(Third District)
409 State House
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-232-6887
Elizabeth F. Tavitas was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Eric Holcomb and began her service on August 6, 2018.
Judge Tavitas received her B.A. degree, cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame in 1985, and earned her J.D. degree from Notre Dame Law School in 1990. She was admitted to the Indiana Bar; United States District Court, Northern District of Indiana; and United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana in 1990. She is a 2007 Indiana Judicial College graduate and a graduate of the 2012 Indiana Graduate Program for Judges. Judge Tavitas is also an adjunct Law Professor at IU McKinney School of Law.
Prior to her appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Tavitas served for more than 12 years as Judge of the Superior Court of Lake County, Civil Division. Judge Tavitas served as a deputy prosecutor in the Lake County Prosecutor's Office; served as a juvenile public defender in the Lake Superior Court, Juvenile Division; and maintained a private practice. In 1998, she was appointed to the position of referee in the Lake Superior Court, Juvenile Division, where she served until 2006. During that time, Judge Tavitas served on the Juvenile Benchbook Committee.
She served as Chair of the NWI Volunteer Lawyers, Inc. from 2007 through 2012, and served as a board member. She previously served as a judicial appointee member of the Indiana Pro Bono Commission from 2007 through 2012. She is a former board member of Indiana Legal Services, Inc. She was elected as a board member of the Notre Dame Law School Association in 2010. She served as a judicial appointee member of the Indiana Supreme Court Domestic Relations Committee from 2012 through 2018 and she now serves on the Indiana Civil Jury Instructions Committee and the Indiana State Bar Association, Appellate Practice Section Council. Judge Tavitas chairs the Indiana Family Law Taskforce and the Self Help Court Forms Working Group of the Coalition for Court Access.
Judge Tavitas is an active member of several national, state, and local bar associations. She has served as a moot court judge for the Notre Dame Law School Trial Advocacy Program, and as a judge for the "We the People" Program sponsored by the Indiana Bar Foundation. She has sponsored Guardian At Litem (GAL) training in order to ensure representation for children in domestic relations cases. She was named Most Influential Woman of Northwest Indiana in the Law in 2015 and was a recipient of a 2019 Fellows Award from the Indiana Bar Foundation. She is a frequent speaker for lawyers, judges, and court staff trainings throughout Indiana.
Her favorite activities include spending time with her three children and her two grandchildren. She enjoys reading, Notre Dame football games, traveling, hiking, and the arts.