Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/PM4E-GWE9 After last week’s flurry of notable civil decisions from Indiana’s appellate courts, this week was fairly quiet. An interesting footnote to Indiana legal history was added as the Court of Appeals of Indiana for the first time handed down a decision in a direct appeal from the Marion County Small Claims Court. That is notable because,…
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Indiana Supreme Court Holds that Wrongful Death Claim Does Not End With Death of Heirless Sole Beneficiary
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/LWM8-AQX4 Today’s discussion supplants one we had back in June, wherein we discussed the Court of Appeals of Indiana’s ruling in Horejs v. Milford. There, the appellate court held that when the lone beneficiary of a wrongful-death claim dies during the pendency of the wrongful-death suit leaving no heirs that the claim dies with the beneficiary. The…
Eric Pavlack Named 2019 Super Lawyer
We already knew he was SUPER, but now it is official….Pavlack Law is proud to announce that Eric Pavlack has been named to the 2019 class of Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers utilizes a patented selection process based on peer review and professional achievement to annually recognize the top 5% of attorneys in each state. Eric has consistently been selected as…
Indiana Supreme Court: ‘Even Slight Evidence of Excusable Neglect’ Sufficient to Uphold Trial Court’s Setting Aside of Default Judgment
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/4REL-WC6K For many, appellate courts are viewed as a second bite at the apple. The simple fact, however, is that they are anything but. There are innumerable postures in which a case may reach the appellate court subject to a highly deferential standard of review, creating a hefty burden of reversing the trial court. There are some…
Indiana Court of Appeals Reminds That Judgments Cannot be Entered Without Personal Jurisdiction
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/V2MR-KCZ5 We have often discussed jurisdiction in the context of subject-matter jurisdiction—i.e., whether a specific court has jurisdiction to decide the issues before it—but we have only occasionally discussed personal jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals of Indiana has given us just such an occasion by ruling on whether a Wisconsin judgment against a former-Indiana citizen was void.…
Indiana Court of Appeals: Developments in Litigation Can Allow Remand for Failure to Meet Amount in Controversy and Recovery in Excess of $75,000
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/AU2B-QS3K Today’s discussion takes to what may be a once-in-a-lifetime case in which a party successfully contended that the amount in controversy was less than $75,000 yet recovered a judgment for more than double that amount. As odd as that outcome may seem, as you will see, the perfect storm of events occurred in Harr v. Hayes…
Indiana: Filing an Appeal With a Pending Motion to Correct Error
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/M536-K3R In this post, we delve into a nuanced issue of Indiana appellate procedure that will likely not draw interest to too many readers. Still, it is an important point to take away from a recent decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals and merits some attention. For our discussion, we look to the opinion on rehearing…
What Happens When Wrongful Death Beneficiary Dies During Lawsuit? Depends on Whether there are Heirs
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/TVZ2-XH5S ***UPDATE*** The Indiana Supreme Court has granted transfer in this case, thereby vacating the decision discussed below. On transfer, the Indiana Supreme Court concluded: We hold that David’s claim for survivor damages did not abate upon his death and was not dependent on the existence of an heir. Therefore, summary judgment on this claim was inappropriate.…
Further Considering When a Proprietor Owes a Duty to a Patron to Protect Him from the Criminal Acts of Another
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/3AX8-8QDM Although the Court of Appeals was largely quiet this week—even a quiet week still has sixteen decisions—last week produced several important rulings that merit discussion. The three most notable were each civil tort cases. Although this post will only focus on Certa v. Steak ‘n Shake Operations Inc., we will briefly discuss two other cases from…
What Constitutes Spoliation of Evidence in Indiana and What Can be Done?
Permanent Link Archived: https://perma.cc/YRB3-WDBL Last week, we focused on the case Webb v. City of Carmel to discuss application of Trial Rule 15(C) for adding a defendant after the statute of limitations has run. But we just as easily could have discussed another case from the same day, which provides an excellent outline of the concept of spoliation of evidence…