Experienced. Reliable. Results.

Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler announces new shareholders

On Behalf of | Apr 24, 2023 | the indiana lawyer

Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler and Mark Ladendorf, the senior shareholder, are proud to announce that Dustin Fregiato and Matthew Bigler are now shareholders of the firm. Both Dustin and Matthew have been with the firm for many years and have been blessed with the opportunity to represent hundreds of injury victims.

Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler was first started by Mark Ladendorf over 25 years ago. Mark Ladendorf has devoted his entire career and legal practice exclusively to representing injury victims for over 43 years. Since formation, Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler has handled thousands of complex injury cases and has obtained millions of dollars in compensation for Hoosiers.

“I have tremendous faith in Dustin and Matt to continue the traditions of Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler throughout the future,” says Mark. “They are dedicated attorneys who put the needs of our clients first and have years of experience in personal injury, wrongful death and medical malpractice cases. They are diligent in answering the questions that arise daily for our clients; clients whose lives have been torn apart due to someone else’s negligence. Together, as a team, Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler will continue to serve the clients of our great state and battle the insurance industry on behalf of Hoosiers.”

Photo of Dustin F. Fregiato

Dustin Fregiato was born and raised in a small town in Eastern Ohio. Growing up in “Coal Country”, as it is commonly known to those who live there, not only taught him the value of a hard day’s work but also taught him his core values of: faith, family and friendship and how they should be applied to every aspect of one’s life, including one’s career. Dustin left that small town to attend undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University. After graduating cum laude with a BA in political science at OSU, he moved to Indianapolis to attend law school at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. While there, Dustin focused his legal education on litigation and trial practice, clerked for the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and later for Marion County Judge Carol Orbison.

Dustin began working with Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler as a law clerk in 2010. At Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler he quickly learned to appreciate the practice of representing injured clients and the relationship a trial attorney’s practice has to those core values he learned in his hometown. After graduating from the Indiana University McKinney School of Law, Dustin continued working at Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler as an Associate Attorney where he has remained to the present. Throughout his time as an attorney, Dustin has represented and been successful in obtaining the needed compensation for clients impacted by wrongful death, medical malpractice and injuries of all kinds. He understands the frustration and anguish an injury can cause to a family that extends well beyond the superficial bruise or broken bone and uses his knowledge about this intricate area of law to fight for his clients.

Dustin lives in Noblesville, Indiana with his wife Erica and three children, Jackson, Harrison and Daphne. When not grinding away for his clients he can be found spending time with his family.

Dustin is licensed to practice before the Indiana Supreme Court as well as the Northern and Southern Districts of the United States District Courts of Indiana and the US Court of Federal Claims. Dustin has authored “The Indiana Medical Malpractice Act’s Statute of Limitations” and “Contact with a Corporate Defendant’s Former Employees” which have appeared in the Indiana Trial Lawyer’s Associations’: Verdict magazine. Dustin has also been a speaker at many of the Indiana Trial Lawyer Associations CLEs and has served on the Indiana Trial Lawyer Association’s Board of Directors since 2018. Dustin has been named a Super Lawyer since 2002.

Dustin’s practice areas include personal injury, premises liability, medical malpractice and wrongful death.

Photo of Matthew S. Bigler

Matt was raised in Washington, Indiana as the second of five children in the house. After high school, Matt attended Indiana State University where he received his bachelor’s degree in Social Science Education, Purdue University where he earned his MA in Political Science in 2007, and the Indiana University McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis where he earned his JD in 2010. While at McKinney, Matt interned with the Indiana State Senate minority counsel’s office and with the Marion County Prosecutor’s office where he was assigned to the Sex Crimes Division.

Matt began his legal career as a deputy prosecutor in Warrick County, Indiana where he prosecuted various misdemeanor and felony offenses. After eight months he was able to return to Indianapolis and take a position with the Marion Co. Prosecutor’s Office. Over his five years with the Marion Co. Prosecutor’s Office, Matt spent the majority of his time prosecuting OVWI cases. His final two years as a deputy prosecutor were as the Fatal Alcohol Crash Team prosecutor. As the FACT prosecutor, Matt was the sole deputy prosecutor responsible for prosecuting all fatal traffic crashes in Indianapolis. Matt was involved in cases from their investigation at the scene of the crash all the way to sentencing.  In addition to dozens of jury trials before he was the FACT prosecutor, Matt was able to take ten FACT cases to jury trial and see that the victims of these crimes received justice. Five years in a very specific and specialized area of law has also given Matt a strong background in the pharmacology and toxicology of alcohol and controlled substances, crash reconstruction, and the fundamentals of how law enforcement agencies investigate these cases. Matt was able to see firsthand the devastating effects of motor vehicle accidents and how the families of the victims struggle for it all to make sense.

When deciding to leave the prosecutor’s office, Matt wanted to apply what he had learned and continue to help those harmed by another’s poor decisions or negligence.  To do so he joined Ladendorf Fregiato & Bigler in the summer of 2016 where his practice has exclusively been in the area of personal injury with a particular focus on cases with complicated liability issues where he can rely on the investigative skills learned as a prosecutor.

Matt lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Sarah, and his two children, Ella and Archie. He enjoys doing projects around his house and spending time with his family. He is licensed to practice before the Indiana Supreme Court as well as the Northern and Southern Districts of the United States District Courts of Indiana.