Attorney Profiles
Cheryl A. Carpenter has been with the firm since 1986 and has 25 years experience in legal advocacy. Ms. Carpenter received her BA from Valparaiso University, a Masters Degree from Murray State University and her Juris Doctorate degree for University of Louisville School of Law in 1980. She is licensed in Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as Indiana.
Ms. Carpenter’s practice is limited to estate and family law as well as family law mediation. She has the distinction of being certified as a Specialist in Family Law, and is Registered as a Family Law Mediator. Her primary focus is on dissolution, custody, and support matters as well as estate planning. Her philosophy of practicing family law is first and foremost to assist in minimizing the conflict between the parties, whenever possible, and to assist parties in resolving family disputes fairly and equitably.
Ms. Carpenter is a member of the Clark County, Indiana, Kentucky Bar Associations, a barrister of the American Inns of Court, Sherman Minton Chapter, and serves on the Indiana Supreme Court Character and Fitness Committee.Pamela K. Thompson is a life long resident of Clark County having graduated from Indiana University in 1987 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. Thereafter, in 1991 she received her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Louisville. She is admitted to practice in Indiana and before the U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana. She is a member of the Clark County and Indiana State Bar Associations. She engages in the following areas of law: general business and corporate law, estate planning, probate, guardianships, elder law, Medicaid planning, and real estate.
Mary E. Fondrisi engages in a general practice and specializes in family law, estate planning, real estate, small business, contracts and social security disability.
She received her bachelor’s degree in Commerce cum laude from Bellarmine University in 1987. She earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Louisville in 1992 and was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 1993. She is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Fondrisi is a Certified Family Law Mediator and a barrister member of the American Inns of Court, Sherman Minton Chapter. She is a member of the Clark County Bar, having served as President in 2002 and Treasurer 2005 to 2006. She has also served as a member of Board of Governors for the Indiana State Bar Association from 2002 to 2004. In addition, she is a member of the American Bar Association, specifically the General Practice Solo and Small Firm section, as well as the Family Law and Real Property, Probate and Trust sections.
Fondrisi’s pro bono work has included mediation and guardian ad litem (GAL) appointments. Since 2001, she continues to serve on the board of directors for Legal Volunteers, which handles pro bono services for Judicial District 14. She has also served on the board of directors for Indiana Legal Services, Inc. since 2004. In 2006, Fondrisi was appointed by the Bar Foundation to serve on the Indiana Pro Bono Commission. Rachele L. Cummins engages in general practice including family law, real estate, small business and corporate transactional work. She received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1997 and her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University, Indianapolis in 2000. She was admitted to practice in Indiana in 2000 and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
She is a member of the Clark County, Indiana State and American Bar Associations. Cummins enjoys camping with her husband and young children and is active in various children’s ministry programs at Faith Community Church.
Brittany M. Wilson engages in general practice with a focus in family law, estate planning, bankruptcy and criminal law. She received her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Centre College in 2001 and Doctor of Jurisprudence from University of Dayton School of Law in 2004. She was admitted to practice in Kentucky in 2004. She worked for a year and a half as a public defender in Jefferson County, Kentucky. She was admitted to practice in Indiana in 2006 and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
She is a member of the Indiana State, Kentucky State, and Louisville Bar Associations.
David Hutson engages in a general practice with a concentration on litigation and business law. His litigation practice focuses on family, real estate, appellate, and business litigation. He is admitted to practice in Indiana and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court in the Southern and Northern District of Indiana.
David earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Indiana University – Bloomington Maurer School of Law in 2009. He graduated magna cum laude, and was elected by the faculty to the Order of the Coif. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics and Public Policy from Indiana University Southeast in 2006.
During law school David served as Notes Editor on the Federal Communications Law Journal and published an article in the journal on the FCC’s regulation of sports programming on cable television networks. David also did pro bono work in two legal clinics where he represented low-income and disabled clients. For this service, he was awarded the Law School Clinics award by the clinical faculty of the law school.
David joins this firm after having worked in a variety of other settings. In 2007, he served as a law clerk to Judge Susan Orth in the Floyd Superior Court No.1, where he assisted the Court by doing legal research and writing. In 2008, he was a law clerk for an Evansville firm where he worked with the firm’s business litigation section.
Ernest W. Smith "Retired" was born in Greenville, Indiana on August, 1937. He is a 1955 graduate of Jeffersonville High School and obtained his undergraduate degree (AB) in 1959 and his law degree (JD) in 1965, both from Indiana University in Bloomington. He started in practice that year with Charles C. Fox in Jeffersonville and has continued practicing here since that time. Mr. Smith's interests include civil litigation, both defense and plaintiff (he has tried approximately 200 civil jury cases), probate and estate planning, small business law and real estate. He is admitted to practice in all Indiana State Courts, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association. Mr. Smith retired in June 2007.
