Distinguished Barrister

Edward O. DeLaney has helped many people and organizations in his 35-year legal career. The attorney spent 30 years at Indianapolis firm Barnes & Thornburg working as a litigator. There, he mentored dozens of litigators, many of which have gone on to distinguished careers in the private and public sectors. He retired from the firm as partner in 2003 and now works at DeLaney & DeLaney with his wife and daughter, and serves as a mentor for his daughter and his son, who is a new associate at Barnes & Thornburg.
 

DeLaney served as secretary and general counsel for many years for Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc., which formed in response to the murder of a reporter writing about corruption in Arizona. DeLaney successfully defended IRE and the newspapers that faced libel suits for carrying stories about the Arizona corruption.

As a young attorney, DeLaney and Larry Reuben brought suit in federal district court to integrate The Riviera Club, which had long excluded African-Americans from membership.

More recently, DeLaney represented the Republic of Bosnia in an international arbitration regarding the city of Brcko, whose fate couldn’t be resolved by the Dayton Accords. The resolution is a model of multinational cooperation for Eastern Europe.

He’s also been active in international trade work, especially when it involves the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.  He also spent seven months in Kosovo to try to strengthen their bar and restore law to an area torn apart by war.  DeLaney is fluent in Russian and has helped many Russian immigrants pro bono with legal issues as they integrate into Indiana communities.