Meet Brian Vukadinovich

We were lucky to catch up with Brian Vukadinovich recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brian , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I found my purpose years ago when I was subjected to numerous false arrests and brutalities at the hands of rogue police in Indiana starting in 1981 and for several years thereafter who had orchestrated a retaliatory campaign of harassments against me after I successfully sued Valparaiso Indiana police for false arrest and brutality. I found myself in one court hearing after another dealing with bogus charges which were thrown out of court at every turn with the exception of one case where the governor of Indiana issued a pardon from an infected conviction after I showed the governor how rogue police and an unethical prosecutor tampered with evidence in order to obtain a wrongful conviction —and then the infected conviction was expunged by a court after the pardon issued by the governor. The stigma of the false arrests were very hard on my professional teaching career as I lost teaching jobs because of the stigma from the false arrests. I learned that lawyers cannot be trusted and I ended up firing my lawyers and began defending myself in the court cases and was able to successfully have several criminal cases dismissed by representing myself without a lawyer. My purpose at this stage of my life is twofold: one purpose is to educate people to know what to expect from their lawyers and judges, and the other purpose is to work hard to effect some much needed judicial reforms in the state and federal judiciaries as we cannot have a true democracy with an unjust, unfair, and corrupt judiciary —which unfortunately is a major problem in our country. It is unconscionable as to how lawyers are allowed to take advantage of people by charging exorbitant legal fees to no end, and it is unconscionable as to how courts routinely go out of their way to deprive the people of their entitled rights in an unfettered manner, and are allowed to operate to a great degree in a secretive manner to which I characterize courts as a “secret society” since they are unfortunately allowed to conduct their business in secret out of the public’s eye which without doubt results in nefarious judicial activities, behind closed doors, contrary to the interests of the people.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

After dealing with numerous retaliatory false arrests and brutalities at the hands of rogue police in Indiana, and after dealing with loss of teaching jobs resulting from the stigma of the bogus arrests and vindictive prosecutions, and after winning a five day federal civil rights jury trial against my former public employer by representing myself without a lawyer against the corporation and its team of lawyers, I decided to expand my classroom to the country and the world by educating the public at large about the societal problem of rogue place around the country who are routinely violating the rights of the people in our country, and the need to eliminate the doctrine of “qualified immunity” in order that dishonest police officers do not have the right to such a defense against the people which in many cases prevents people from obtaining justice for the wrongs that have been perpetrated against them by rogue police. I also work hard at educating the public at large about the systematic problems of judicial unfairness and corruptions that permeate the state and federal courts around the country and the need for serious judicial reforms.

In 2016 I represented myself in a five day federal civil rights jury trial against my former public school corporation employer and beat the school corporation and its team of lawyers by convincing the federal jury that the corporation violated my due process rights when it terminated my employment —the federal jury awarded me damages in six figures. After winning the federal jury trial by representing myself the case received substantial national attention and I was asked to speak to a Yale Law School class and I was invited to appear on Pro Se Nation television based in Princeton, New Jersey. Being an educator by profession I decided that my mission would be to educate the public as to how lawyers fleece people out of their money, and in doing so many times are not providing adequate legal representation, and I advise people what to watch for in dealing with their lawyers. On September 16, 2019, I did a book signing in El Paso, Texas to support the #ElPasoStrong campaign just after the horrific shooting massacre at the El Paso Walmart. In 2022 I was asked to be a presenter for the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration event hosted by Indiana University Social Justice Conference —my presentation was titled “Standing Up for One’s Civil Rights with Brian Vukadinovich”. On March 7, 2024, I was invited to speak at the Vigo County Public Library in Terre Haute, Indiana about my books and my story, and how I represented myself as a pro se litigant (representing oneself without a lawyer) in the state and federal courts. In my mission to educate the public about judicial unfairness and corruption issues, I have written letters to the editor in various newspapers around the country, and I have written several op-eds which have been published by the Washington Examiner, Kansas City Star, Miami Herald and several other prominent newspapers around the country. I have done many television, radio and podcast interviews where I discussed numerous topics involving the legal profession and judicial corruption. I have written two books “Motion for Justice: I Rest My Case” (2018) and “Rogues in Black Robes” (2023) which are on the shelves of at least 18 libraries around the country including public libraries and the law libraries of Harvard, Yale, and Syracuse law schools, and also in libraries abroad in the United Kingdom, Israel and Japan. My book “Motion for Justice: I Rest My Case” chronicles my story about how I fought rogue police in Indiana and how I learned about how lawyers have no problem in choosing to intentionally inadequately represent their clients for a variety of reasons including working both sides of the coin in serving the lawyers’ best interests and not the client’s best interests, and how I was much better off in representing myself in the bogus criminal court cases that were filed against me and also in civil court cases that I filed against my perpetrators. I also chronicled how the courts in Indiana will bend over backwards to protect illicit activities by rogue police and unethical prosecutors. In my book “Rogues in Black Robes” I wrote about how a well known federal court of appeals judge who I worked for and became friends with revealed to me how he allowed himself to give in to the request of a corrupt federal court of appeals judge who didn’t like me who convinced the former federal court of appeals judge who was on the panel to fix an appellate decision in a civil rights case that I had filed against Indiana police, and how the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago covered up the case fixing activities and swept it under the rug —and also how judicial authorities in Washington D.C. did the same when the case fixing and cover up was brought to their attention.

