Indiana fault law finds pedestrian has no case against railroad

Federal Courts

By Jay S. Judge

Jay S. Judge, a name partner of Judge, James, Hoban & Fisher LLC in Park Ridge, is a defense attorney who specializes in trials, appeals and insurance coverage. Judge graduated with honors from The John Marshall Law School and served as editor-in-chief of the school’s law review.

Posted April 1, 2019 3:15 PM

Today’s case began when a pedestrian ran in front of a train, and it presents a unique situation where the U.S. District Court for Northern District of Indiana ruled as a matter of law that the pedestrian’s contributory negligence was greater than 50 percent under Indiana’s Comparative Fault Act, thus barring any recovery.Generally, the percentage of contributory negligence is a fact question for the jury.In Williams v. Norfolk Southern Corp., 2019 WL 1246830 (7th Cir. 2019), plaintiff Ja’Lin …

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