Attorney Ellen M. Townsend
Ellen is an experienced business litigation attorney specializing in real estate, general corporate matters, and professional liability defense. With a focus on defending businesses across various industries, she also represents residential and commercial real estate brokerages and other professionals in many areas throughout Indiana, including appraisers, accountants, inspectors, lawyers, title companies and other specialties. Ellen handles matters with the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, Real Estate Commission, Department of Insurance, Professional Licensing Agency, Civil Rights Commission, and various other federal, state and local regulatory agencies, boards, and trade associations.
As outside general counsel to businesses and real estate brokerages statewide, she provides comprehensive legal services, including litigation, employment matters, transactions, contracts, regulatory compliance, policy development, and risk management. Ellen serves on the Indiana Association of Realtors® Forms Committee which drafts contracts for use in residential real estate transactions by real estate brokers in Indiana by buyers and sellers. She represents buyers and sellers and assists when they need legal representation in connection with real property matters and routine buyer/seller contracts or sales.
Ellen is AV Preeminent peer-rated by Martindale Hubbell® for professional excellence and is fourteen-year Indiana SuperLawyer honoree. She is the former Chair of the Indiana State Bar Association Litigation Section and has been admitted to practice in Indiana State Courts, as well as the U.S. District Courts and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Ellen is a Distinguished Fellow of the Indianapolis Bar Foundation and served as Town Attorney for Williams Creek from 2007-2016. Ellen belongs to the Indiana State Bar Association and Indianapolis Bar Association where she received the President’s Award for service to the Association (2009 and 2011) and is a former Chair of the Women in the Law Division.
Ellen earned her Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Indiana-Bloomington Maurer School of Law in May, 1997, where she served as Articles Editor for the Indiana Law Journal and won Second Place in the Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition. She graduated from DePauw University, Phi Beta Kappa, in May, 1994 and delivered the student commencement address as the senior award winner of the prestigious Walker Cup.
Practice Areas:
Bar Admissions:
Education:
- Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana, 1997
- J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
- DePauw University, 1994
Honors and Awards:
- Super Lawyers, 2014 - 2025
