Opinion
Supreme Court Case No. 20S-CQ-515
09-08-2020
David BRANSCOMB, et al., Plaintiffs, v. WAL-MART STORES, EAST, LP, et al., Defendants.
Order
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana has certified a question of Indiana state law for this Court's consideration, pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 64. The question arises in Branscomb v. Wal-Mart Stores East, LLP, Case No. 1:20-CV-213-HAB, 2020 WL 4501768. The question as framed by the District Court is as follows:
May a plaintiff bring a claim in negligence against a store manager, not directly involved in the plaintiff's accident, based on a delegation of the premises owner's duties toward invitees, Indiana agency law, or any other legal principle? If so, what is the scope of that duty?
The certified question is hereby ACCEPTED. The Court further directs as follows:
a) There shall be simultaneous briefing of this matter. The briefs shall, to the extent reasonably practicable, conform to the provisions of Appellate Rules 43, 44, and 46, except they may not exceed the greater of twenty (20) pages or 9,000 words , and any brief exceeding twenty (20) pages shall conform to the word count and certification requirements found in Appellate Rule 44.
1. Each side's principal brief, and any appendix (see below), must be filed by October 9, 2020 .
2. Each side may file a single brief in response to the other side's principal brief and any amici curiae brief by October 27, 2020 . Any response brief shall not exceed the greater of ten (10) pages or 4,200 words , and any brief exceeding ten (10) pages shall conform to the word count and certification requirements found in Appellate Rule 44.
b) If the parties believe there are documents from the District Court case necessary or helpful for deciding the certified question, then the parties shall confer and agree on the materials to be included and file a joint appendix containing copies of those documents and also, if applicable, the items listed in Appellate Rule 50. The parties should avoid unnecessary inclusion in the appendix of memorandums of law or briefs filed in the District Court, since all necessary legal arguments should be presented to this Court in the briefs described in the preceding paragraph.
c) The parties shall file and serve all documents electronically pursuant to Appellate Rules 24 and 68.
d) A party who has not yet filed an appearance form shall do so contemporaneously with the first document filed by the party, as required by Appellate Rule 16(C). The appearance form shall include an electronic mail address for each attorney appearing in the case. This e-mail address shall be used for transmission of all orders, opinions, and notices
from the Clerk of this Court. See Ind. Appellate Rule 26.
e) Extensions of time will be granted only in truly extraordinary circumstances and only for a very short period. Any motion seeking an extension of time must be made jointly by the parties.
f) The Court will conduct oral argument in this matter on Thursday, November 19, 2020 . The Plaintiff shall argue first. A detailed order scheduling oral argument will issue contemporaneously with this order.
g) No later than two (2) weeks after the conclusion of this matter before this Court, the parties shall supply file-stamped copies of all documents filed in this case, including the orders and opinions issued by this Court, in PDF format to the Clerk of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
h) The Court further invites participation of amici curiae, believing the question certified may be of wider interest. Pursuant to Appellate Rule 41(B), an entity wishing to file a brief of amicus curiae must file a motion for leave to appear as amicus and tender a proposed brief on or before October 9, 2019 . The court encourages the submission of joint briefs. Any amicus brief will be limited in size to no greater than ten (10) pages or 4,200 words , and any brief exceeding ten (10) pages shall conform to the word count and certification requirements found in Appellate Rule 44.