On June 28, 2023, the Indiana Supreme Court clarified the meaning of the word “invest” in the context of a contract between a public school corporation and a private company regarding the development and operation of a wind turbine project. The contract obligated the school to make payments over a 20-year period totaling nearly $1.6 million. In exchange, the school…
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently upheld the finding of a de facto merger in successor companies when allowing the enforcement of a judgment against the predecessor company. New Nello Operating Co., LLC v. CompressAir. The Court noted four exceptions to the general rule that when one corporation purchased the assets of another the buyer does not assume the debts…
The FCC recently adopted broadband privacy rules which will be implemented on a staggered schedule. The FCC did not provide calendar dates for implementing the rules and some of the dates are based on pending PRA approvals. The following is a summary of the new privacy rules and the dates they are scheduled to take effect. On January 3, 2017,…
Attorneys practicing in Indiana are well aware that Indiana courts and administrative agencies are moving to “mandatory” electronic filing. The Indiana Supreme Court’s e-filing project is rolling along, with e-filing now mandatory (except upon a petition showing good cause) for the Supreme Court and Appellate Courts and over twenty counties. More county courts are going “E” every month. By 2018,…
On February 16, 2017, the Indiana Supreme Court issued an opinion regarding a sports participant’s duty owed to other participants in sports-injury tort cases. Megenity v. Dunn (No. 22D03-1309-CT-1354, decided Feb. 16, 2017). The Court affirmed the trial court’s ruling that a participant does not breach a duty owed to another participant by engaging in conduct ordinary in the sport,…
On November 2, 2016, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) released their broadband privacy protection order, which came almost 18 months after the FCC reclassified broadband internet service (BIAS) as a common carrier telecommunication service under Title II of the Communications Act (the Act). The order communicates three main goals to be accomplished via the expanded consumer privacy standards: transparency, choice,…
Section 253(c) of the Communications Act, as amended in 1996, prohibits any “state or local statute or regulation, or other state or local legal requirement” to “have the effect of prohibiting the ability of any entity to provide interstate or intrastate telecommunications” including wireless communications. This is commonly referred to as local government having barriers to entry. The FCC is…
Many nonprofit organizations in Indiana have either a duty or a policy of disclosing minutes of board meetings upon the request of certain stakeholders and allowing stakeholders to attend board meetings. Often, this duty arises under state law, such as the general Non-Profit Corporation Act, if applicable, or the specific act under which the organization is organized, such as the…
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently revisited the “blue-pencil” doctrine in Clark’s Sales and Services, Inc., vs. John D. Smith and Ferguson Enterprises, Inc., 4 N.E.3d 772 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014), which concerned an employment agreement containing a restrictive covenant/noncompetition provision. Based on the employee’s (“Smith”) fourteen-year career with the former employer and Smith’s access to confidential information, the court…
On March 3, 2014 the Indiana Court of Appeals clarified that shareholders cannot be held personally liable for attorney fees in a wrongful stop payment of a check under Indiana Code section 26–2–7–5 unless the corporate veil can be pierced. CBR Event Decorators, Inc. v. Gates, 4 N.E.3d 1210 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014). In CBR I, the court held that…