Indiana Injury Lawyer Blog

In the case of Hamilton v. Key (Cause No. 48D01-0905-CT-749), Dewayne Hamilton (the plaintiff) was riding his motorcycle and was seriously injured after a collision with another motorist at the intersection of two roads located northeast of Pendleton, Indiana. Hamilton was driving in the left southbound lane and Jacob Key (the defendant) was driving in the right southbound lane. Key was stopped in his employers’ truck at the intersection due to traffic that had stopped in front of him; traffic was also stopped behind him, however traffic was not stopped in the left southbound lane. Another vehicle, driven by John Owens, was travelling eastbound toward the intersection and had stopped at the intersection to make a left turn to go northbound.

Key thoroughly looked around for traffic approaching the intersection from the north in the lane to his left (Key actually got out of his truck, stood on the doorsill, and examined the traffic) and motioned to Owens that it was safe to enter the intersection to make the left turn. Owens’s view north was obstructed by the line of stopped traffic in the right southbound lane. As Owens entered the intersection, Hamilton also entered the intersection in the left southbound lane on his motorcycle and collided with the car being driven by Owens. Hamilton sustained serious injuries and filed a lawsuit against Jacob Key. Hamilton also sued Ted and Sally Brown, alleging they were responsible as Key’s employers.

Continue reading "Indiana Court of Appeals Determined Pendleton, Indiana Motorist Owed a Duty of Care to Motorcyclist After Waiving Motorcyclist Through Intersection Indicating it was Clear" »

This past Thursday, attorney Tony Patterson testified before an Indiana state Senate committee in support of additional money going to the Indiana State Fair Sugarland concert stage collapse victims. The State of Indiana has paid $5 million to the victims which is the maximize allowed under current Indiana law. Proposed legislation looks to pay an additional $5 million to the victims, but Mr. Patterson urged the committee that will not be enough.

"With 7 folks dead, with long term medical costs, serious injuries, we're looking at a damage figure of up to a $100 million" said Patterson. He explained that all of the defendants that answered the victims' complaint thus far in the civil lawsuit have blamed the State of Indiana for the incident meaning the defendants will attempt to have the jury allocate fault to the State of Indiana at trial.

Super Lawyers magazine recently released its 2012 list of attorneys to be recognized in Indiana. Parr Richey Obremskey Frandsen & Patterson is proud to have six attorneys from its office recognized on this prestigious list. Attorneys Pete Obremskey, Paul Kruse and Tony Patterson were selected as 2012 Indiana Super Lawyers based on their excellence in representing personal injury victims. Parr Richey attorney Kent Frandsen was also selected as a 2012 Indiana Super Lawyer for the outstanding representation he has provided as a civil litigator, while Larry J. Wallace and Jeremy Fetty were recognized as a 2012 Indiana Super Lawyer and Rising Star in the utilities practice area, respectively.

Super Lawyer candidates are evaluated based on a number of things, including verdicts, settlements and experience. The Super Lawyers list is limited to only 5% of the attorneys within their jurisdiction. Parr Richey has been represented on the Indiana Super Lawyers list by at least one of its attorneys every year since its inception.

Parr Richey Obremskey Frandsen & Patterson attorneys Tony Patterson and Pete Obremskey were ranked in the top 50 in the Indiana Super Lawyers 2012 publication. Tony and Pete represent personal injury victims throughout Indiana, but received this ranking amid all attorneys in all practice areas around the State of Indiana.

In Person v. Shipley (No. 20S03-1110-CT-609), the Indiana Supreme Court agreed with the trial court that an engineering expert was qualified to provide expert testimony on the cause of a lower-back injury the plaintiff suffered when his tractor trailer truck was rear-ended by the defendant’s Buick sedan.

The engineer's qualifications included an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, time spent as an assistant professor at a school of medicine, and time spent teaching courses in biomechanics that cover the musculoskeletal system and the principles underlying the calculations he used for his testimony. The Court explained that the expert was qualified to provide expert testimony because his “engineering background, his knowledge of velocity and changes in speed upon impact, and his experience in reviewing these types of cases made him qualified to offer his opinion as to the change in speed or velocity of [the Plaintiff’s] tractor-trailer.” The Court also agreed that the expert was qualified to give his opinion that the accident did not cause the plaintiff’s lower-back injury because, although the expert was not a medical doctor, the expert’s opinion focused on “the science of engineering and physics as opposed to the science of medicine.” Therefore, his education, background, training, and knowledge of the effect of forces on the musculoskeletal system made him qualified to render his causation opinion under Rule 702.

Continue reading "Indiana Supreme Court Says Okay to Engineering Expert Providing Testimony as to Cause of Lower-Back Injury in Motor Vehicle Collision" »

Attorneys representing victims of the Indiana State Fair Sugarland stage collapse are closely reviewing the recently released results from the Indiana Department of Labor’s IOSHA investigation. The investigation resulted in fines and Safety Orders being assessed against the Indiana State Fair Commission, Local 30 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Mid-America Sound Corporation, for their safety failures in connection with the stage collapse.

Attorney Tony Patterson (Parr Richey Obremskey Frandsen & Patterson LLP), is representing several injury victims including the Polet family, who previously filed a lawsuit in Marion County captioned Polet, et. al. v. Live Nation et. al. That lawsuit was brought by more than fifteen law firms on behalf of approximately 40 injury victims and the families of four persons killed in the stage collapse.

“On behalf of the victims of the tragedy, our hope is that this investigation and the fines that were assessed will improve safety so that others in the future won’t have to go through what these people and their families have had to endure,” said Patterson. “We know that this report is just the beginning and we look forward to receiving the reports and investigation results from Thorton Tomasetti and Witt Associates, which will hopefully continue to give us, and the public, a better understanding as to the events that evening.”

In Bennett v. Richmond (No. 20S03-1105-CV-293), the Indiana Supreme Court held the trial court was correct in allowing a psychologist to testify that the plaintiff in a Elkhart County, Indiana truck accident case had a brain injury that was caused by the crash. The Court explains, in Bennett, the plaintiff underwent a neuropsychological evaluation with Dr. Sheridan McCabe, a psychologist. Plaintiff had been suffering from headaches and memory loss sinice the crash, but had not been diagnosed with a brain injury.

Dr. McCabe reviewed plaintiff's medical records and deposition, interviewed plaintiff and his wife, and administered a "battery" of neuropsychological tests to plaintiff. After which, Dr. McCabe testified that plaintiff had "experienced a traumatic brain injury in the accident."

In reaching its holding that it was appropriate for Dr. McCabe to testify plaintiff had suffered a traumatic brain injury caused by the crash, the Indiana Supreme Court reasoned that psychologists and neuropsychologists may provide such testimony if they are qualified under Indiana Evidence Rule 702 (qualified based on certain knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education).