Service of process fees increase under proposal in Senate
Fees sheriffs collect to serve parties in civil lawsuits would nearly double under a bill that cleared a Senate panel last week.
Dave Stafford
Articles
Justices uphold convictions in second trial after partial deadlock
The Indiana Supreme Court Thursday upheld the convictions of a man involved in a fatal drunken-driving crash. The defendant was retried on all charges after a jury convicted him on some counts and deadlocked on others.
Rush proposes business court, makes pitch for e-filing funding
In her first State of Judiciary speech, Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush on Wednesday said the judiciary is “currently working on the development of a business court model focused on complex commercial litigation,” and urged the General Assembly to help fund the courts’ electronic filing initiative.
Senate panel advances bill to open adoption records
Advocates of opening Indiana’s adoption records won an emotional first round Wednesday as a Senate panel advanced legislation that for the first time would open birth records of hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers.
Woman can sue Evansville over bungled SWAT raid
A woman who was 68 years old when her home was raided in 2012 by an Evansville SWAT team tracking down online threats against police can sue the city for unreasonable use of force, a federal judge has ruled.
Appeal remands suit for trial court to determine legal fees
A law firm that represented a company in the sale of a Fishers sign franchise will have its day in court to argue it is entitled to a greater judgment of legal fees than the $11,085.50 a trial court ordered.
Appeals court remands grandparents’ visitation order
Grandparents rightly were awarded visitation with their granddaughter after their daughter died, but the Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday a trial court abused its discretion in establishing the amount of time grandparents could spend with the child.
Ruling extends standing in adoption cases to those with ‘lawful custody’
The sometimes-bitter litigation between a child’s adoptive parent and her grandparents who raised her from a young age yielded a decision from the state’s highest court that family law experts believe may represent a significant shift in adoption cases.
Deaf man sues state courts over denial of interpreter for mediation
A deaf man’s federal lawsuit against Indiana courts claiming the state failed to provide a sign language interpreter for mediation in his child custody hearing has survived the state’s initial efforts to dismiss.
‘Settlement Week’ helped to change public policy in civil cases
Lawyers 25 years ago had a radical concept: Let’s see how many civil lawsuits we can settle in a week.
Justices to hear appeal of man convicted in son-in-law’s stabbing
The Indiana Supreme Court has added to its docket a case that split the Court of Appeals over whether allegedly inconsistent statements of a man stabbed by his father-in-law should have been admitted.
COA: County Commissioners can’t amend fire district ordinance
Brown County commissioners who created a countywide fire district lost an appeal of a trial court order saying they had no authority to later amend the ordinance that had created the district.
Appeals court affirms cocaine-dealing conviction
A man convicted of Class A felony dealing cocaine and adjudicated a habitual substance offender couldn’t persuade the Indiana Court of Appeals that he was deprived of a speedy trial or that the evidence against him was improperly admitted or insufficient.
CNBC’s ‘American Greed’ puts focus on Conour as appeal proceeds
The CNBC program “American Greed,” which bills itself as a “shocking true crime series (that) examines the dark side of the American Dream,” has taped an episode profiling former Indianapolis lawyer and convicted fraudster William Conour.
Senate committee advances bill to raise judges’ retirement age
A proposal to raise the mandatory retirement age for appellate judges from 75 to 80 narrowly advanced in the Indiana General Assembly Wednesday.
First impression: Suspect’s recorded talk in police car admissible
What a South Bend man said to another suspect while they were alone in the back of a police cruiser was recorded by an in-car video camera and properly presented to a federal jury, a panel of judges decided in a matter of first impression for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Government: Tweak Conour release conditions
Special conditions imposed on convicted fraudster and former attorney William Conour after he serves a 10-year federal sentence should be modified, but the conditions largely should stay in place, according to the government’s brief in his appeal.
Driver’s lack of appellee brief reinstates license revocation
A motorist who won a trial court judgment vacating the suspension of his driver’s license didn’t file a brief when the Bureau of Motor Vehicles appealed the decision and, therefore, lost his challenge of the BMV action.
COA affirms judgment for seller in voided land deal
Sellers of property that had been designated as the second phase of a Gatorade distribution facility in Hendricks County were properly awarded specific performance of a contract to sell the land after the buyer backed out, the Court of Appeals held.
Insurer owes no duty in dispute between sibling ex-law partners
A dispute between a brother and sister as their law firm partnership was dissolving was an employment-related matter covered by an insurer’s exclusionary clause, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Tuesday, reversing a trial court order.