Norris Choplin & Schroeder, llp

Pete Schroeder

Professional Experience

Pete is a partner of the firm. He was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. He is a Registered Civil Mediator. He clerked for Judge Eugene N. Chipman of the Indiana Court of Appeals in 1980 and 1981 before he joined the firm.

Pete has had the honor and privilege of practicing with only one law firm his entire career. He began practicing with Norris Choplin and Johnson in 1981 and has been with the firm ever since.

Pete concentrates his practice in large loss subrogation, personal injury, mediation, appraisal/umpire and arbitration. He represents plaintiffs and defendants in fire and gas explosions, structural collapses, personal injury and wrongful death, products liability and professional malpractice. He has significant trial experience in all of these areas.

Since 1992 he has been a registered civil mediator conducting a very active mediation practice with over 2,700 mediations conducted.

Representative Experience

• Litigated cases in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio.
• Personal injury and products liability experience involving automobiles, ATVs, trampolines, tractors, cranes, front-end loaders, construction, flooding, welding and structural collapses.
• Significant trial experience in federal and state court.

ADR Experience

• Pete has been actively mediating for over 20 years. In 1991 Indiana adopted its own ADR Rules. Prior to that year, the Marion County Courts conducted Settlement Week where local attorneys were invited to several all day Saturday mediation training seminars for several years. The trained mediators were then utilized for several years to mediate a significant backlog of old cases in Marion County, Indianapolis, in the courts' chambers. When the ADR Rules were adopted by Indiana in 1991, those who had already had a number of days of mediation training received significant grandfather credit toward the 40 hour training required to become a certified mediator. As a result of this early certification, Pete and Rick Norris were able to begin mediating almost immediately after the rules were adopted. That ability to quickly become a Certified Mediator, which has now changed to Registered Mediator, allowed Rick and Pete to gain a strong foothold in Indiana mediation from the very beginnings of mediation in 1991. Since becoming certified, Pete has participated in at least two other multiple day mediation interactive training sessions and attended numerous other mediation continuing education seminars.
• Over the years, Pete has mediated in excess of 2,700 cases. Those mediations have included complex wrongful death claims, quadriplegia and paraplegia claims, large property loss claims, medical and legal malpractice claims, products liability claims, claims involving numerous parties and claims involving significant insurance coverage and insurance priority disputes.
• Mediation makes up approximately 40% of Pete's practice.
• Pete believes continued active litigation practice keeps him current on the law applicable to mediation issues and up to date on the changes associated with an active litigation docket and the courtroom environment.

Honors

• Named Super Lawyer® by Law & Politics magazine for years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 for work in Large Loss Subrogation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Civil Litigation.

Civic Activities

• Active in local community serving on various school boards and church commissions.
• Officiated college and high school wrestling for over 25 years.
• Junior high wrestling coach.

Professional Associations

• Indianapolis Bar Association (Alternative Dispute Resolution, Litigation Sections)
• Indiana State Bar Association (Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Appellate Practice Sections)
• Indianapolis Law Club
• American Association for Justice
• Indiana Trial Lawyers Association