Many of my writings, interviews, and blogs I have written may be seen on my website at www.brianvukadinovich.com. A movie production company based in Los Angeles has recently contacted me and expressed substantial interest in doing a film about my story based on my books. The film project is in its early stages and once the film is released people around the country and even around the world are going to have a very good idea about the seriousness of the problems we have in our country with out of control rogue police and how the judiciary protects rogue police and municipalities who choose to look the other way rather than appropriately disciplining police officers who are known to be violating peoples’ constitutional rights in an unfettered manner. And the country will learn just how serious of a problem we have in the state and federal judiciaries with corrupt judges who are failing and refusing to honor their oaths of office and choose instead to go out of their way to protect unsavory corporations and government agencies and unsavory lawyers who represent corporations and government agencies in order that the peoples’ rights be suppressed at the hands of corrupt judges that permeate the judiciary. The movie will be a wake up call to the country and to the world as to just how corrupt the American judiciary is and how judges will go out of their way to undermine and deprive people of their rights particularly when people sue corporations and government agencies. I have written about it extensively in my books and now the country and the world is going to learn about it in a movie which will undoubtedly open the eyes of the people and shake the courthouses around the country —and then hopefully result in the much needed judicial reforms which are long overdue.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The main quality one must have in representing himself or herself is a strong sense of understanding the built in difficulties of representing yourself in court and doing battle with seasoned lawyers in front of a judge. First and foremost you have to have complete confidence that you are up to this daunting task, and then you must intelligently utilize your reading and writing skills as there will be a great deal of necessary research of the rules and laws and preparation of legal briefs that must be done correctly. Once these areas are mastered, the quality of effectively speaking to a judge and possibly a jury will come into play and you must have the confidence and ability to do so. I also counsel pro se’s (unrepresented litigants) that they are walking into unwelcome territory as judges have a very low regard for pro se litigants and opposing lawyers do everything they can to step all over them by making things very difficult for them —being stepped on is a given and pro se litigants must have a very high degree of fortitude and persistence to be able to handle the minefield they are walking in to. These are absolute essential qualities in order to be a successful pro se litigant.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

For sure, my dear late mother, Vera, taught me how to overcome challenges that came my way in my life, and was very instrumental in insisting that I work hard in whatever I did, and that I go to college and build the skills, quality and knowledge that I would need to be a success in my life which would be the tools I would need to handle any challenges that may face me in my life’s journey. She was an immigrant from Serbia (former Yugoslavia) who came to this great country after World War II and she shared many stories with me of how hard things were during the war when the Nazis invaded and occupied her loving country and how she dealt with things. I learned from her that when things get tough, you, as a person, have to be just as tough, or even tougher, to be able to deal with tough situations in life that come your way. She was a major inspiration to me because I learned from her that life can be tough and you have to be tough to survive it in many situations, and I certainly had to deal with many tough situations in my life with what was happening with the numerous retaliatory false arrests which also led to the loss of teaching jobs, and I had to be tough to rationally deal with those things while battling many unsavory lawyers and corrupt judges in the process. Without the toughness that I learned from my mother, I couldn’t have made it through those situations. And I must say that my older brother, Branko, was very instrumental as well as he gave me a lot of words of wisdom during my tough journey in dealing with the things that I had to deal with in battling rogue police, unsavory lawyers and even corrupt judges. He was, and still is, the “big brother” I was very lucky to have when I was faced with those life obstacles. Whatever successes I have achieved in my journey for justice and in becoming an author in addressing the important topics that I write about and speak about these days, I completely owe to my dear late mother, Vera, and my wonderful “big brother” Branko.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brianvukadinovich.com
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/brianvukadinovich.7/
• Twitter: @motion4justice