INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana jurisdiction applies to a malpractice suit that baseball’s Frontier League filed against the Becker Hoerner firm of Belleville, appellate judges ruled in July.
They found attorney Thomas Ysursa of Becker Hoerner “voluntarily inserted himself into legal proceedings being conducted in Indiana.”
They further found Indiana could have jurisdiction over an attorney who never traveled there if he purposefully availed himself of the privilege of conducting activities there that gave rise to the claim.
The Frontier League, independent of the big leagues, operates in Sauget.
It hired Ysursa as general counsel in 2009.
The league tried to expand to Kokomo, Indiana, but the attempt failed.
Shareholders filed a derivative suit over the failure at U.S. court in Southern Indiana in 2014, alleging civil conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty.
Ysursa informed Frontier’s executive committee that he couldn’t represent the league, as he was a potential witness.
He recommended attorney Kevin Murphy, and the league retained him.
Still, Ysursa continued working on the action, according to the Indiana appeals court decision.
He conferred with Murphy, exchanged email with plaintiff’s counsel, met with a litigation committee and prepared a report for it, and signed an affidavit in support of a summary judgment motion, the ruling states.
District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt denied summary judgment in 2018, finding the committee’s lack of independence undermined the integrity of their process.
Pratt expressed serious doubts that they conducted a thorough investigation.
She set a settlement conference, and an agreement resulted.
The league sued Becker Hoerner and Ysursa in 2019, in Marion superior court.
Frontier claimed Ysursa failed to investigate the value of the claims or insurance coverage for the claims.
It claimed he advised it to reject a settlement proposal without understanding the value of the claims.
It also claimed he improperly vetted Murphy, and it sued Murphy too.
Becker Hoerner moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, and commercial court Judge Heather Welch denied the motion last August.
Becker Hoerner moved to certify the order for appeal, and Welch granted it.
The Court of Appeals found Ysursa engaged in conduct directly related to the underlying suit in Indiana.
“It is not merely Ysursa’s relationship with Frontier that connects him to Indiana, but his active participation in an Indiana based lawsuit about a failed Indiana endeavor,” appellate Judge Paul Mathias wrote.
“Indiana certainly has an interest in adjudicating claims of malpractice that occurred during an Indiana based lawsuit.”
Judges Patricia Riley and Elizabeth Tavitas concurred.
Andrew McNeil, Philip Zimmerly, and Sarah Parks of Indianapolis represent the Frontier League.
Adam Sedia, Joseph Marconi, and Michael Sarafin of Crown Point, Indiana represent Becker Hoerner and Ysursa.