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Friday, June 23, 2006

Ind. Courts - Still more details on: Judge seals records in French Lick casino dispute without hearing

Lesley Stedman Weidenbener of the Louisville Courier Journal reports today:

INDIANAPOLIS -- A legal feud between the partners in the Orange County casino project apparently has expanded with the filing of a second suit.

A subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Lauth Property Group has filed a lawsuit against Bloomington businessman Bill Cook, its partner in the French Lick project. The filing comes after the casino subsidiary of Cook Group filed a suit against Lauth earlier this month.

Both companies have remained mum about their conflict, and Orange County Circuit Judge Larry Blanton has sealed the lawsuits, blocking their content from the public.

Blanton has scheduled a July 31 hearing to consider whether the suits should remain sealed.

The Courier-Journal plans to ask Blanton to make the documents public. The Times-Mail of Bedford and The Herald Times of Bloomington have reported they also plan to ask the judge to unseal the suits.

Re "Orange County Circuit Judge Larry Blanton has sealed the lawsuits, blocking their content from the public," it appears that the Orange County judge has not only has sealed the complaint and the injunction request, but also the court docket itself! This means that even the existence of the lawsuit would have remained secret except for the persistence of LCJ reporter Grace Schneider, resulting in the initial June 20th LCJ story.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 23, 2006 08:13 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions