Joseph N. Williams is a trial lawyer who has over the years recovered in excess of $20 million dollars for victims of corporate misconduct and negligence. With the help of his two firm partners, William and James, Joe was able to battle State Farm in a six-week jury trial in which State Farm accused his client of widespread insurance fraud. Joe’s client was going to be charged with fourteen felony counts if convicted, but Joe along with the rest of Riley Williams & Piatt, was able to demonstrate that State Farm withheld and altered evidence that demonstrated his client’s innocence. Because of this and Joe’s strong closing argument, the jury found his client not guilty and his client recovered a $14.5 million dollar defamation verdict: the largest defamation verdict in Indiana history.

Although Joseph N. Williams mainly focuses on negligence and corporate misconduct, he also handles various other types of trial work, which ranges from personal injury to complex business disputes. As well, Joe dedicates a portion of his practice to protecting consumers through statewide and nationwide class action and mass tort litigations. From this, he has successfully protected class certification decisions in the Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court. Joe can handle all aspects of class certification, which includes but not limited to briefing, arguing, and obtaining of class certification.

Within Indianapolis, thousands of people live with medical devices implanted inside their bodies. From heart defibrillators to surgical mesh, these medical devices are inserted to help the individual gain a better form of living. However, oftentimes, a medical device is not properly tested for safety and causes bodily harm to an individual. If this has happened to you, you need to call Riley William & Piatt to fight for your rights and get the recovery you deserve. Our firm specialized in product liability cases and will fight tooth-and-nail for you. We make sure all of your medical expenses and mental trauma is paid for, and most importantly, the irresponsible manufacturers will either have to change their ways or they will be put out of business. You will not only save yourself from future harm, but you will also be saving the lives of hundreds of other patients as well.

If you or a loved one is the victim of a faulty medical device, you are not alone. There are usually dozens of other victims within the Indianapolis area that have been harmed by the same device as you. Alone, a single plaintiff product liability case might not hold up in court because manufacturers have an army of defense lawyers and will try to delay the recovery process as much as possible. But together, we can build a strong product liability case and bring crooked OEMs and the Food and Drug Administration to court in a class action lawsuit to prevent terrible events like this from happening again. From fraudulent paperwork to paying off the Food and Drug Administration to move forward a product faster, manufacturers need to be accountable for their actions and not be swayed by greed.

In order for defamation to occur, false statements need to be made towards another person that causes emotional distress or financial harm to the individual mentioned. Defamation can come in all forms of media ranging from oral statements to statements published online. One type of defamation that is very common within the U.S. is when statements are made accusing or questioning the professional status of an individual. This type of defamation is highly damaging to a professional’s business, and the harmed individual can easily recover damages without specific proof of damage to their business due to Indiana’s laws of defamation per se.

However, there are other situations were suing for defamation isn’t quite as easy as the scenario listed above. In other cases, suing for defamation can be exceptionally difficult to win because not all negative statements are defined as defamatory. Statements made in the perspective of an individuals opinion does not qualify as defamatory because it is stated as the individuals entitled opinion of your business. Having phrases like “I think” or “I believe” before a negative statement usually does not warrant the term defamation and will require proof of material harm in order to get recovery for the statements made. This scenario of possible defamation falls under defamation per quod and it is very hard to receive damages for these types of statements.

Defamation occurs through statements made either orally or in print in a newspaper, magazine, online, or other printed sources. By legal definition, defamation is false statements or communications concerning another person that causes emotional or financial harm to the individual discussed. A common type of defamation our law firm encounters often are statements made accusing or questioning the professional status of an individual. This type of defamation is considered highly damaging and is recoverable without proof of damages due to Indiana’s laws concerning defamation per se. However in other situations, suing for defamation can be extremely hard because not all statements that are negative are considered defamatory. For example, when someone says, “I think” before a negative statement, it usually is his or her opinion and does not qualify as defamatory. In these situations, defamation per quod comes into play and requires proof of material harm in order to get recovery for the defamatory statements made.

If you believe your situation is not the latter type of opinion based statements and you want to protect your reputation from harm, it is highly suggested to contact a law firm to help fight these statements and get recovery for them. At Riley Williams & Piatt, we are experts in defamation lawsuits and can help you fight in court to fix your harmed reputation. Our law firm has an impressive record of success in cases involving injury to one’s reputation and our firm has accumulated more than $15 million for clients in these types of cases. We even have had one of the largest defamation verdicts in Indiana history.

Have you or a loved one been involved in an accident that has negatively impacted your life and current quality of living? Was the occurring accident caused by someone else’s negligence?

At Riley Williams & Piatt, our firm is dedicated to fighting for the injured to protect their rights and get the compensation they deserve to help them return to the standard of living they are accustomed to. We represent people who have been injured or who have a loved one who has died due to the wrongdoing or fault of another person or a company. Some personal injury matters we handle include:

Joseph N. Williams is a trial lawyer at Indianapolis-based law firm, Riley Williams & Piatt, LLC. He has recovered more than $20 million for victims of negligence and corporate misconduct, and is deeply passionate about holding corporate America responsible for its behavior. Furthermore, he has devoted a large portion of his practice to protecting consumers through statewide and nationwide class action and mass tort litigation.

Joseph attended Vanderbilt University Law School for his J.D. and was awarded at his school the Tennessee Bar Association’s Access to Justice Law Student of the Year in 2004 for his commitment to the legal issues confronted by those in need. Joseph was awarded the Indiana Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014, a media outlet that recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in the state. As well, in 2013, he was awarded the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association’s Max Goodwin Young Lawyer Award.

If you are dealing with a personal injury in Indiana, you might feel completely lost and anxious about how to begin going forward again. Personal injury cases are extremely time dependent and the outcomes are decided by how fast you act. You will need to make decisions quickly to get the compensation you deserve from your personal injury case. If you are unsure about making decisions quickly, you are not alone. Many clients come to Riley Williams & Piatt, so they can take a breath of relief and have the aggressive attorneys at Riley Williams & Piatt help make the best legal decisions.

At Riley Williams & Piatt, LLC, our attorneys have achieved a number of successful results in cases involving mistakes made by doctors, nurses, or hospital personnel. These cases are often referred to as medical malpractice cases.

Medical Malpractice claims are complicated and proof of wrongdoing is complex and difficult. In Indiana, there are numerous procedures and statute of limitations that need to be followed. Litigation of these claims requires a knowledgeable and experienced medical malpractice attorney. Riley Williams & Piatt has the extensive experience in medical malpractice cases that you need to bring you positive outcomes. Our Indianapolis firm's successes in medical malpractice cases include settlements in cases in ophthalmology, osteopathy, cardiology, family practice, neurosurgery and hospital care. Currently, we are handling major medical malpractice cases involving the following:

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional falls below the standard of care in treating a person.

To have a strong medical malpractice claim, one must have the following:

• a significant injury occurred to the patient
• the doctor or hospital staff’s performance did not meet the standard of care that is required of medical practitioners
• the lack of care or medical mistake directly caused the injury suffered by the patient.

This can occur in a variety of ways. Our aggressive attorneys, Joseph Williams and James Piatt, have years of experience in fighting for patients or patient’s family members to get the compensation and recovery they deserve. Whether the medical malpractice caused you to lose a loved one or caused them to become sicker, it is important to get advice from one of our attorneys to see how you can build up a claim to get some compensation for what has occurred.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “An estimated 1.7 million people sustain a TBI annually and 52,000 people die from TBIs.”

Just like brain injuries themselves, the legal procedures for brain injuries are extremely complicated. There is a wide range of TBIs varying from mild injuries to serious ones. Here is a list of facts and myths to help you get a better understanding about brain injuries.

Fact 1: Here’s a list of common accidents that result in a TBI:

• Hit by an object
• Physical contact with another player
• Hitting your head on the ground, pole or any other object
• Getting jolted so your brain shakes inside your skull
• Motor vehicle accidents
• Falling from three or more feet off the ground
• Falling down five or more stairs
• Falling off a bicycle without a helmet

First thing you want to do when you decide to file a product liability claim is to identify and create a list of names and businesses who are the defendants in your claim. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, include as many defendants as you can and list everyone who was involved in the chain of bringing you the product.

This will be extremely difficult and time consuming and that’s why Riley Williams & Piatt offers our clients our commitment and hard work to save them time, energy, and stress. There are many people involved in getting the defective product to your door. You want to dig up every bit of information about any individuals and companies who could be held responsible for the harm that the product has brought.

Go through every individual and business that took part in chain of distribution. You would rather have individuals and businesses that get crossed out during the claim than leave out those who are responsible for the injury.

Try to research the people involved from the conception of the product to the delivery of it.

There are no federal laws that protect you when a defective product led you to become injured. However, each state has various product liability laws at play. In Indianapolis, there is something called “the act” in play titled appropriately, “Indiana Product Liability Act”. This act is in place to prevent negligence and protect users from negligent manufacturers.

There are three types of defects that could fall under this act: design defect, manufacturing defect, or defects in marketing.

