Catherine Breitweiser-Hurst

Catherine Breitweiser-Hurst focuses her practice on product liability, transportation law, and general negligence. Ms. Hurst routinely defends national retailers and hospitality companies in premises liability disputes. Some of her recent litigation experience includes:

• Concluding a bench trial for a hospitality client where Ms. Hurst obtained a verdict in favor by establishing that the plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence to meet the burden of proof
• Obtaining summary judgment in favor of her clients in a municipal liability dispute involving three police officers, their department, and municipality
• Securing a favorable outcome in a jury trial in a premises liability case involving a casino client in Lake County, Indiana
• Representing insurance companies and insured parties in disputes involving serious personal injury

Prior to joining Johnson & Bell she was a prosecuting attorney in Indiana for more than 10 years, taking dozens of cases to trial and obtaining successful verdicts in nearly every one. She worked with both state and national authorities to investigate a range of crimes. Some of her related experience includes:

• Working with local state and federal law enforcement to investigate special victim crimes from date of incident reporting through case resolution
• Working with federal agencies to investigate digital crimes
• Training with federal and state agencies and multi-national agencies on  investigating digital crimes
• Participating in and leading suspect and victim interviews involving sexual harassment and other crimes

Ms. Hurst is a U.S. Navy veteran, who pursued her education following her enlistment. She earned a J.D. from Valparaiso University and a bachelor's degree from Calumet College of St. Joseph. She is a member of the Lake County Indiana Bar Association, is active with the Transportation section of ALFA International, and is a member of the Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana.