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Derrick McDowell

Derrick W. McDowell

Senior Manager Associate

Derrick W. McDowell

Senior Manager Associate

Evansville

D+1 812 802 5833

Local time

Derrick W. McDowell is a member of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice, where he focuses on energy and oil law and litigation, trust and estate litigation, and general commercial litigation.

Before joining the firm, Derrick worked as a lawyer in the Indiana Department of Child Services and as a law clerk at Murphy & Murphy LLC for the Honorable G. Patrick Murphy, retired U.S. District Judge.

Derrick is a graduate of the Indiana State Bar Association Leadership Development Academy, a program that brings together approximately 20 lawyers a year to prepare them to be future leaders in the Indiana legal profession. He is Vice Chair of the Evansville Bar Association Family Law Section, an active member of the Indiana State Bar Association Pro Bono Committee, is on the Board of Directors for Legal Aid Society for Vanderburgh County/City of Evansville and was appointed by the Mayor to serve on the Evansville Historic Preservation Commission.

Experience

Confidential client: Obtained successful appeal in the Indiana Court of Appeals in a paternity/custody child appeal involving a custody modification dispute. The Court of Appeals found client's due process rights were violated by the extraordinary delays in conducting the final custody hearings and by the trial court’s denial of client's discovery requests to the Guardian Ad Litem. The appellate court also determined that the trial court failed to find a proper substantial change in circumstances and erred by granting the petition for modification of custody. Indiana Court of Appeals, 23A-JP-2316, Aug. 14, 2024
Homeowners' Association: Obtained full summary judgment in favor of client in dispute brought by homeowners alleging subdivision plans and drainage system resulted in issues on homeowners’ property. In a matter of first impression, the Indiana Court of Appeals held that piercing the corporate veil is an equitable remedy rather than an independent cause of action and concluded that the trial court erred in only partially granting client’s motion for summary judgment.
Personal representatives of estate: Obtained summary judgment May 8 in Vanderburgh Superior Court on behalf of their clients, two personal representatives of a decedent’s estate, on claims against the decedent’s granddaughter who was the attorney-in-fact. The plaintiffs alleged breach of fiduciary duty as attorney-in-fact, theft, conversion and the exercise of unauthorized control over decedent’s assets, fraud, unjust enrichment and were awarded treble damages and attorneys’ fees and costs under the Indiana Crime Victims’ Relief Act.
Confidential Client: Drafting: Carbon Capture Sequestration Options to Lease Well Sites; Carbon Capture Sequestration Options to Purchase Well Sites, Options to Lease Pore Space; Options to Purchase Pore Space; Options to Lease Well Sites; Options to Purchase Well Sites; Well Site Temporary Construction Easements; and Rights-of-Way Agreements.
Confidential Client: Creating a unique 50-State Survey of statutes and case law on the following combined topics: (1) Eminent Domain; (2) Unitization; (3) Pore Space Severance; and (4) Carbon Capture Sequestration Pipelines.
Adoption Case Client: Successfully argued that client suffered from severe mental health impediments which had far-reaching socio-economic impacts, including non-payment of child support for a period of time sufficient to imply his consent to his child’s adoption was excusable because of his mental health deficits and the direct nexus between those deficits, his inability to maintain employment, and, consequently, his ability to pay his child support obligation. The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court victory for the client.
Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ALRP): Played an integral role in assisting client subsidiary appeal against Campbell Energy et al for alleged non-payment of fee for injection of coal slurry waste product into plaintiff's underground property. Circuit court held no payment due and appellate court upheld lower court ruling. Received successful summary judgment, confirmed by Appellate Court of Illinois March 24.

Recognition

Honors and Awards

Illinois Supreme Court’s Commission on Access to Justice Law Student Leaders Inaugural Access to Justice Summit, February 2019
Judge James O. Monroe, Jr. Award for Excellence in Writing or Research; SIU Law, 2018-2019
- Selected for excellence as a member of the SIU Law Journal

In the Media

COA Examines Whole Picture in Finding for Father in Adoption Fight, January 31, 2022
Derrick McDowell selected for Indiana State Bar Association’s Leadership Development Academy, February 2022
Dentons Bingham Greenebaum Hires Three Attorneys in Evansville, August 2021

Activities and Affiliations

Phi Alpha Delta
Managing Editor, Southern Illinois University School of Law, Law Journal, 2018-2019

Community Involvement and Pro Bono

Legal Aid Society for Vanderburgh County/City of Evansville, November 2021-present
- Board of Directors, May 2022-present
  - President, 2023-present
  - Secretary, 2022-2023
Election Commissioner, Vanderburgh County Election Board, 2023
Volunteer, University of Evansville Community Garden, 2012-2013, 2021-present

Presentations

"Mental Health Advocacy, Substance Abuse, and Adoptions,” Evansville Bar Association CLE, April 24, 2023

Memberships

Commissioner, Evansville Historic Preservation Commission, 2023-2025
- Chair, March 2024-January 2025
Indiana State Bar Association
- Board of Governors, October 2024-October 2026
- Association District Representative, Executive Committee, 2025
- Co-Chair, Pro Bono Committee, 2023-2025
- Leadership Development Academy Committee, 2023-2025
- Alumni Voting Member, Indiana State Bar Association Leadership Academy LDA Class 11’s Leadership Project
- Member, Pro Bono Committee April 2022-Present
- Committee Chair, Pro Bono Committee, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2024-2025
- Leadership Development Academy, Class of 2022
Evansville Bar Association, October 2019-present
- Co-Vice Chair, Family Law Section, 2022-2023
- Young Lawyers Section, November 2021- Present
- Employment Law Section, November 2021- Present