Federal rule amendments take affect Dec. 1 of each year after a lengthy, time-consuming process of transmittal from the Judicial Conference to the Supreme Court and then to Congress. This coming December, for the first time in many years, there are no amendments on the horizon for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, or Federal Rules of Evidence.
See who’s joined Indiana firms, been promoted, or received an award.
The Indiana Supreme Court will take a race discrimination case involving a Fort Wayne hospital as one of three cases unanimously granted transfer for the week ending July 27. Justices denied transfer in 23 cases.
A ruling that ordered the state to pay more than $52 million to IBM due to cancellation of its contract to privatize social service claims processing certainly will have a second, and most likely a third, act.
Take a food truck to Chicago and you may be required to attach a GPS tracking device to it. Park a food truck in Indianapolis and enjoy being able to do business in an environment of few regulations.
Indiana this year became the 23rd state to enact a right-to-work law in which workers cannot be compelled to pay union dues. Within months, individual workers in union shops opted out, even as court challenges linger.
In a pair of decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals examined different exemption provisions to overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act but reached the same conclusion: Pharmaceutical sales representatives are not entitled to overtime pay.
Meet the 10 semifinalists who hope to replace Justice Frank Sullivan Jr. on the Indiana Supreme Court.
After public interviews, who makes the cut is determined behind closed doors. So what happens when those doors close?
Read decisions from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Indiana Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Tax Court.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Jeffery Alholm v. Rebecca (Alholm) Allen (NFP)
48A05-1109-DR-466
Domestic relation. Affirms trial court modification of child custody and parenting time, and contempt order against father.
Bruce A. Craig v. Cynthia E. Craig (NFP)
92A03-1112-DR-584
Domestic relation. Affirms trial court’s division of property.
Scott Robertson v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1112-CR-1081
Criminal. Affirms bench trial conviction of Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement.
Lawrence Ray Holley, II v. State of Indiana (NFP)
79A02-1005-PC-652
Post-conviction relief. Reverses denial of post-conviction relief and remands, finding the court erred when it refused to admit trial transcripts into the record.
Elex Baltazar v. State of Indiana (NFP)
71A03-1111-CR-545
Criminal. Affirms trial court conviction of murder.
Michael Mangan v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A04-1110-CR-555
Criminal. Affirms trial court conviction of murder.
James L. Johnson v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1112-CR-1100
Criminal. Affirms 75-year sentence for convictions of Class A felony criminal deviate conduct, Class B felony criminal confinement and being a habitual offender.
Fortune Management, Inc. v. Design Collaborative, Inc. (NFP)
34A02-1110-CC-1131
Civil collections. Affirms finding that an oral contract existed and that damages were awardable for breach of that contract, and that Fortune could not prevail on the mitigation of damages issue. Reserves in part and remands to trial court to vacate judgment on motion to correct error and restore its original judgment.
Katie C. Graber v. Dale Graber (NFP)
02A04-1112-DR-696
Domestic relations. Affirms trial court division of assets.
Barbara A. Johnson and William T. Johnson, both individually and as trustees of the Barbara A. Johnson Living Trust Dated 12-17-1996 v. Joseph Wysocki and M. Carmen Wysocki (NFP)
45A04-1111-CT-610
Civil tort. Reverses trial court finding for the Wysockis on a claim of fraudulent misrepresentation; affirms court’s denial of the Wysockis’ request for attorney fees.
Indiana Tax Court posted no opinions at IL deadline.
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Winforge, Inc., et al., v. Coachmen Industries, Inc., et al.
10-3178
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Civil. Affirms trial court judgment for defendants, agreeing that the parties had never entered into a final, enforceable contract.
A Marshall County landowner will have to pay a drainage assessment on a county-maintained ditch, even though he said his property derives little benefit from the drainage system for which he’s ordered to pay a share.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court ruling in favor of two Indiana companies that were involved in a Tennessee hotel project that failed to develop.
The former owners of a Beech Grove shopping plaza that once contained a laundry and dry cleaning business that contaminated soil and groundwater cannot be held liable due to the statute of limitations, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.
The Indiana Court of Appeals dismissed the state’s appeal of a criminal case in which a trial court granted the state’s motion to dismiss.
A Hancock County attorney was suspended for two years after the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in a 3-2 opinion that he charged unreasonable fees to an elderly client, converted funds belonging to her, and was dishonest before the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.
Indiana Court of Appeals
Damon Tyree Johnson v. State of Indiana (NFP)
29A02-1111-CR-1020
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class B felony robbery.
The Carl Kaetzel Trust U/T/D December 10, 1977, The Roberta Kaetzel Trust U/T/D December 10, 1977 and Carl Kaetzel, Roberta Kaetzel, et al v. Jon Marc Kaetzel and Beverly Kaetzel (NFP)
74A01-1201-PL-36
Civil plenary/rescission of deed and constructive fraud. Affirms trial court determination that the plaintiffs were not entitled to the remedy of rescission and that judgment was properly entered for Jon and Beverly Kaetzel.
In Re the Term. of the Parent-Child Rel. of S.S.; D.S. v. Department of Child Services (NFP)
02A03-1112-JT-592
Juvenile/termination of parental rights. Affirms termination of parental rights.
Joshua A. Willey-Rumback v. State of Indiana (NFP)
48A05-1111-CR-638
Criminal. Affirms conviction of Class B felony robbery and revocation of probation.
Chad A. Jeffries v. State of Indiana (NFP)
73A04-1110-PC-574
Criminal. Affirms conviction of dealing in methamphetamine.
Craig Watts v. Betty (Watts) Lankford (NFP)
42A01-1111-DR-523
Domestic relations/child support. Affirms trial court order for father to pay child support arrearage and mother’s attorney fees.
Anthony Ramirez v. State of Indiana (NFP)
41A04-1109-CR-475
Criminal. Affirms conviction of battery with a deadly weapon and residential entry.
Michael S. Dornbusch v. State of Indiana (NFP)
87A01-1112-CR-604
Criminal. Affirms convictions of four counts of Class B felony burglary and a count of Class D felony attempted residential entry.
Tarrance Battle v. State of Indiana (NFP)
49A02-1110-CR-946
Criminal. Affirms sentence for Class A felony possession of cocaine.
The Indiana Tax Court posted no opinions prior to IL deadline
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Leonard Lapsley, et al. v. Xtek Inc.
11-3313
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division. Judge Joseph S. Van Bokkelen.
Civil. Affirms denial of Xtek’s Daubert motion that sought to bar Dr. Gary Hutter from offering his expert opinions, which were essential to Lapsley’s case that a design defect in Xtek’s equipment was the cause of his accident. In this case, the District Court’s stated analysis of the proposed testimony was brief, but it was also directly to the point and was sufficient to trigger deferential review on appeal. The District Court did not misapply Daubert.
The Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with a defendant that her sentence for a Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana exceeded the statutory maximum and remanded the case to the trial court for resentencing.