‘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.
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Articles
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.
Title conveyance travels winding road but COA finds owner
A fresh batch of legal questions are headed to the Wabash Circuit Court for resolution after the Indiana Court of Appeals found feuding neighbors were not co-owners of a lane that connects to all their properties.
Justices appear to favor small church over sign law
The Supreme Court of the United States on Monday appeared likely to side with a small church in its fight with a Phoenix suburb over limits on roadside signs directing people to Sunday services.
Tennessee company sues Tippecanoe County over proposed quarry
A Tennessee company has sued officials in Tippecanoe County, saying they didn't have the authority to pass an ordinance meant to block a proposed limestone quarry project along the Wabash River.
Second Indy township official charged with embezzlement
Federal prosecutors have charged a Center Township official in Indianapolis with embezzling tens of thousands of dollars in Social Security payments intended for disabled and elderly recipients.
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.
Court properly excluded evidence regarding victim’s truthfulness
The trial court was correct to exclude evidence of specific instances from a woman regarding the truthfulness of her son, the victim of a sex crime, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday. That evidence is prohibited by Indiana Evidence Rule 608.
COA reverses domestic violence determination due to Blakely violation
A trial court committed fundamental error when it determined a man convicted by a jury of Class A misdemeanor battery committed a crime of domestic violence, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Thursday.
Housing agency, not court, ordered banned woman from properties
The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a woman’s argument that the court imposed as part of her trespass sentence an order to stay away from any properties owned by the Indianapolis Housing Agency.
ALJ’s numerous errors require denial of benefits reversed
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of a federal judge to uphold the denial of a man’s request for disability insurance benefits. The appeals court held that an administrative law judge made a number of errors when considering the record.
Judge grants motion to make nonsurgical abortion ruling final
A federal judge has granted the state and plaintiff’s joint motion to make final her December ruling that a 2013 law regarding nonsurgical abortion clinics violates the Equal Protection Clause.
Parties ask for December nonsurgical abortion ruling to be made final
Attorneys for the state of Indiana and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky filed a joint motion Tuesday requesting a federal judge make final her Dec. 3 ruling that found a 2013 law regulating nonsurgical abortion clinics violated the Equal Protection Clause.
Judge dissents on reversal of CHINS adjudication
A father who claimed his due process rights were violated when his daughter was adjudicated as a child in need of services before the conclusion of a fact-finding hearing won his appeal before the Court of Appeals Wednesday. But one judge believed that the trial court correctly found the girl to be a CHINS.
Panel split over whether man needed to be involuntarily committed
A panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals Wednesday was divided over whether sufficient evidence was presented to justify that a mentally ill man was a danger to himself or others and thus needed to be involuntarily committed.
Civil Rights Commission exceeded authority in upholding complaint
Finding the Indiana Civil Rights Commission overstepped its authority, the Indiana Supreme Court has vacated the organization’s final order regarding an “intra-group squabble” over a dinner menu.
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.
Dershowitz denies underage sex claims
Prominent criminal defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz has filed a detailed denial of a woman’s claims in a Miami federal court that he had sexual contact with her when she was underage in a case also involving Britain’s Prince Andrew.