Sweeney Julian
Sweeney Julian

Your Premier Indiana Personal Injury Trial Attorneys

Your Premier Indiana Personal Injury Trial Attorneys

A Veteran Owned Law Firm

Our Legal Team Has Been Honored With A Number Of Prestigious Awards And Honors, Including:

Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Million Dollar Advocates Forum
AV | Preeminent | Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence | 2017 | Martindale-Hubbell
SuperLawyers
Avvo Rating | 10.0 Superb | Top Attorney Car Accident
Super Lawyers | Rising Stars

Franklin D. Julian

Photo of Franklin D. Julian

Frank’s Background

Frank comes from a Navy family. Frank’s father (Frank Sr.) was a naval officer who served for over 35 years commanding several ships and retiring as a Captain. In fact, Frank was born while his father was serving in Vietnam as the Commanding Officer of the USS ASHEVILLE (PG-84). While growing up, Frank’s family lived all over the country, wherever his father’s duty assignments took them. Frank’s mother is a nurse with a specialty in geriatric care. Frank’s mother was the Director of Nursing at several nursing homes over the course of her career.

As early as the eighth grade, Frank knew that he wanted to be a lawyer. That year, his social studies class was studying World War II and the difficult decision to use nuclear weapons to end the war. The class was given the difficult assignment of a “war crimes” trial. Harry Truman stood accused of war crimes for his decision to use the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Surprisingly, Truman had been consistently found guilty in the prior years of mock trials. Frank was given the assignment of lead counsel defending Truman. This was the early eighties, the height of the cold war and the anti-nuclear movement. The five day trial was headline news throughout New England. In the end, Harry Truman was resoundingly acquitted by the jury. Frank Julian had won his first trial and had found a vocation. Frank knew that one day he wanted to be in the courtroom, fighting against the odds.

After high school, Frank took a Naval ROTC scholarship at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. At Villanova, Frank majored in Political Science with a concentration in Arab & Islamic Studies.

Joined United States Navy

Instead of immediately going to graduate school or law school like most of his classmates, Frank joined the United States Navy. It turned out that Arabic studies would serve him well because soon after graduation, Frank found himself in the Middle East in support of Operation Desert Storm. Frank was assigned to the USS KALAMAZOO (AOR-6) as part of the John F. Kennedy Battle Group and later to the George Washington Battle Group.

Pictures During Frank’s Time In the Navy

Photo of Franklin D. Julian

Waiting at anchor near the Suez Canal in 1995.

Photo of Franklin D. Julian

On board USS KALAMAZOO on June 6, 1994. On that day, a huge armada of warships anchored off the Normandy coast in France to re-enact the D-Day Landings of World War II. Pictured in the background is the USS George Washington.

Photo of Franklin D. Julian

Change of Command Ceremony off the coast of Saudi Arabia in 1995. Pictured here with Captain Ed Fahy, who went on to command the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY.

The KALAMAZOO was an extremely large ship (40,000 tons, 659 feet long, 96 foot beam, and 32,000 shaft horsepower) that was designed for the replenishment at sea of a Navy battle group. Replenishment operations often required that the KALAMAZOO be operated within yards of an aircraft carrier, sometimes with another large ship on the other side and often in high seas.

Typical underway replenishment operations.

Starting the engines the old-fashioned way. Lighting off a navy boiler (photo by JO2 Michael S. Howlett).

Sea Trials on board the USS Stethem DDG-63 in the Gulf of Mexico.

Even as a 22-year-old ensign, Frank reveled in this type of high-stakes, high pressure assignment. He was quickly qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer. He also enjoyed working with the giant steam boilers that drove the ship. Although now made almost extinct by high-tech gas turbine propulsion, operating the ship’s complex steam system appealed to Frank. Although not required by his assignment, he obtained the qualification of Engineering Officer of the Watch.

While in the pressure-cooker environment of the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm, Frank qualified as one of the ship’s two Tactical Action Officers. In that role, Frank was charged with the operation of the ship’s multiple radars, electronic warfare equipment, and the ship’s missile system. Had the ship been attacked, it would have been his responsibility to defend the 500 person crew.

After serving on the KALAMAZOO, Frank was honored by being one of a select few officers chosen to serve on the pre-commissioning crew of the USS STETHEM (DDG-63). STETHEM is a special ship. It was named for Robert Dean Stethem, a United States Naval Petty Officer who was brutally murdered by terrorists in 1985. In June of 1985, Robert Stethem was on his way home after having completed an overseas assignment for the Navy. As he flew home on TWA Flight 847, Shi’ite terrorists took over the plane. After they discovered that Robert was an American and in the U.S. Navy, he was singled out and then brutally beaten and tortured. Despite being beaten for several hours, Robert Stethem did not waiver or yield. The cowardly terrorists eventually became so enraged that they killed him and threw his body onto the tarmac of the airport in Beirut, Lebanon. Robert Stethem was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for heroism and bravery. The Navy would later honor Robert Stethem by naming its newest and most technologically advanced warships in his honor.

