Tried. And True.

Charles S. Smith

Associate

Practice Areas

• Personal Injury Defense
• Medical Malpractice Defense
• Governmental Liability
• Products Liability
• Construction Litigation

Education

• University of Georgia School of Law (J.D., cum laude, Sr. Articles Editor for the Journal of Intellectual Property, 2001)
• Ball State University (B.S. Philosophy, magna cum laude, 1994)

Mr. Smith has represented numerous individuals and entities, including physicians, governmental entities and corporations, in state and federal court. He practices in the areas of professional liability defense, including medical malpractice, real estate and construction, trucking liability and personal injury, including catastrophic injury and wrongful death. Mr. Smith has a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Georgia and worked for several years in local government as an analyst and administrator. He is a member of the Indiana State and Indianapolis Bar Associations, as well as Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana, and has lectured on premises liability and third-party liability. Mr. Smith is also an active member of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, and serves on the Board of Redeemer Hospitality Mission, a church affiliated not-for-profit that provides after-school and summer vacation programming for children in inner-city Indianapolis. Mr. Smith volunteers with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Indiana and Second Helpings, a food rescue and distribution not-for-profit located in Indianapolis. Mr. Smith is a member of the Lacy Leadership Association, participating in the 2009 class of Opportunity Indianapolis. Mr. Smith is an avid reader, gardener and bicyclist in his free time.

Mr. Smith has obtained a number of favorable results both in court and out-of-court on behalf of his clients, including:

• Summary judgment on a claim by a plaintiff for false arrest in federal court, establishing probable cause as a matter of law;
• Summary judgment for a life insurance company on a complex claim under a life insurance policy in which an independent agent allegedly failed to disclose increases in premiums to the claimant, who claimed fraud on the part of both the agent and the insurer;
• Summary judgment for a landlord when his tenant’s dog attacked a neighbor;
• Summary judgment for a contractor on a breach of contract action, limiting the damages the plaintiff could seek under the contract to no more than the amounts paid under the contract; and
• Summary judgment on behalf of a security company on a claim by an apartment complex resident for damages resulting from an attack in the hallway of her apartment building.

Mr. Smith also recently obtained a jury verdict in favor of a parent sued for negligent supervision of her son when the son pushed a man over at a Halloween party, resulting in a broken wrist for the plaintiff.

While Mr. Smith has a reputation for fairness and collegiality in the Indianapolis legal community, he is an aggressive litigator who has sought and obtained more than his fair share of dismissals and other sanctions against his opponents.