Donald B. Kite, Sr.
Partner
Indianapolis
Biography
Donald B. Kite, Sr. represents clients in state and federal courts focusing on civil litigation, insurance coverage, the defense of municipalities, and appellate practice. Representative cases include Phillips v. State, 550 N.E.2d 1290 (Ind. 1990); Westbrook v. Archey, 2006 WL 3191559 (N.D.Ind. November 2, 2006); Smith v. Toney, 862 N.E.2d 656 (Ind. 2007)(as amicus counsel); Row v. Holt, 864 N.E.2d 1011 (Ind. 2007); Stanley v. Walker, 906 N.E.2d 852 (Ind. 2009)(as amicus co-counsel), and JK Harris & Co., LLC v. Sandlin, 942 N.E.2d 875 (Ind.Ct.App. 2011).
Mr. Kite received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Loyola College of Maryland. He earned his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis where he participated in Moot Court and was selected as a member of the Order of Barristers and as Top Oralist.
After his graduation from law school, Mr. Kite served as a Deputy Attorney General in the Appellate Section of the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. He also served federal court clerkships for Magistrate Judge Kennard P. Foster and the late James E. Noland and William E. Steckler, Senior District Judges. Following his clerkships, he was a senior associate at a large Indianapolis law firm, a partner at an Indianapolis litigation firm, and most recently he was a partner at Dean-Webster, Wright & Kite, LLP.
Mr. Kite is the co-author, together with Butler University History Professor George Geib, of Federal Justice in Indiana (Indiana Historical Society Press 2007), the history of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. He also authored several biographical sketches for Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court (Indiana Historical Society Press 2011). Mr. Kite was the recipient of the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana’s 2005 Defense Lawyer of the Year Award and the Indianapolis Bar Association’s 2007 Dr. John Morton Finney Jr. Award for Excellence in Legal Education. He was also selected to Indiana Super Lawyers in 2011.
Mr. Kite was elected to the Washington Township (Indianapolis, Indiana) School Board in May of 2006, served as its President for two years, and was re-elected in 2010. For several years prior to his election to the School Board, he was actively involved in Washington Township Schools, serving as president or co-president of a number of Township organizations.
Mr. Kite is admitted to practice before the Indiana courts, as well as the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana, the Sixth and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Indiana, Indianapolis, Federal, and Seventh Circuit bar associations. He is also a member of DRI, the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana, and the Indianapolis Law Club.
Education & Bar Admissions
Education
- Indiana University School of Law, J.D.
- Loyola College of Maryland, B.A., Philosophy
Bar Admissions
- Indiana
- U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana
- U.S. Court of Appeals 6th and 7th Circuits
- U.S. Supreme Court
