neglect
Articles
DTCI: Indiana Civil Litigation Review
The DTCI’s flagship publication, the Indiana Civil Litigation Review, will be distributed soon. Members and subscribers can anticipate another issue full of valuable information and analyses by leaders of Indiana’s defense bar.
DTCI: The aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling on DOMA
In June 2013, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional. In essence, the court held that the Act denied same-sex couples the “equal liberty” guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. This decision has far broader impact than just the scope of the estate-tax issues raised in the case, and employers and benefit providers should be aware of the impact and aftermath of this ruling.
Hammerle On … ‘The Lego Movie,’ ‘The Monuments Men’
Bob Hammerle believes “The Lego Movie” should be nominated for an Oscar next year.
Technology Untangled: Windows 8.1’s good points bundled with annoyances
If you read no further than this paragraph, here is the most important advice I have to offer. Be sure to choose a laptop that has a touch-enabled screen. Windows 8.1 is clearly designed to work best with a 10-point multi-touch screen.
Disciplinary Actions – 2/26/14
Read who’s received a public reprimand and who has been suspended by the Indiana Supreme Court.
Ladendorf: Footage protected by work-product doctrine
My law firm recently confronted the discoverability of settlement documentary footage in a case involving a tractor-trailer collision in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. Our firm retained an outside vendor to assist in the preparation of a “settlement video brochure” to present at the federal settlement conference. The video depicted the human toll of the plaintiff’s catastrophic injuries through lay and expert witness statements and home videos.
Dean’s Desk: Legal education partners enhance law school experience
At Indiana Tech Law School, we have decided to partner with our local legal community in order to break out of the mold of the “traditional law school.” The judges and lawyers in Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio have been invited to invest themselves in the success of our school and in the professional development of our students, and they have stepped up in a big way to help us.
Pashos: Is cost-of-service regulation relevant in today’s world?
Today, public utilities are experiencing significant cost increases, due to issues such as federal environmental and other mandates, and the need to upgrade decades-old infrastructure. These cost pressures, combined with fast-paced technology, market changes and other states’ experimentation with retail deregulation, are causing policymakers and others to ask whether cost-of-service regulation remains relevant or whether deregulation might be a preferable alternative.
Indiana joins brief seeking to halt EPA-led plan to clean up Chesapeake Bay
Decades of squabbles over cleaning up one of America’s most historic but polluted waters resulted in an agreement between states and the federal government that supporters say could restore the Chesapeake Bay to a swimmable, fishable national treasure. But if Indiana and other states without a direct stake in the Chesapeake have their way, the cleanup hashed out between bay states and the Environmental Protection Agency will be stopped.
A bottleneck is bedeviling Indiana’s mighty wind turbines
Gusts blowing across Interstate 65 north of Lafayette one recent day were powerful enough to shake cars but impotent to budge the blades of the giant wind turbines dotting the sparse landscape. On an ideal day for generating electricity, the colossal pinwheels were eerily still, and for the most unlikely of reasons. They’d been turned off.
Campus fraternity chapter may be liable for alleged hazing injury
A Wabash College fraternity pledge’s injury claim resulting from alleged hazing, ruled on recently by the Indiana Supreme Court, turned not on whether he was hazed inside the frat house, but on who may be liable.
‘No-more-stringent’ measure stirring controversy
A bill winding through the Statehouse would alter Indiana environmental regulatory process by shifting most of the authority to enact new rules from the executive branch to the Legislature.
Planning prevents potholes in road to retirement
The process of retiring, the nuts and bolts of how to exit a legal practice, is as important for attorneys as saving for retirement and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
No relief in sight for busy Southern District judges
Judges of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Indiana are among the nation’s busiest. They have been for years, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
IU McKinney dean’s diplomacy skills navigate law school during turbulent time
At the end of a long conversation about the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Dean Andrew Klein showed his passion for the law.
High school basketball team’s hair-length policy is discriminatory
A dispute pitting long hair against an attempt to promote a clean-cut image of Hoosier boys’ basketball is headed for overtime since the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found a high school’s hair-length requirements pertaining only to male basketball players violated equal protection and Title IX.
Opinions Feb. 24, 2014 ILD
Indiana Court of Appeals
Richard Wilkins v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A05-1306-CR-309
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class B felony dealing in a narcotic drug. Reverses and remands with instructions to vacate conviction for Class B felony conspiracy to commit dealing in a narcotic drug. Concludes Wilkins’ convictions violated double jeopardy.
In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: K.R. (minor child); S.R. (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (NFP)
02A05-1308-JT-400
Juvenile. Affirms involuntary termination of S.R.’s (mother) parental rights to her child, K.R.
In the Matter of the Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship of: C.M. & J.H. (Minor Children) and C.M. (Mother) v. The Indiana Department of Child Services (NFP)
45A04-1309-JT-456
Juvenile. Affirms involuntary termination of C.M.’s (mother) parental rights to minor children C.M. and J.H.
The Indiana Supreme Court and the Indiana Tax Court did not post any opinions by IL deadline.
Opinions Feb. 24, 2014
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
University of Notre Dame v. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, et. al. and Jane Doe 1, et al.
13-3853
Civil. Affirms on interlocutory appeal denial of an injunction blocking enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, holding that the requirement that the university submit a form opting out of paying for contraception services for women did not trigger provision of those services which insurers are required to provide under the law. Circuit Judge Joel Flaum dissented, holding that Notre Dame has shown a likelihood of success on the merits and he would therefore reverse the order denying the injunction.
Correctional officer fails to support claims of discrimination against employer
A former officer in the Indiana Department of Correction had her claims of employment discrimination and retaliation rejected by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on the grounds she failed to provide supporting evidence.