Since the COVID-19 public health emergency began in March 2020, businesses and nonprofits nationwide have had business interruption claims denied. The COVID Coverage Litigation Tracker at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School reported 1,099 federal lawsuits seeking insurance coverage because of the pandemic had been filed as of Jan. 25. To date, courts have granted insurers’ motions to dismiss in 147 cases and insurers motions for summary judgment in seven lawsuits, according to CCLT. Policyholders have scored a few victories with the courts denying the motions to dismiss in 29 lawsuits and granting the plaintiffs’ motions for summary judgment in five cases.
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The Indiana House has approved legislation that would protect businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits. The measure slightly differs from a liability protection measure passed last week by the state Senate.
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Despite a landmark election, a Hoosier’s appointment to the United States Supreme Court and countless major developments in the Indiana legal community, this year belonged to the coronavirus, Indiana Lawyer’s top story of 2020.
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COVID may have seemed like the only thing that happened in 2020, but for Indiana’s legal community, the past year brought watershed developments that will be with us for years to come, many of which were touched directly by the pandemic. Here are the Top 10 non-coronavirus Indiana legal news stories as determined by consensus of the Indiana Lawyer editorial staff.
Read MoreCalls to Indiana’s child abuse and neglect hotline fell by more than 10% last year compared to the previous two years, and an expert said that may reflect the isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of Notre Dame says it will require all students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for this year’s fall semester.
The U.S. government picked up nearly 19,000 children traveling alone across the Mexican border in March, authorities said Thursday, the largest monthly number ever recorded and a major test for President Joe Biden as he reverses many of his predecessor’s hardline immigration tactics.
The Indiana House on Tuesday approved two bills giving local and county government officials more say over restrictions imposed during health emergencies and protecting churches from state or local orders more restrictive than those imposed on other essential businesses.
Gov. Eric Holcomb will now get the chance to follow through on his pledge to veto a bill that would give state lawmakers the power to call themselves into session during public emergencies. The Indiana House and Senate on Monday gave their final approval to the measure that ultimately may end up in court.
One of Indiana’s most prominent corporations is criticizing an Indiana proposal that opponents maintain will make mail-in voting more difficult by requiring voters to submit identification numbers with their ballot applications.
Following a “drastic” move by the Indiana Supreme Court suspending in-person jury trials from mid-December to March 1, courts across Indiana are attempting to resume the hallmark proceedings of the American judicial system. But in Marion County, finding enough jurors to hold those proceedings has proven difficult.
Many commercial real estate owners, even those who previously did not intend to sell, are considering selling their real estate to take advantage of current market conditions. With transactions seemingly becoming quicker each year, it is important for owners to consider many factors when preparing to sell their real estate, including executing an Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 1031 exchange.
The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered how commercial real estate will be developed, built and used. Prudent real estate owners, developers, property managers and builders (and the lawyers who represent them) need to recognize this changed environment and proceed accordingly.
A southern Indiana nurse has been charged with practicing medicine without a license for allegedly removing a nursing home resident’s oxygen mask hours before he died from COVID-19 last year.
Casino giant Caesars Entertainment Inc. is putting its losses because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 at more than $2 billion, and is suing a long list of insurance carriers it accuses of balking at paying its business interruption costs at its casinos in Indiana and across the nation.
Wrapping up the most tumultuous Senate start in recent memory, new Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took stock of accomplishments including the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue while vowing action ahead on voting rights, hate crimes and mounting Democratic priorities hitting stiff opposition from Republicans.
Indianapolis is keeping its mask mandate and other coronavirus precautions in place for now despite Gov. Eric Holcomb’s decision this week to end Indiana’s statewide mask mandate in early April, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Thursday.
Nursing homes have to publicly disclose their vaccination rates for flu and pneumonia but there’s no similar mandate for COVID-19 shots, even though the steepest toll from the virus has been among residents of long-term care facilities.
The nightclubs Casba Bar in Broad Ripple and After 6 in downtown Indianapolis have been ordered to close immediately for violating pandemic-related health orders, the Marion County Public Health Department says.
Indiana will open COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all Hoosiers ages 16 and older on March 31, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Tuesday. He also said the statewide mask mandate will be lifted early next month.
Legal Services Corp., the national funder for legal aid providers across the country, including Indiana Legal Services, was unable to get additional funding through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, but the organization is planning to nearly double its annual budget request to more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2022.
The Indiana Supreme Court has denied a petition from several legal aid providers and social service organizations asking the justices to protect the latest round of stimulus checks from being scooped up by debt collectors.
As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues across Indiana, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana is extending its authorization of video and teleconferencing in court proceedings by three months.
Indiana authorities are adding residents between the ages of 40 and 44 to those eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday.