Want to Start A Business in Indiana

Then stop and take a look the Indiana Government site - Access Indiana. One page exists as pretty much a portal for businesses wanting to start up here or relocate here. Just follow this link.

I use pretty much as I do not find easily a link to the Indiana Secretary of State's Business Services Division page. A rather important page as it with the Secretary of State that registers corporations, and limited liability companies.

Non-Competition - Policy Ideas

I have written before about Massachusetts liberality towards non-compete agreements here and here. NECN reported a potential change its Mass. non-compete culture to change?

Warner said he believes limiting or banning non-competes would lead to more companies like Google, Cisco Systems, and Avid getting launched in this area instead of Silicon Valley or other parts of the country.

"Here's what happens with non-competes: People think about starting a new company, but they can't leave their current company and go to a competing company,'' Warner said in an interview at a Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council conference this week. "The non-compete issue is hurting us more than you might ever know.''

It's unclear if this bill moves this year. The state's biggest business lobby, Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which represents over 7,000 employers, isn't opposing or backing the bill, saying it sees deep division on the issue. AIM said it thinks fixing other issues -- like taxes, unemployment insurance and electricity costs -- would do far more to improve the Bay State business climate than would the change in non-competes.

***

Beck said he agrees some more could be done to unlock the flow of tech talent in Massachusetts, short of a total Silicon-Valley-style ban on non-competes. He's working pro bono with Brownsberger and Ehrlich and advocates on various sides of the issue to find middle ground and get legislation enacted -- building on the two legislators' own agreement to mesh their previously separate non-compete reform bills. "We're trying to find a compromise between the legitimate business interests of the employer and the right of the employee to continue to work" in their field after leaving an employer, Beck said.

I remain unconvinced that Indiana's conservative approach to non-competition agreements makes Indiana any more attractive to businesses than other states. I think Massachusetts has not been able to translate its academic talents for technology (remember that MIT stands for Massachusetts Institute of Technology) as California has because of its non-compete policy.

Indiana Businesses and Property Tax Appeals

The Indianapolis Business Journal's Appeals pay off for biz owners Over 1 in 4 assessments challenged needs read not only for businesses in Marion County but throughout Indiana.

More than one in four Marion County commercial and industrial property owners has appealed its property tax assessments this year, and the challenges often are paying off in a big way.

With only 11 percent of the 6,503 appeals complete, local officials already have agreed to more than $567 million in reductions. That represents a 43-percent drop from the amounts they were challenging.

An IBJ analysis of the 708 business appeals that have been settled found 123 cases where appeals resulted in decreases of $1 million or more. A handful produced assessment cuts in the tens of millions.

Indiana law Blogs

I ran across a few new - to me - Indiana law blogs that might be of interest here.

First, Harrison & Moberly publishes a blog here. Not a very extensive list of archives, no RSS feed, and it does seem mostly to be a repository of the firm's employment law newsletters.

Second, the Judicial Technology & Automation Committee of the Indiana Supreme Court began publishing the Bits & Bytes Blog. No RSS feed either - which is a bit weird considering who is publishing the blog. Mostly news about e-ticket, the Odyssey case management program and the like.

I found a blog at Bose, McKinney & Evans. No name to it , but it does have an RSS feed and a topical archive. What I found was brief analysis of Indiana appellate court opinions - mostly a quote of the facts and a quote of the key reasoning. Which seems both a bit barren and a good idea at the same time.

Indiana University's Law Journal has a blog, The Indiana Law Journal Supplement, as an adjunct to its regular law review publications. I thought this might be a first until I did a quick Google search and found The MTTLR Blog which has a sidebar of similar blogs. (I am spending very little time nowadays reading law reviews online or visiting their websites). Pretty cool but can anyone explain to me why no RSS feed?

Last of the new ones, although not as new as the preceding ones. I thought I had previously mentioned The Indiana Lawyer's First Impression Blog. I cannot find the post and so I am thinking it must be a figment of my memory. News with archives, comments, and RSS feed makes this more like the common variety of blogs.

Finally, I would like to mention that Kemplaw is publishing again.

Court amends public accessibility, other rules

The Indiana Supreme Court has revised its administrative and appellate rules governing how trial courts make records publicly accessible and how appeals are handled in certain cases requiring confidentiality.

An order dated Oct. 6 dictates access to court records and says trial courts may manage access to audio and video recordings of its proceedings to the extent that may be deemed appropriate and not interfering with court operations. Justices reached a decision on the issue late last week during a weekly conference.

***

"This doesn't
attempt to create a formula," Justice Dickson said. "It's basically an
operational call by the clerk, and the clerk is to come up with what
they find appropriate for designations to meet the rule and comply with
statutory obligations."

In the order, the court also amended its
rule regarding court record security and added commentary that includes
examples of what judges can do to ensure recordings aren't altered.

"The
court is required to preserve the integrity of audio and video
recordings of court proceedings," the rule states, adding that options
include supervised playback for listening or copying, creating a copy
of the record for use during playback, and notifying the involved
parties about the accessed record.

Rule revisions take effect Jan. 1, 2009.

The new rules are here (in PDF format).

Follow up on Larry Bird Suit

I wrote about this lawsuit here and it is settled:

Bird settles French Lick lawsuit

Larry Bird has settled a lawsuit against a bed-and-breakfast that operates from his boyhood home in the southern Indiana town of French Lick.

Attorneys for the basketball icon and Legend of French Lick LLC would not discuss the settlement, saying the parties had signed a confidentiality agreement.

The Web site of Legend of French Lick Resort carries a disclaimer saying the resort is "not affiliated with, or endorsed or sponsored by Larry Bird or the Larry Joe Bird Revocable Living Trust." It was not immediately clear whether the disclaimer was used prior to the settlement, which was closed yesterday.

Trade Secrets FAQ from Nolo Press

Nolo Press publishes Trade Secret Basics FAQ.

For more Indiana information, see my Protecting trade secrets in Indiana.

Trademarks and Larry Bird

News from The Indiana Daily Lawyer about a new trademark case out of Indiana. Larry Bird sues over use of name and I am hard put to think of another name in this state and especially in French Lick which lead to this kind of lawsuit.

"Bird filed the suit, Larry Bird v. Legend of French Lick LLC, No. 4:08-CV-0070-DFH-WGH, in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, New Albany Division Monday against Georgianna Lincoln and Christopher Cooke, who purchased Bird's childhood home in French Lick from the Larry Joe Bird Revocable Living Trust.

The two marketed the property as a bed and breakfast, promoting the house as, 'Legend of French Lick, the Former Home of Larry Bird Resort.' The two also attempted to purchase memorabilia from Bird and wanted to use his name to identify the house; those requests were denied.

The lawsuit seeks to stop Lincoln and Cooke's unauthorized use of Bird's name in violation of federal trademark laws and state publicity laws. Bird has registered his name as a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to the suit. The suit also seeks damages for the improper use of his name and for the impoundment and turnover of certain properties the defendants used improperly."

I wish I had a bit more time to dig into this one. I am a bit surprised that the seller did not impose some limitations on the buyers that might have prevented this suit. Does it seem like such a stretch of the imagination to think the buyer of Larry Bird's childhood home would not try to use the home to make money based on that association? Or that the seller would react in this way? I think not.

10/19/2008: Update - the lawsuit settled.

Indiana Civil Forms

I notice from the traffic to this blog, that many are looking for forms. Sorry, I do not provide many here. As I explained to an attorney from Michigan several years back, Indiana does not have any official forms. Nowadays, the Indiana Judicial Center does have some forms online here.

From my viewpoint, they are extremely limited. Actually, I say they are peculiarly limited to the point that they are pretty much useless to most people (including lawyers). Oh, they are still not official forms as described on the page:

The following forms are available in Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, and Adobe PDF formats. These are sample forms maintained by the Division of State Court Administration.

Somewhat related, the Indiana appellate courts have sample appellate forms online here.

Online resources - Indiana courts

I am not sure how many lawyers are aware that information on Indiana's trial courts is available at this link. So I decided to trumpet its existence. The information varies from county but all have contact information for the county clerk and the courts in that particular county. Local rules and web pages are also available for those counties with local rules and web pages.