DTCI: Tackling the waiting game
Kudos and congratulations to all bar applicants. You have survived the marathon that is the bar exam. For bar applicants across the country, now it is a waiting game.
Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana
Articles
DTCI: Writing for fun also may enhance your practice abilities
I dropped off my 10-year old daughter at Butler University’s creative writing camp this week. As I watched Charlotte walk to her classroom, composition notebook and pen in hand, I thought to myself, when was the last time I wrote anything for fun? Like Charlotte, as a child, I used to fill blank pages with stories. Stories I created. My interest in writing continued and certainly was a factor in choosing the profession of law, but if someone asked me to write a story today, I would not even know where to begin.
DTCI: Young Lawyer Spotlight: Adam Doerr
This is an ongoing series introducing new DTCI attorneys to the wider legal community.
DTCI: Changes to the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act
There are several changes to the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act that will go into effect on July 1, 2018. The changes deal with time requirements, first reports and the Drug Formulary Act, among other things.
DTCI: Kudos & News
Find out which Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana members are in the news for recent accomplishments.
DTCI: Video Recordings of Independent Medical Examinations
Approximately five years ago, attorneys began requiring video recordings of their clients’ independent medical examinations. The burden this requirement placed on their opponents was immense since most doctors refused to be recorded. Because Trial Rule 35(A) is silent on the issue of video recordings, an increasing number of battles were being waged in the courtroom.
DTCI: What does work-life balance mean, and how do you find it?
We all know the variety and levels of stress associated with practicing law. There are constant demands on our time, intense pressures of performing well and obtaining good results for our clients, the assumption that we are all constantly available through technology, and our own self-driven motivators that led us to our chosen profession. But it is important to have the right amount of balance within your career and within your home life.
DTCI: Young Lawyer Spotlight — Bailey Coultrap
This is an ongoing series introducing new DTCI attorneys to the wider legal community.
DTCI: Indemnity under the Fair Housing Amendments Act
Although the construction industry has long sought to allocate the risk of liability for Fair Housing Amendments Act claims to the parties best suited to minimize that risk, recent court decisions construing the FHAA call into question the enforceability of such provisions.
DTCI: Eastern vs. Central Time Zone debate passes with a yawn
Coming from Iowa, where the entire state is in the same time zone and Daylight Saving Time had been around for my entire life, it was odd finding out that Indiana was split between two time zones and had only very recently fully adopted Daylight Saving Time. While I thought time was a permanent fixture, longtime Indiana residents feel it is an inconvenience that can be changed.
DTCI: Young Lawyer Spotlight: Evan M. Norris
This is an ongoing series introducing new DTCI attorneys to the wider legal community.
DTCI: Is the Plaintiff a User or Consumer Under IPLA?
A preliminary inquiry in defending any case brought pursuant to the Indiana Products Liability Act (IPLA) is whether the IPLA even applies to the plaintiff; that is, whether the plaintiff is considered a “user” or “consumer” under the IPLA.
DTCI: 18 Survival Tips from 18 years in practice for 2018
After nearly 18 years in the private practice of law in civil litigation for the defense, I take this opportunity to provide survival tips and lessons learned.
Summary judgment for Steak ‘n Shake in patron’s shooting reversed
In a case watched closely by both the plaintiffs and defense bar, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment for Steak ‘n Shake after determining the chain owed a duty to a customer at an Indianapolis restaurant who was shot in the face during an escalating conflict with another patron.
DTCI: Young Lawyer Spotlight: Susan R. Shan
Kightlinger & Gray, LLP attorney is the latest to be featured in this ongoing series introducing new DTCI attorneys to the wider legal community.
DTCI: Protecting Employers by Protecting Employees From Sexual Harassment
Today, employers must ensure that sexual harassment in the workplace is eliminated. This article focuses on some cases that have formed today’s law governing sexual harassment claims and closes with some suggestions of how employers can protect their employees and themselves from these increasingly common claims.
DTCI: Service is not quantified by money or time
I think our daily interactions, our jobs, our perspective, and our lives, in general, would be greatly enhanced if we kept the notion of empathetic service in the forefront of our minds.
DTCI: Young Lawyer Spotlight — Patrick C. Thomas
Get to know a new member of the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana.
DTCI: My doctor is liable for how much?
As attorneys who practice frequently in the area of medical negligence, it is not uncommon to be presented with a case in which the plaintiff seeks damages under both the Medical Malpractice Act (MMA) and the Wrongful Death Act. This article describes how these statutes work together, how to apply the caps, and discusses when a provider can be responsible for paying more than the MMA cap.
DTCI: A closer look at the law of closing argument rules
A good closing argument won’t win a case on its own — but, a poor one can surely lose it.