1. Design defects covers products that are unreasonably dangerous and could have been designed in a safer way. There must be a safer alternative design that can be given as proof of the defected by design product. When safe protocol is taken during the design, the product can still become defective during manufacturing process.
2. Manufacturing defects are mostly unintended while design defects can be seen as intended.
3. Defects in marketing is when the manufacturer leaves out proper instructions or warnings regarding the product they have manufactured leaving consumers vulnerable to be a victim of injuries and negligence.

However, if a consumer has modified or altered the product before the product caused any injuries, they will not have a case.

If you’ve been injured because of someone else’s negligence or have lost someone as a result of negligence, why experience more losses than what you’ve had to experience? No matter how minor an injury may seem Riley Williams & Piatt are here to help you. If it’s too minor that you won’t need our help, we’ll simply assure you that you won’t be swooned into hiring us when you don’t need any representation. But we will fight vigorously in any way to get you the compensation that you deserve. If you’ve injured yourself in Indiana, why not get the best representation that you can get? At Riley Williams & Piatt, personal injury attorneys are not only reliable, they are also committed and experienced personal injury cases in Indiana. They know where to look to strengthen your case.

There are many reasons why one should seek a personal injury attorney. We've compiled a list of 9.

No matter how small or how big a brain injury is, it is undoubtedly going to have a lasting effect on one’s life and those who are around them. You may be one of the 1.7 million people in the United States who have suffered a brain injury of some degree. It is easy to dismiss what seems to be a minor brain injury. However, what you thought was a minor injury could really come back and haunt you later. Many times it is hard to diagnose our brain injury without the help of a professional who specializes in brain injuries. Just as brain injuries can be crazy complicated, so can brain injury cases. The attorneys at Riley, Williams & Piatt can help make sure those who suffer from brain injuries through no fault of their own receive the justice and compensation they deserve.

Our attorneys make sure to read up on the latest medical breakthroughs and medical regulations to stay updated so that our attorneys can fight the best battle for you. It has to be very difficult going through this rough period of time. You should not have to feel stress about anything else, but becoming your old self again. Let us help you figure out the details and complications of your case, so you can focus on recovering from your injury.

Not only will our attorneys become detectives to search through every loophole that will make your case more favorable, we will make sure that all the subtleties are not overlooked. Our attorneys know that details and subtleties can maximize compensation for your suffering. If your pain or your loved one’s pain is gradually increasingly, then don’t wait. It is likely that it will get worse, and it’s best to have your medical state documented starting sooner than later.

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Unfortunately accidents happen, and motorcycles aren’t the safest way of transportation when it comes to safety. Motorcycles have 35 times greater chance of a fatal crash than cars. Almost every year, the fatality rate since 1995 has climbed and increased to high numbers. But the renowned law firm who’s favorited in the Mid-West, Riley Williams & Piatt, LLC, can help you when the odds are against you. Riley, Williams & Piatt will not only help guide you through your desperate time in need, but also deal with all the other stresses that you shouldn’t have to deal with alone.

If you have been in an accident, you already have your mind full of worries, pain, and anguish. The toughest situations call for the toughest motorcycle accident lawyers in Indianapolis. Don’t wait to dial because the longer you wait, the less of a case you may have. But Riley, Williams & Piatt not only do everything to make you win, but also recover the personal injury claim that you deserve.

Have you been involved in an accident that has changed your life and your current quality of life? And the worst part, was it the cause of someone else’s negligence? Then why take the blame?

If you have become a victim in an accident, we stress that you seek medical and legal help right away. Sometimes an accident is just an accident, other times it is life-threatening and completely devastating in every aspect. Injuries bring not only physical complications, but also financial complications as well. That’s why Riley, Williams & Piatt want to stand up for your rights so you can get the compensation that you deserve. Our Indianapolis personal injury attorneys know how stressful time can be during the accident and following it. So, we want to make it less stressful by taking care of the turmoil ahead of you.

Are you here because a medical mistake or surgical error led to injury? Your next few steps are important, and without strong legal aide, your chances of recovering damages for medical negligence will be almost impossible. That's why thousands of folks in Indianapolis turn to Riley Williams & Piatt, LLC as their medical malpractice lawyer.

Anyone can make a mistake - that's why pencils have erasers, right? That is, unless you're one of Indiana's dentists, nurses, therapists, doctors or surgeons. In that case, a mistake can be life-changing or fatal. Riley Williams & Piatt LLC has represented Indianapolis clients in some of the state's biggest medical malpractice cases. No matter the details of your claim, our goal for every medical negligence claim that hits our inbox is to: