After a couple weeks of near silence, the Seventh Circuit returned in force issuing eight opinions. However, the court seemed to be suffering from a tad bit of a hangover from its lull, resulting in two of the decisions requiring an order correcting errors. That said,...
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Indiana Court of Appeals Examines Strict Liability in Byproduct of Steelmaking Process
This week we return to a topic that has been a frequent basis for discussion here on the Hoosier Litigation Blog: the allocation of fault for injuries. Most recently, we discussed this topic in the context of the Indiana Supreme Court’s rejection of the very duty...
Indiana Court Addresses the Enforceability of Arbitration
In a week of relative silence from the Seventh Circuit and a litany of published but not groundbreaking decisions out of the Indiana Court of Appeals, the Hoosier Litigation Blog turns to a decision from the Indiana Court of Appeals that chose to uphold a mandatory...
Seventh Circuit: Posner Explains Notice Requirements & Utility of Cy Pres Decrees in Small Class Actions
After a double dose two weeks ago and last week off, the Hoosier Litigation Blog returns this week with a case that your author has called the perfect Hoosier Litigation Blog post case. It is a case authored by influential Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner that...
Indiana Supreme Court Applies Comparative Fault to Intentional Tort & Rejects Very Duty Doctrine
Today’s first post was dedicated to the case Schoettmer v. Wright. This post is dedicated to a case that garnered a great deal of attention on its way up to the Indiana Supreme Court: Santelli v. Rahmatullah. Sadly, unlike Schoettmer, the result of Santelli strikes a...
Indiana Supreme Court Permits Application of Equitable Estoppel Doctrine to Tort Claims Act Case
It is not uncommon for the Indiana Supreme Court to not release an opinion in any given week. It is not uncommon, as was the case this week, for the court to release four decisions. However, what is quite uncommon is for the court to hand down two opinions under...
7th Circuit Again Certifies Butler v. Sears, Roebuck, & Co. Class
On Thursday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its decision in Butler v. Sears, Roebuck, & Co. (Butler II). The court once more certified the two classes despite remand from the Supreme Court of the United States after a grant, vacate, and remand...
Seventh Circuit Explains Rationale of Class Action Attorneys’ Fees
This week, Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook addressed the objections of a member of a settlement class who objected to the attorneys’ fee award. In rejecting the objector’s position and affirming the class action settlement, Chief Judge Easterbrook...
Seventh Circuit Certifies ERISA Breach of Fiduciary Duty Class in Defined-Contribution Plan
This week the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit handed down a decision reversing a trial court’s denial of class certification for breach of fiduciary duty under Sections 409 and 502 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the...
Indiana Supreme Court Weighs In on Medical Malpractice Filing Deadline
Yesterday the Indiana Supreme Court handed down a concise but extremely informative decision in the realm of medical malpractice law. In keeping with what has become a very distinct pattern in cases involving statutory interpretation, the opinion was authored by...