — I know plenty. Land bank info here - http://www.kubepharm.com/indylandbank/IndyLandBank.html

  3. Magician and illusionist!

  4. The basic idea of nice apartments with parking and retail is a good one, but this design seems overwhelmingly big/tall for Broad Ripple. The size could be disguised a bit with lots of big trees/landscaping, but the complex is too massive to blend in easily. That section of canal between College and Westfield will also need to be upgraded on both sides. Nice apartments facing onto a nice promenade with shade trees/plantings could bring together the canal towpath/Monon recreation, the outdoor seating at existing restaurants, and this project into something that upgrades the whole area. A plan for the whole stretch makes more sense than facing nice new housing onto what looks like a ditch. Is there a plan? Does the public have input? Who pays? The apartment idea seems to be reasonable, but Whole Foods is not a good idea for appropriate retail. Besides the store being physically too big, there are already Fresh Market at 54xCollege and Whole Foods in Nora for fancy groceries. Good Earth and Kroger are within walking distance of the Shell site. There are at least 7 grocery stores within a safe bike ride. Whole Foods would add nothing but traffic congestion. This design is on the right track, but there needs to be more work done to ensure that it blends in with and enhances the existing community. A project that large will set a tone for that whole part of town. It could be a real asset, but only if done right.

  5. I did not move to Zionsville to live in Carmel. This and the subsequent developments to follow will ensure a vanilla uniformity of strip malls and apartment buildings as we seek to bring our town down to the least common denominator. We were warned before recent elections that pro-development council members would make sure their friends (landowners and developers) would be able to make their millions off of the exploitation of Zionsville. Why in God's name would we sell out the best preserved small town in the State of Indiana?

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