Johnson & Bell's Indiana office scored a big win recently as Susan Swing and Kyle Farris prevailed in a premises liability case representing an area hospital in Lake County Superior Court. This was the retrial of a case Susan and Kyle handled in February 2023. During the first trial, the defense team was prevented from introducing evidence that an allegedly negligent worker was not a hospital employee but an outside contractor. As a result, the 2023 jury awarded the plaintiff $50K in damages for leg injuries sustained in a fall. The client agreed to appeal, and Michael Sarafin crafted strong arguments that the Indiana Court of Appeals agreed with, ordering a new trial, which has happened only 10 times in the past 10 years.
The new trial focused on the issue of liability, and what followed was truly an all-hands effort. Edward Hearn helped with strategy. Kyle delivered the opening statement (his first), and Susan delivered a masterful cross exam of the plaintiff. Jacob Kokoris helped with drafting briefs, and Karisa Candreva wrote the client reports. Following a great closing argument from Susan, the jury ruled for J&B's client after 42 minutes of deliberation.
In announcing the win to the firm, Kyle wrote, “Over the past three years, every single person in the Indiana office touched this file in some meaningful way. This law firm is a trial machine.”
