If your first interaction with low head dams is the title of this post, then you may think I was being hyperbolic by adding aka “Drowning Machines." Believe it or not, the dangers of low head dams are so well-established among those in natural resources and in dam...
Indiana is home to numerous dams. Like other dams around the country, many are long overdue for repair, upgrade or removal. Fortunately, some of the money from the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by Congress and signed by President Biden late last year will go...
Dams can be very valuable structures. They can control the flow of water during times of unusual dryness or higher than average precipitation. They can uncover arable land for farming and facilitate sports. They even generate electricity. However, dams can also create...
We have twice addressed the issue of American Pipe tolling, whereby the claims of absent class members are tolled during the pendency of a timely filed putative class action. In our most recent examination, we noted an issue that was tangential to our primary focus on cross-jurisdictional tolling—i.e. whether a putative class action pending in one jurisdiction triggers tolling for…
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/SPJ9-7VGS There are some weeks in which finding a single decision to discuss can be quite difficult. Then there are weeks like this past week. We will narrow our focus to the Indiana Supreme Court decision Sims v. Pappas, which addressed the admissibility of prior alcohol-related convictions in a trial for injuries from a drunk-driving car crash.…
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/32BN-Y4ZR Today’s discussion touches upon a hot-button issue in the current political climate: unauthorized immigration. The catalyst for our discussion is a decision from the Indiana Supreme Court this past week, which answered two issues of first impression in the state. As Chief Justice Rush summarized those questions: “May an unauthorized immigrant sue for decreased earning capacity…
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/HG64-J6K4 In May, we briefly discussed a case from the Court of Appeals of Indiana called Megenity v. Dunn. In that discussion, we said: Megenity was a case in which a woman was injured in a karate class when another participant chose to do a jump kick in a front kick exercise. The trial court granted summary…
For the second time in two months, the Court of Appeals addresses whether a party can appeal an agreed judgment. Consistent with long-standing Indiana precedent, the court of appeals again held that a party cannot. In April, the Court of Appeals recognized: “‘absent fraud,’ an agreed judgment is not appealable.” Ironically, because that was an appeal of a Marion County…
This week we take a trip down memory lane. Back on October 25, 2013, we ran one of our most well read posts to date: Indiana Court of Appeals Once More Asked to Interpret AIA Standard Construction Contract. The discussion was based around the case Allen County Public...
After a week off, we return with a short, yet informative, discussion of a recent decision from the Seventh Circuit. If you are a regular reader of the Hoosier Litigation Blog, then you know that I am an ardent fan of dedicating my posts to class action decisions...