Right of first refusal splits Court of Appeals
A dispute over contract language divided the Indiana Court of Appeals to the point where judges could not agree whether the case was one of first impression.
Civil Case
Articles
COA: Mom cannot show lead cause of boy’s autism
A grandmother failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals her grandson’s developmental disabilities were caused by the lead paint in her rented house rather than by his birth mother’s use of methamphetamine.
COA allows nurse practitioner to testify as expert
An Evansville nurse practitioner who has training and licensure beyond that of a nurse, may testify as an expert as to whether a patient’s injuries are consistent with injuries sustained in an automobile accident, but not as to whether the accident caused the injuries, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.
COA: Suspended attorney’s failure to litigate attributable to client
A now-suspended attorney’s repeated failure to communicate with his client and litigate her case was a failure directly attributable to the client and, thus, made the opposing party entitled to summary judgment, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
Salvation Army sues neighboring Children’s Museum over expansion
The Salvation Army is suing the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, claiming its neighbor’s $35 million outdoor expansion project intrudes on its easements and restricts its access to Illinois Street.
Suit: ‘Scheme to scam’ put dubious charges on Vectren bills
An untold number of Vectren utility customers were duped into paying dubious utility-line protection plan charges that went to a different company after Vectren presumably took a kickback on the charge, a proposed class-action lawsuit claims.
Holcomb signs off on provision removing AG residence requirement
Indiana’s attorney general no longer has to reside in Indianapolis to hold office now that Gov. Eric Holcomb has signed a bill to remove the residency requirement.
COA: Town can compel property to connect to sewer
A northern Indiana town was within its municipal rights to compel a property owner to connect to the municipal sewer line because the properties in question were within 300 feet of the sewer system, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
High court may re-examine Civil Rights Act after LGBT ruling
A ruling by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in and Indiana case reopens the question of whether the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s protections apply to LGBT workers in the same way they bar discrimination based on someone’s race, religion or national origin.
Judge’s ruling ends civil suit against former Irwin Union bank officers
An Indianapolis judge has ruled in favor of three former Irwin Union Bank & Trust Co. executives, closing the book on a civil suit that the bank’s bankruptcy trustee originally filed in 2011.
Local Roche units sue pharmacies over alleged test-strip scheme
Two Indianapolis-based subsidiaries of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Group are accusing a group of pharmacies and supply houses of engaging in an elaborate scheme to defraud Roche of millions of dollars in sales on diabetes test strips.
Civil filing fee extension going to governor
The bill extending the $1 surcharge on civil legal filings is headed to the governor’s desk.
House to consider extension of civil legal filing fee
A bill which would extend the pro bono legal services fee on court filings has cleared a committee in the Indiana House of Representatives and is headed for a second reading Tuesday on the floor of the lower chamber.
Obama’s final year: US spent $36 million in records lawsuits
The Obama administration in its final year in office spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs defending its refusal to turn over federal records under the Freedom of Information Act, according to an Associated Press analysis of new U.S. data that also showed poor performance in other categories measuring transparency in government.
City sues drugmaker for letting OxyContin flood black market
As deaths from painkillers and heroin abuse spiked and street crimes increased, the mayor of Everett, Washington, took major steps to tackle the opioid epidemic devastating this working-class city north of Seattle. He sued the maker of OxyContin.
Strip club operator accused of exploiting dancers
A Colorado company that owns over a dozen strip clubs around the country, including in Indianapolis, is facing a federal lawsuit over allegations that it exploited its dancers by requiring them to pay fees in order to work.
Floyd County seeks to settle jail lawsuit for $1.23M
A southern Indiana county has proposed settling a federal class action lawsuit alleging inhuman conditions at its jail for $1.23 million.
Justices remand Bloomington property partition dispute
A woman’s case to partition and sell a Bloomington property will continue after the Indiana Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s finding that the husband and wife with whom the woman purchased the property were not tenants by the entireties of the property.
Pence asks Supreme Court to keep some governor emails secret
Vice President Mike Pence is asking the Indiana Supreme Court to let him keep secret some documents emailed to him while he was the state's governor.
Supreme Court seems split in case of boy’s death near border
The Supreme Court of the United States appears to be evenly divided about the right of Mexican parents to use American courts to sue a U.S. Border Patrol agent who fired across the U.S.-Mexican border and killed their teenage son.