Indiana Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Attorney Nick Deets of Hovde Dassow & Deets in Indianapolis, Indiana received a policy limits underinsured motorist jury verdict of $50,000 in Johnson County, Indiana on March 17, 2008. The case involved a 40 year old woman who had a general whiplash injury after being rear-ended ($310 in property damage). Her neck pain resolved, but she developed left shoulder impingement that required an arthroscopic removal of part of her acromion. After 3 months of physical therapy, the Plaintiff was discharged with no residual ROM deficits and minor aches in her shoulder. Her paid medical bills were $10,800 and she had $5,000 in lost income. American Family offered and paid its limits of $50,000. State Farm was then added on a UIM claim. The jury was instructed that the Plaintiff had already received $50,000, that the Plaintiff had an additional $50,000 in UIM coverage available and that its verdict could not exceed that amount. The jury returned a verdict of the additional policy limits of $50,000. SF made a zero offer prior to trial .

Hovde Dassow & Deets is a law firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It specializes in cases involving personal injury, insurance, medical malpractice and wrongful death claims.

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Posted In: Auto Accidents

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Rick Hovde and Nick Deets of Hovde Dassow & Deets will conduct presentations at the Indiana Trial Lawyer's Lifetime Achievement Seminar in Indianapolis on April 29-30, 2010. Rick Hovde will conduct a presentation regarding hypothetical questions in the context of medical malpractice litigation, including defeating motions on summary judgment. Nick Deets will conduct a presentation on "Discovering and Admitting an Expert's Financial Information."

Both presenters are partners of Hovde Dassow & Deets LLC, a law firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. They primarily focus their practice on cases involving personal injury, car and truck accidents, defective drugs and devices, and medical malpractice.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Accidents

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On October 29, 2009, in the matter of Brown-Day v. Allstate Insurance Co., the Indiana Court of Appeals held that Allstate, as the Plaintiff's UIM carrier, was not entitled to substitute the dismissed tort feasor as the party defendant for purposes of the underinsured motorist trial to prevent prejudice from the “mention of insurance” under Evid. R. 411. According to the Court (Barnes, J. writing with Kirsch and Vaidik, JJ. concurring):

Evidence Rule 411 simply is not a mechanism providing for an outright substitution of parties so that the identity of a party as an insurer may be shielded. It does not contemplate the creation of a fiction to avoid possible prejudicial effects from a reference to insurance or an insurer.

The Court also held that the Plaintiff was entitled to cross-examine Allstate's medical examiner regarding who had hired him and how much he had been paid even though that line of questioning would reveal the existence of insurance. This ruling is consistent with the language and purpose of Indiana Rules of Evidence 411 adn 616 which only exclude evidence of insurance when it is offered to establish liability and specifically authorize evidence of insurance when it is offered for the purpose of establishing the bias and prejudice of a witness.

The Plaintiff in this case was represented by Nick Deets of the Indianapolis, Indiana Personal Injury Firm of Hovde Dassow and Deets, LLC.

The full opinion may be found at: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/10290901lmb.pdf.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Truck Accidents

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On October 6, 2009, a Bloomington, Indiana jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiffs Wanda and Bart Fitzgerald in their medical malpractice claim against Defendant Dr. Alan Wise. The claim arose out of a burn Wanda Fitzgerald received as a result of being rolled over onto an electrocautery unit during surgery. The Fitzgeralds were represented by attorney Nick Deets of the Indianapolis firm Hovde Dassow & Deets LLC.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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On October 6, 2009, a Bloomington, Indiana jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiffs Wanda and Bart Fitzgerald in their medical malpractice claim against Defendant Dr. Alan Wise. The claim arose out of a burn Wanda Fitzgerald received as a result of being rolled over onto an electrocautery unit during surgery. The Fitzgeralds were represented by attorney Nick Deets of the Indianapolis firm Hovde Dassow & Deets LLC.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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Indianapolis, September 10, 2009 - Three lawyers from Hovde Dassow & Deets were recently selected for inclusion in the 2010 Edition of Best Lawyers in America. Boyd Hovde, Rick Hovde and Nick Deets were each recognized as Plaintiffs Personal Injury lawyers for Indiana.

Best Lawyers is used as a guide by those looking for legal service providers in the United States. Lawyers are chosen for inclusion based solely on a vote of their peers. Listings cannot be bought, and no purchase is required to be included.

