Marsh Supermarkets, former CEO spar over attorney fees
The years-long legal spat between Don Marsh and the company he once led appeared to have concluded this summer, but has now turned to attorneys’ fees and who’s paying the million-dollar bills.
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Judge reverses ATM fee class decertification; suggests any award go to charity
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals court didn’t exactly call an Indiana appeal a small-change case, but it suggested the few dollars each member of a class might receive could be more usefully given to charity.
Justices weigh $2.7 billion Rockport deal
A controversial, politically charged power plant proposal voided by an appellate court and later waylaid by the General Assembly and Gov. Mike Pence landed before the Indiana Supreme Court Sept. 5. Attorneys for and against the proposed plant pleaded that terms of the contract were on their side.
Heavily redacted report cannot hide behind business-judgment rule
Although a report produced by a special litigation committee contains privileged information, the plaintiffs must be allowed full access to the unredacted version in order to determine if the investigation was extensive and conduced in good faith.
Brown County logging damages award stands
A landowner’s award of $55,572.50 in damages caused by a logging contractor at a property in Brown County was properly calculated, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Past associations with Conour get lawyers named in civil suits
William Conour’s multi-million-dollar fraud has produced an avalanche of state and federal lawsuits naming as defendants several attorneys who used to work with the once-prominent personal-injury and wrongful-death attorney.
Truck owner-operator fee dispute stays in federal court
A lawsuit claiming that hundreds of tractor-trailer owner-operators may be owed damages of more than $5 million will remain in federal court, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.
7th Circuit reinstates smelly washer class actions
Two class actions claiming Kenmore washing machines sold at Sears stores were defective were reinstated by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday after certification of the suits was vacated in June by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Convicted Conour wants to keep fees, attorney says
Despite pleading guilty to wire fraud on government charges that he took more than $4.5 million from at least 25 clients, William Conour’s public defender argues the former attorney is entitled to some $2 million in legal fees on cases other attorneys worked.
Nuisance suits filed against Indianapolis apartments
Indianapolis city officials have filed public nuisance charges against two west-side apartment complexes that allegedly have generated more than 3,200 police runs since 2008 for incidents such as assault, armed robbery and homicide.
ACLU alleges IMPD officers infringed panhandlers’ free-speech rights
The ACLU of Indiana has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the city and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers violated the free speech rights of indigent panhandlers ordered to move from near Circle Center Mall last week.
Northern District judge tosses challenge to Indiana immigration law
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging portions of Indiana’s immigration law passed in 2011.
Teachers union could pay $14M to schools under settlement
The state’s largest teachers union and its national parent organization have agreed to pay $14 million under a tentative settlement announced Tuesday morning by Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson and Indiana Securities Commissioner Chris Naylor.
Judge tosses one of two stent patent suits against Cook Medical
A federal judge Wednesday dismissed a patent dispute case against Cook Medical Inc. of Bloomington, but a Texas corporation continues to press its claim that the device maker infringed its patents on blood vessel stents and grafts.
Attorney general sues AT&T for suspending injured workers
AT&T’s Indiana operating company faces a discrimination lawsuit from the Indiana Department of Labor for suspending three workers, allegedly because they reported work-related injuries.
COA clarifies jury issue in Richmond student death case
The Indiana Court of Appeals granted a rehearing in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against a public school corporation by the family of a student with Down syndrome who died after choking at school, refining a question to be presented to a jury.
Stevenson: Plane crash litigation may improve travel safety
Modern airliners are filled with technology that has made flying safer than ever. According to MIT statistics professor Arnold Barnett, in the last five years, the death rate for airline passengers in the United States has been one in 45 million flights. At that rate, a passenger could fly daily for an average of 123,000 years before being involved in a fatal crash. While technology such as GPS and auto-landing systems has minimized the chance for human error, especially in poor-visibility landing conditions, there is a drawback. Asiana Flight 214 is likely to become a prime example of how technology can actually cause aviation disasters instead of preventing them. Flight 214’s collision with the seawall just short of the runway at San Francisco International Airport demonstrates what can happen when technology does not work as intended.
Brizzi hit with another legal malpractice suit
Defrocked Secretary of State Charlie White has sued Carl Brizzi, the former Marion County prosecutor who represented White during a criminal case that led to his removal from office. White’s lawsuit makes a claim of legal malpractice.
Attorney’s report alleges trucking school small-claims abuses
An attorney’s report examining more than 7,700 lawsuits filed by an Indianapolis-based trucking school in just two Marion County township small-claims courts alleges systemic abuses that resulted in thousands of judgments against people who may never have stepped foot in the county or the state.
Judges disagree on whether Rhode Island law applies in wrongful death case
A Court of Appeals judge dissented from her colleagues’ decision that Rhode Island law should apply in awarding a wrongful death settlement because she believed that the Rhode Island court would have found Indiana law applies.