Dow Agro in legal skirmish over canola oil
Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences LLC has sued Cooper Industries Plc in an effort to clarify its rights to make a canola-based
fluid used in electrical transformers.
Lawsuits
Articles
Simon family fight breaks out over billionaire’s fortune
Melvin Simon’s
daughter Deborah filed court papers Thursday afternoon charging her father was coerced into approving a
new estate plan in February 2009 that dramatically increased the amount of his fortune going to her stepmother, Bren.
Former cemetery owner avoids prison time
Robert E. Nelms received an eight-year sentence that will be served through a community corrections program after pleading
guilty to theft and securities fraud.
Accountant files suit against former firm, partner
A contentious split between two prominent accounting partners is getting even uglier after a lawsuit filed by one of them
has the other pledging to counter sue.
Real estate lawsuit pits Situs vs. Situs
Texas real estate consultancy sues local brokerage over rights to name they both share.
Judge approves concrete price-fixing settlement
A federal judge has preliminarily approved a settlement in which a central Indiana concrete company agreed to pay $29 million
to resolve a class-action antitrust lawsuit alleging it and six other companies conspired to fix the price of ready-mixed
concrete.
Fair Finance investors file additional fraud suit
More than three dozen residents of a northeast Ohio county who invested in Fair Finance Co. are seeking to recover more
than $2.1 million from the shuttered company.
Freight Masters files bankruptcy after losing business from Chrysler, Boeing
The minority-owned logistics firm is also involved in a legal battle with a Washington state firm over the loss of its Boeing
business.
Judge fines woman waging Web war against plastic surgeon
Judge Sarah Evans Barker declared a Massachusetts woman in contempt of court for failing to remove her negative Internet
postings about an Indianapolis cosmetic surgeon.
Local funeral home operator interested in troubled Memory Gardens
Indianapolis-based Wilson St. Pierre Funeral Service & Crematory is one of two companies that have emerged as potential
suitors of the embattled Memory Gardens Management Corp.
Editorial writers lose appeal against Star
Two former editorial writers at Indiana’s largest newspaper failed to prove they were the victims of religious discrimination,
according to a circuit court of appeals.
Class-action suit seeks millions for Fair Finance investors
Attorneys on Friday afternoon filed a class-action lawsuit seeking to rescind $200 million in investor purchases of Fair
Finance Co. securities and to slap Tim Durham and other company insiders with millions of dollars in punitive
damages.
Man claims being denied job over beard, turban
Indirjit Singh of Greenwood is suing Atlanta-based Air Serv Corp. in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis for religious discrimination.
State sues teachers’ union for securities fraud
The Indiana Secretary of State’s securities division says Indiana State Teachers Association can’t account for $23 million
intended for
school districts, requests assets be frozen.
Symons and family ordered to pay $34.2 million in fraudulent transfer case
A high-profile businessman and the Indianapolis companies he operated with family members have been ordered by a federal judge to pay $34.2 million relating to the fraudulent transfer of assets in a business sale.
Former Huntington National Bank exec alleges age discrimination
Michael Lewis, 53, filed a complaint with the Indianapolis office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission Aug. 13 and sued Huntington Oct. 15 in Marion Superior Court.
Troubled homebuilder’s funds frozen after failing to pay judgment
A Marion County judge has frozen certain Hansen & Horn Group Inc. funds after the Indianapolis homebuilder failed to pay
a $183,000 legal judgment. The move sheds light on the severity
of the company’s woes.
Premier lays off workers as lawsuits, debt pile up
Premier Properties USA Inc. has eliminated about half its headquarters staff—more than 40 employees—as banks seize
several of its properties and CEO Christopher P. White faces a barrage of new lawsuits alleging unpaid bills, defaulted loans,
illegally redirected rent payments and check fraud.
SPECIAL REPORT: Financial travails dog ‘mystery man’ at helm of Premier Properties
An IBJ review of hundreds of pages of public records shows Christopher P. White and his Premier
Properties USA Inc. are facing major financial and legal challenges. The most glaring signs of trouble: Contractors have filed
more than $3.5 million in liens against Premier’s retail properties in Plainfield; the state of Indiana is trying to
recover $375,000 in sales taxes on White’s airplane; and the contractor who renovated his Lake Clearwater mansion
is suing him to recover more than $600,000 in unpaid bills.
Inlow estate decision reversed by high court
The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday delivered some good news to the widow of former Conseco Inc. Chief Counsel Lawrence
Inlow, reversing a lower court’s order that she pay his estate $284,034 for funeral expenses.