About Richard J
Richard J Shea combines courtroom experience and bench-side procedure work in a quiet, methodical way. He has long been involved in the business of bankruptcy law in Indiana and in the processes that shape how that law is practiced in federal court.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1995. He went on to earn a Juris Doctor from Indiana University Bloomington, completing his legal studies in 1998. Those two degrees set an unusual path into law for someone who began with a hospitality background. The shift helped inform a practical approach to client work and to business-related legal issues.
After law school, he entered practice and over time gravitated toward matters that touch on insolvency, creditor-debtor relations and the procedures of federal bankruptcy courts. He is a long-standing presence in the Southern District of Indiana’s bankruptcy community. Since 2010 he has served on the US Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Indiana Rules Committee, a panel that reviews and recommends changes to local rules and filing procedures. That committee role has kept him close to evolving court practice and to the perspectives of both judges and local practitioners.
He practices at Sawin & Shea LLC. The firm appears as his professional base and the place where he carries out most of his work. His tasks include preparing pleadings, advising businesses and individuals confronting insolvency issues, and engaging in contested matters in bankruptcy court. He handles procedural and substantive problems that arise in chapter 7 and chapter 11 cases, as well as disputes between creditors and other parties in interest.
Colleagues describe him as methodical and pragmatic in the courtroom. He tends to favor clear filings and careful preparation. That approach has fit the procedural demands of federal bankruptcy work, especially in a district where local rules and judicial expectations can change. His committee service has also meant regular contact with court administrators, clerks and other practitioners who participate in shaping those expectations.
Outside of committee meetings, his practice is built around representing clients at Sawin & Shea LLC and appearing in the Southern District of Indiana when cases require oral argument. He remains active on the bankruptcy rules committee and continues to handle bankruptcy-related matters at his firm.
