Emergency Medicine is very hard work!

By: Jim Bleeke
BleekeDillonCrandall

Over the past few weeks, I have met with six different emergency room doctors to discuss wrongful death cases filed by their patients. Although we are defending these lawsuits, we certainly are very sympathetic to the emotional losses the families of these patients have experienced. The doctors who we represent are almost always very sad for everyone involved when one of their patients does not survive. I have been struck in my initial client meetings with these doctors at just how difficult the job of an emergency room physician truly is.

Patients come to emergency rooms with every potential medical problem that exists. Some are very serious. Many are not. The patients do not wear a sign on their chests or have a stamp on their foreheads pointing to which body system is actually causing their symptoms. For example, burning chest pain could be caused by indigestion or a heart attack; or breathing difficulty could result from a common cold or life-threatening pneumonia. Emergency room physicians get one chance to sort out the myriad health problems that could be the patient’s problem and help them with their acute problem or point them to the right consultant for further care.

When an emergency room patient dies, the physician who saw them very often second-guesses themselves and questions what else they could have done. I try to counsel my clients in this situation that nothing can bring the patient back or change the unfortunate outcome. All the doctor can do is learn from the experience, even if their actions were entirely reasonable, and hope that some future patients (and other doctors and nurses) will benefit from the negative experience of that patient and the doctor who treated him or her. As Joyce Meyer says, “Your mess is your message.” Maybe someone else will benefit from the difficult experience of those doctors not being able to save that patient.

Meet Richard

By: J. Richard Moore
BleekeDillonCrandall

This is my first blog entry for BleekeDillonCrandall, and I will use the opportunity to briefly introduce myself. I was born to schoolteacher parents in Ruston, Louisiana, home of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, which produced Terry Bradshaw on the gridiron and Karl Malone on the basketball court. I graduated in 1993 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which produced, among other giants, Shaquille O'Neal, who was a freshman the same year I was. In 1996, I graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Law, which has produced a number of intelligent and/or indebted bachelors, doctors and lawyers. Obviously, given this background, I am an LSU Tiger fan (as is my wife, who grew up in Baton Rouge. Guess which one of us is most unreasonably enthusiastic as a Tiger fan).

After passing the bar, I worked for a number of years as an attorney here in Indianapolis. In 2003 I had an opportunity to join a law firm down in Mobile, Alabama, where I represented a number of medical and nursing home providers, architects and engineers, and other professionals in professional liability claims in lawsuits. I also assisted property and casualty insurers in analyzing insurance coverage questions and defending against claims brought by policyholders, including claims stemming from residential, commercial and condominium property damage during the active hurricane seasons in 2004, 2005 and 2006. During my years in Mobile I had the opportunity to serve clients in a number of jurisdictions, particularly in Alabama, Tennessee and Indiana, where I am licensed to practice law.

In 2007, in the course of my efforts towards professional development in representing professional liability carriers, I met and got to know Jim Bleeke and Jeb Crandall. Eventually I also met their partner Carol Dillon. Within a rather short time, we found that we shared a philosophy of client service and business development. Not insignificantly, we also shared a sense of humor and the idea that within the parameters of zealous advocacy on behalf of our clients, the practice of law can and should be enjoyable and rewarding.

Eventually our mutual admiration evolved into serious discussions about my joining Jim, Jeb and Carol's thriving legal practice. As this post demonstrates, those discussions led to an agreement, and effective March 1, 2011, I became a BleekeDillonCrandall attorney. I will continue to handle matters on behalf of clients in Alabama and Tennessee, and will also be helping the firm expand its existing business and develop additional opportunities here in Indiana.

When my family and I moved to south Alabama in 2003, we left behind a number of good friends and great memories. Fortunately most of the friends are still here, and with BleekeDillonCrandall, I am looking forward to making new friends and more memories. Getting back to Indianapolis has been like coming home.

How Much Protection From Liability Do LLCs Provide?

By: Milt Thompson
BleekeDillonCrandall

One of the key enticements of forming an LLC is the limited personal liability of the members. A member, manager, agent, or employee of a limited liability company is not personally liable for the debts, obligations, or liabilities of the limited liability company, whether arising in contract, tort, or otherwise, or for the acts or omissions of any other member, manager, agent, or employee of the limited liability company. Furthermore, unless otherwise provided in a written operating agreement, a member or manager is not liable for damages to the limited liability company or to the members of the limited liability company for any action taken or failure to act on behalf of the limited liability company, unless the act or omission constitutes willful misconduct or recklessness.

An LLC does not release from liability any member, manager, agent, or employee of a limited liability company from the person's own negligent acts or omissions (as detailed infra under Section IX -Exceptions to Limited Liability). Furthermore, the liability protection afforded by an LLC does not extend to professionals practicing their profession, such as attorneys and physicians. The law regarding the relationship between a person rendering professional services and a person receiving professional services, including liability arising out of the professional services, is not affected by the formation of an LLC.

If an LLC is formed in Indiana, Indiana law will exclusively govern any conflict between Indiana law and the laws of other jurisdictions in regard to the liability of a member, manager, agent, or employee of an LLC. Furthermore, a member of an LLC may not be made a party to a proceeding by or against a limited liability company solely by reason of being a member of the limited liability company, except:

• when the object of the proceeding is to enforce a member's right against or liability to the limited liability company; or
• in an action brought under I.C. 23-18-8-1.