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Several new laws pushed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce will take effect this year to help protect businesses from certain kinds of lawsuits and potentially encourage more settlements. Such tweaks to tort law were among the chamber’s top priorities, and the organization was successful in persuading the Legislature to forbid foreign entities from funding lawsuits against Indiana businesses, provide…

A handicapped woman claims she tripped and fell on the sidewalk after playing bingo in Granite City. Plaintiff Calvenita Brock filed the lawsuit against Granite City Properties, LLC in the Madison County Circuit Court. According to the complaint, Brock alleges she was injured due to a deteriorating sidewalk ramp at a bingo center owned by the defendant. Brock claims she…

A patient claims he suffered injuries following bypass and vascular surgeries on his leg. The lawsuit was filed in the St. Clair County Circuit Court by Randy and Jane Hackethal against Dr. Robert Lee and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. The plaintiffs allege Lee, who was acting as an agent of…

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Magistrate Judge Reona Daly’s ruling that American River Transportation Company LLC (ARTCO) did not owe a duty to a crew member who plunged into freezing water and briefly became trapped under the barge. Appellate Judge Joel M. Flaum penned the March 19 opinion with Judges Frank Easterbrook and Doris Pryor concurring. Plaintiff Herbert…

If someone involved in a car crash isn’t buckled up, an Indiana jury currently isn’t allowed to know that due to the state’s longstanding prohibition on introducing such evidence. That will change as of July 1, thanks to the Legislature’s passage of House Bill 1090. The measure, which was signed into law Monday by Gov. Eric Holcomb, includes a provision…

A Metro bus passenger claims she was injured when the bus stopped abruptly in East St. Louis. The lawsuit was filed in the St. Clair County Circuit Court by Regina Crisp against the Bi-State Development Agency, also known as Metro. Crisp alleges she was injured when a Metro bus abruptly stopped while she was a passenger. The incident occurred on…

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that U.S. district judge Phil Gilbert properly dismissed Bailey Watson’s claim for more than $6.7 million against insurers after she was run over with a wood chipper. Chief appellate judge Diane Sykes and judges Kenneth Ripple and Ilana Rovner delivered the opinion on March 11.The appellate court concluded that the incident is excluded…

Crash your rental car, or get hit by a truck? Legislation headed to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk would bar you from using a commercial vehicle’s outdated safety equipment against the lessor in a civil lawsuit. Lawmakers slipped the immunity provision into House Bill 1162, a Bureau of Motor Vehicles agency bill, in a negotiated final draft released Friday in…

A Marion Superior Court jury awarded an Avon man more than $42 million for serious injuries he suffered in a 2017 motorcycle crash with a pickup truck driven by a Tesla Inc. employee. The jury returned the verdict Wednesday against Tesla Inc. and its long-time employee Kyle Kaszuba for the accident in which motorcyclist Chris Dugan was severely injured. The…

A lawsuit filed against physicians alleges a patient died as a result of receiving an excessive dose of warfarin. The lawsuit was filed in the Madison County Circuit Court by plaintiff Kenneth E. Marshall, as administrator of the estate of Judith Ann Marshall, against defendants Associated Physicians Group Ltd., Dr. Christopher Green, and Sarah Davis, FNP-C. According to the complaint,…