DTCI: Finding positives: Togetherness in social distancing
Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana member Megan Culp reflects on the positive things I’ve experienced during the COVID-19 crisis to give others a small distraction from the negatives.
Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana
Articles
DTCI: Civil Forfeiture and the Eighth Amendment, Part Two
Attorneys representing governmental entities will serve their clients well to read the Indiana Supreme Court’s opinion from Timbs, which will provide insights into certain issues the court considers important in evaluating claims that a specific forfeiture violated the respondent’s rights under the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment.
DTCI: No New Exception to Product Liability Act
The Indiana Products Liability Act (IPLA) includes a 10-year statute of repose, which time-bars claims brought more than 10 years after delivery of the product to the buyer. Until recently, it was an open question of law whether a company refurbishing or repairing a product restarted the statute of repose clock.
DTCI: Civil forfeiture and the Eighth Amendment
Attorneys representing entities that engage in civil forfeitures should familiarize themselves with the U.S. Supreme Court’s State v. Timbs ruling to ensure their clients comply with the ruling and the entity’s constitutional obligations.
DTCI: Indiana Employers, Out of State Employees, and Legal Marijuana Use
Currently, Indiana employers must cautiously navigate a maze of different marijuana laws affecting their employees working across state lines. This is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
DTCI: Relationships matter, even among presumed strangers
You never know who you’ll meet, where they’ll end up or what role they might play in your future. And you never know who they may know. Relationships matter.
DTCI: Cross-Examining an Expert Witness; Attack of the Discipline
Complex litigation often boils down to a battle of experts, and jurors are frequently left to decipher which expert they find more credible. Most battle-of-the-expert cases hinge on a minor evidentiary score that casts your opposing party’s expert in an unfavorable light.
DTCI: Why Join DTCI?
Learn the many valuable and practical benefits of membership in Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana.
DTCI: Diversity in firm life — Make room for me and let me eat
Hiring diverse attorneys is a good start; however, giving diverse attorneys a seat at the table will ultimately determine whether a firm’s diversity and inclusion efforts have been effective.
DTCI: Meet the 2020 DTCI Board of Directors
At the November annual meeting of the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana, the following officers and directors were elected. They assumed office January 1, 2020.
DTCI: Where have all the jury trials gone, revisited
Trials are the training ground in which this generation of lead trial lawyers prepares the next. My concern was and is that the ability to effectively exercise the right to trial will someday (maybe soon) be limited because there will be no one left with experience doing the work.
DTCI: Outstanding defense attorneys honored
In conjunction with its 2019 Annual Meeting in Bloomington Nov. 21-22, DTCI recognized the outstanding defense lawyers of the year.
DTCI: Photos from the Annual Meeting and Board of Directors meeting at Monroe Convention Center, Bloomington
Click here to see photos from the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana in Bloomington.
DTCI: 2020 officers and directors named
The Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana named its 2020 officers and directors at its 26th Annual Conference and Annual Meeting last month. The officers and directors will take office Jan. 1, 2020.
DTCI: 2019 amicus activity — summary of key cases
This year, the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana has participated as amicus in a variety of issues of significant interest to the defense bar. Here are highlights from some of those key cases.
Smith to focus on new lawyer recruitment as DTCI president
Indianapolis attorney Donald Smith knows the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana has value. His goal during his year as the organization’s president is to show others that value, too.
DTCI: Young Lawyers Step Up
The September community service event at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana was hosted by the Young Lawyers Committees of DTCI and ITLA. Six DTCI members and two ITLA members attended.
DTCI: Using Misuse as a Defense
Indiana’s state and federal courts have long held that the incurred risk and product alteration defenses under Indiana’s Product Liability Act (IPLA) constitute “complete defenses.” But applying the misuse doctrine, particularly as a complete defense, is nuanced and requires a more thorough understanding of Campbell Hausfeld/Scott Fetzer v. Johnson and related law than the headlines might suggest.
DTCI: Limited Recovery for the Uninsured Plaintiff
The law limits an uninsured person’s recovery to economic damages when an insured driver is at fault. Insurance companies are actually prohibited from paying noneconomic damages to uninsured claimants who have had a financial responsibility citation within the previous five years.
DTCI: How can employers minimize the risk of workplace violence?
In assessing workplace violence situations, there are clearly certain occupations where the risk of aggression is higher. Even though the risk of workplace violence exists in many different vocations, there are some proactive approaches that employers can and should use to minimize the risk.