Non-lawyers and even lawyers who do not focus on contract disputes lay too much emphasis on whether or not there is a signed contract. Business litigators should know better. Even if a contract literally provides, “There is no contract unless there is a writing, setting out material terms, and signed by both parties,” courts (and […]
We’ve previously posted on bringing lawsuits anonymously and the sometimes difficult or delicate balance that courts have to strike. Some cases are easy though. If your name is already known and associated with the lawsuit or the facts underlying the lawsuit, courts will not allow you to proceed anonymously because “the benefit of proceeding under […]
Patty Plaintiff sues Donnie Defendant. Donnie feels wronged, feels the fault lies with Theodore Third Party. Is it proper for Donnie to bring a third-party complaint against Theodore, stating, in effect, “I am not the correct defendant; Theodore is,” or, alternately, to argue, “If I am liable to Patty, Theodore shares some of the blame”? […]
A case from the Minnesota Supreme Court last week reminded us that courts are loath to change course, even where that course is a little muddy. In Bandemer v. Ford Motor Company, Plaintiff Bandemer was in a serious car accident as a passenger in a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria. Bandemer was a Minnesota resident, as […]
The lawsuit of Chargo v. Gurstel Law Firm, P.C. fka Gurstel Chargo P.A., a law firm break-up, settled earlier this year on the threshold of trial. The break-up appears to have been bitter and hard-fought. One might even go so far as to call it bloody. The settlement is non-public but, from the linked trial […]
Regular Minnesota Litigators know how enthusiastically we celebrate significant triumphs in Minnesota civil litigation but, in the same posts in which we praise the winners, we try to remember to warn against gloating. We highlight the ever-present risk of reversal (see here, for example). (And we have experienced the thrill of victory followed by the […]
Update (August 2, 2019): We predicted this one correctly. Update (May 3, 2019): The Minnesota Court heard argument in the the case described below, Engstrom v. Whitebirch, this week. For those of you looking for a rule of thumb for predicting outcomes of appellate courts, watch the video of this oral argument. Watch the questioning […]
We had the good fortune and misfortune of going to trial last week in a two-day jury trial. We won. The “good fortune” is purely selfish. As many U.S. civil litigators know, it is difficult to get trial experience since 95-99% of civil lawsuits settle or are resolved before trial. True, trial is stressful and […]
Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lake disputes… In the attached, diagram, we see the relative location of Lot 1, Lot 3, Lot B, and Gleason’s Lake in Plymouth, Minnesota. What we do not get to see is the Sterling dock that, Sterling, the owner of Lot 1 built across Lot B to access Gleason Lake. […]
We had pleasure of meeting up with a lawyer in a medium sized Minnesota law firm recently and learned that firm uses no dedicated document review system for the vast majority of its client matters. As a result, a document review at the law firm that might take 8 hours with a dedicated document review […]