Photo of Franklin D. Julian

LT Julian (left) on the port bridge wing of the USS Stethem while underway off the Pacific Missile Test Range near Hawaii. Also pictured is Ensign Eliott Avidan and Lieutenant Commander Richard Daniel.

Frank joined the crew of the STETHEM while it was still being built in the shipyard at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. After the shipyard, the ship traveled through the Panama Canal and then up to its home port of San Diego California. STETHEM was commissioned in California with most of the members of the Stethem family in attendance. During the commissioning ceremony, then LT Julian had the honor of being the ship’s first Officer of the Deck. After commissioning, STETHEM took part in several shakedown cruises and an extensive missile testing program at the Pacific Missile Test Range off the coast of Hawaii.

STETHEM then underwent an extensive post-shakedown shipyard period. This multi-million dollar shipyard period was managed by LT Julian.

The USS Stethem in Drydock. San Diego, 1996.

At the end of his tour on STETHEM, Frank had a tough decision to make. He had to choose between a naval career and his long-held desire to become a trial lawyer. Having been around the world and having done everything that he wanted to in the Navy, Frank decided to leave the Navy and go to law school. During his time in the Navy, Frank received several commendations and medals. Awards and Commendations included the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal, the Battle “E” Award, National Defense Service Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, and the Sea Service Ribbon. After looking at law schools around the country, Frank decided that University of Notre Dame was the best fit for him. He packed up a truck and drove from San Diego to South Bend, Indiana.

Preparation For Trial Work

During his time at Notre Dame, Frank concentrated on subjects that would help him prepare for trial work. Luckily, Notre Dame has one of the best trial advocacy programs in the country. But Frank did not limit his studies to the academic world. While a law student, Frank worked as a law clerk at two separate personal injury law firms. While working for these firms, Frank was often involved in difficult cases against big companies and insurance companies. This experience convinced him that the only trial work he ever wanted to do was on behalf of people who have been injured.

Forming The Sweeney Julian Team

Fresh out of law school, Frank went to work both on his own and with other personal injury lawyers. In 2000, he was approached by Charles Sweeney with an idea of opening a new branch of his personal injury law firm in South Bend. Mr. Sweeney had practiced in South Bend for 30+ years, but at the time only had an office in Fort Wayne. The South Bend office of Sweeney Law Firm opened in 2001 with Frank and Mr. Sweeney working together on their clients’ behalf.

In 2005, Mr. Sweeney decided to retire and become “of counsel” to the law firm. Frank took over the practice, the name of which changed from Sweeney Law Firm to Sweeney Julian Trial Attorneys.

At its core, Sweeney Julian’s role is to help our community both through dedicated legal work and through community service. Helping our fellow man is always profitable, both personally and for the bottom line. We regularly use our firm’s considerable resources to help out local charities and people in need. In fact, Sweeney Julian has recently participated in three major events for Chiara Home as the lead sponsor, Girls on the Run as a team sponsor and the Men in Kilts McDazzle Fundraiser for our local Ronald McDonald House. The McDazzle fundraiser saw Frank Julian donning a kilt for the occasion. (He figured out how to properly wear a kilt later.)

Photo of Franklin D. Julian

Frank has always been a leader when fighting for his client’s rights at the Indiana State House. He has testified in front of the Indiana House and Senate about pending legislation. As a leader of the Indiana Trial Lawyer’s Association, he has served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. He recently finished a term as PRESIDENT of ITLA and still serves on Executive Committee.

Photo of Franklin D. Julian
Photo of Franklin D. Julian

Frank was recently honored with becoming a member of the Indiana Trial Lawyers College of Fellows, a distinction given to very of the trial attorneys in Indiana.

Frank also serves on the Board of Trustees for LAWPAC of Indiana, a political action committee dedicated to preserving the Constitutional rights of Hoosier under the United States and Indiana Constitutions.

Practice Areas

  • Personal Injury

Honors

  • Max Goodwin Trial Lawyer of the Year Award
  • Indiana Trial Lawyers Association ANNUAL INSTITUTE, Chair, 2010
  • Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Member
  • Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Member
  • National Trial Lawyers Association Top 100
  • 10.0 AVVO rating (SUPERB)

Education

  • Notre Dame Law School,
    Notre Dame, Indiana, 1999
    Doctor of Jurisprudence
  • Troy State University (Earned while at sea deployed in support of Operation Desert Storm), 1994
    Masters of Public Administration
  • Villanova University, 1991
    B.A., Bachelor of Arts
    Honors: Navy ROTC scholarship
    Major: Political Science

Professional Associations

  • Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, Board of Directors, 2004
  • Executive Committee of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association
  • ITLA Legislative Committee, Chairman
  • Granger Rotary Club, Board of Directors

Past Positions

  • U.S. Navy, Veteran
  • Operation Desert Storm

Classes & Seminars

  • Annual Litigation Seminar for Northern Indiana, President
    • Topics: Automobile Litigation, Topics in Litigation, and Damages in Automobile Litigation.
  • Handling Residential Gas Explosion
  • Attorney Advertising in the Age of Insurance Company Propaganda

Papers

  • Expert Testimony after the Kumho Tire Decision and Mentally Incompetent Defendants and the Right to Proceed Pro Se