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On May 27, 2009, the Indiana Supreme Court issued its Opinion in Stanley v. Walker, 906 N.E.2d 852 (Ind. 2009), holding that Indiana's collateral source statute does not bar evidence of discounted amounts to determine the reasonable value of medical services provided to plaintiffs in personal injury actions. This decision reversed the decision of the Indiana Court of Appeals which had held that I.C. 34-44-1-2 barred this evidence because the write-downs were the result of health insurance which had been purchased by the Plaintiff. Justices Dickson and Rucker issued a persuasive dissent agreeing with the decision of the Court of Appeals and setting forth the long history of Indiana law on determining reasonableness of medical expenses. Several questions still remain after the Stanley decision including whether it will be applied to write-downs required by Medicare and whether plaintiffs will be allowed to introduce evidence of the amounts they paid for health insurance to obtain this benefit and the increases in their health insurance rates going forward which may result from their injuries.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Accidents

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Nick Deets, an attorney with Hovde Dassow and Deets LLC in Carmel, Indiana, obtained a verdict of $875,000 for Stacey Riley in her medical malpractice claim against Dr. Paul Kwo in the Boone Circuit Court on June 27, 2009. The claim arose out of Stacey's post-operative visit with Dr. Kwo on July 1, 2003 where she complained of blurred vision, a twitching lip, a tingling arm, was a smoker on birth control and had a blood pressure reading of 180/100. Stacey claimed that Dr. Kwo should have made a referral to the emergency room or her primary care physician based upon these symptoms. Dr. Kwo did not make a referral and Stacey suffered a massive stroke the next day which permanently affected her speech and right-sided motor skills.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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A woman who was extensively burned in a fire in Crawfordsville Indiana died today. Crawfordsville Fire Department Assistant Chief Todd Barton said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Many unneccessary and preventable fires and explosions kill and severely injury hoosiers every year. The law firm of Hovde Dassow & Deets has successfully represented the victims in several of these unnecessary tragedies. We recently concluded the successful representation of the victims of an aluminum dust explosion which occurred at the Hayes Lemmerz plant in Huntington, Indiana in 2003. We are currently participating in the representation of several victims who were severely burned in a propane gas explosion at their home in Auburn, Indiana in 2007. The attorneys at Hovde Dassow & Deets have the experience and resources necessary to handle these unique and complex cases.

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On May 27, 2008, Senior Judge Hugo Songer of the Dubois Superior Court denied Motions for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants Jasper Memorial Hospital, Dr. Monte Sellers and Dr. Mark Sturgill in the claim brought agains them by Ruth Wessel in Cause #19D01-0709-CT-163. The Defendants had argued that Mrs. Wessel's claim should be dismissed because it was brought after the statute of limitations had expired.
The case arises out of Raymond Wessel's visit to the emergency room at Jasper Memorial Hospital on May 20, 2003 where his chest x-ray was read as demonstrating a mass by Dr. Sturgill and a CT scan was recommended. The Wessels and their family doctor were not notified of Dr. Sturgill's interpretation and recommendation until he was admitted to this emergency room again on March 16, 2005. After a 14 month battle with cancer, Raymond Wessel passed away on Mary 29, 2006 and his widow sought legal counsel and filed her claim on July 20, 2006. Judge Songer ruled that Ruth Wessel had filed her claim within a reasonable time given Ray's extended battle with cancer and his passing.
Ruth Wessel's claim will now return to the Indiana Department of Insurance where it will be considered by a Medical Review Panel. She is represented by Nicholas Deets of the Indianapolis law firm of Hovde Dassow & Deets LLC.

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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Indiana is third in the nation in accidents involving cars and trains and Fifth in the nation in deaths related to those accidents. The accidents occur more often in Northern Indiana.

According to a 2004 report by the National Transportation Safety Board, there are 82,000 crossings in the country without gates. Gateless crossings are seven times more dangerous than crossings with gates.

Indiana was third in the nation in the number of motor vehicle accidents at gate crossings. The problem is only getting worse.

Last year, 20 people were killed at crossings -- seven more than in 2006. The number of crossing accidents increased by 24 last year -- from 137 in 2006 to 161 in 2007.

Indiana should make these crossings safer. The new gates need to be installed or substantially improved. The NTSB has said:

"The most effective option is quad gates. They have crossing arms that cover both lanes on both sides of the railroad track. In addition to preventing accidents by drivers who fail to see a train, they prevent drivers from driving around lowered gates. They are standard rail crossing protection in many European countries but are not widely used in the United States."

The problem needs to be solved quickly before more injuries and death occur at these unsafe in crossings in Indiana.

Posted by Robert T. Dassow | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Accidents

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The Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of Stanley v. Walker on Tuesday, June 5, 2008. In this significant Indiana decision, the Court held that discounts on medical bills that were obtained because the plaintiff had procured his own health health insurance were not admissible under Indiana's Collateral Source Statute. This means that Plaintiffs can claim the full amount of their medical bills and are not punished for having the foresight to purchase their own health insurance. This is a major victory for Indiana citizens seeking to obtain fair compensation for their injuries in auto and truck accident cases as well as other actions such as medical malpractice cases.

The decision may be read by utilizing the following link:

http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/06030803cld.pdf

Posted by Nicholas C. Deets | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auto Accidents , Medical Malpractice , Truck Accidents

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