One of the saddest parts of my job is when a victim of an unscrupulous lawyer calls, asking in exasperation, “Is there anything that can be done about this?” The very saddest part is the realization that, deep down, the caller already knows the answer is no, or next to no. The legal profession has no contingency when one of its own who swore an oath goes rogue and steals from vulnerable clients. This must change.
In taking what it called a rare step, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered an award of disability benefits to a woman who was previously denied her request for them. The 7th Circuit concluded an administrative law judge’s decision denying her request was not supported by substantial evidence.
A woman seeking disability insurance benefits was again denied her request when a unanimous 7th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that a sit/stand limitation in her residual functioning capacity assessment was not vague.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed for a woman who alleged she is owed more in partial impairment benefits for an amputation on her hand than she was awarded by the Worker’s Compensation Board.
Businesses are increasingly facing lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regarding whether their websites are accessible to persons with disabilities. Recently, the United States Supreme Court declined an opportunity to address the law applicable to such claims, leaving businesses with little clarity as to what potential exposure they face.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed on Friday a grant of summary judgment to the Marion County Sheriff’s Department in an employment discrimination dispute with an ex-deputy who claims she was harassed by co-workers because of her disability.
A split federal appeals court has upheld an injunction against an Ohio law prohibiting abortions based on a fetus having Down syndrome, prompting the Indiana Attorney General’s Office to file an amicus brief in support of the neighboring state.
An intellectually disabled Indianapolis man who suffered unexplained injuries and allegedly was not given his medication while incarcerated in the Marion County Jail has filed a lawsuit against the Marion County Sheriff’s office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and several individual officers and staff.
A former Noblesville school bus aid has pleaded guilty to battery charges and will now serve 10 days in prison for slapping a non-verbal, wheelchair bound child in her care.
A lawsuit challenging Indiana’s work requirements for Medicaid recipients, which according to the state’s own estimates would result in roughly 24,000 people losing health care coverage each year, was filed in federal court Monday.
The suspended Greenwood lawyer accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from disabled and special-needs clients is again facing a warrant for his arrest, this time for failing to appear as ordered at a hearing in one of the multiple felony theft cases he faces.
In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, busy dockets are common across all case types. Recent data confirmed that trend specifically with respect to employment law, finding the Indianapolis-based courts are among the busiest in employment litigation for all of the Midwest.
Lawyers for Indiana’s Department of Child Services are pushing to seal records in a federal class action lawsuit accusing the child welfare agency of inadequately protecting thousands of children in its care.
The number of lawyers in the United States who report having some form of a disability is minuscule. But as small as the figures may be, a shift is taking place in the legal industry that has caused the numbers to double in the past decade.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the denial of a man’s request for pro bono representation, but not before correcting a district court’s reading of language about its discretion to recruit counsel until after the complaint was answered by the defendant.
Claiming “systemic violations of the civil rights of blind Indiana residents,” two individuals and the National Federation of the Blind filed a complaint in federal court Tuesday against the directors of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the Indiana Division of Family Resources. The plaintiffs assert the defendants failed to provide printed communications about government benefits in alternative formats, such as Braille, and instead directed the blind individuals to have sighted third parties read the materials to them.
Looking down at a page filled with words he couldn’t comprehend, Paul Mason was urged to sign on the dotted line. He had no idea he was signing away life as he knew it.