Surfactants, or surface active agents, are chemicals with interesting and valuable properties. They are used in no-stick frying pans, water-proofing/stain-proofing, cosmetics, lubricants, and fire-fighting materials. They have even been experimentally used as blood substitutes. Their uses are obviously diverse and the revenues from surfactants are in the many billions of dollars annually. A particular family […]
Lawyers in private law firms are generally very familiar with the controversy in law firm management regarding the proper alignment of individual lawyer incentives with the law firm’s goal of maximizing overall profitability — and the widespread model known colloquially as “eat what you kill.” Firms confront the challenging puzzle of crafting a compensation system […]
News today that contractor URS has settled claims of the state of Minnesota in connection with the 35W Bridge Collapse on August 1, 2007 for $5 million. Minnesota Litigator has been covering this case for some time. Today’s on-line Star Tribune reports, “URS still faces scores of lawsuits by victims of the collapse.” To be […]
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, ATLA, changed its name several years ago to the American Association for Justice (AAJ). ATLA’s motivation is a matter of speculation but it is safe to say that, over time, an endorsement of or contribution to a politician from ATLA arguably came to be a mixed blessing. From […]
Earlier this month, Minnesota Litigator highlighted the all-too-common experience of parties having problems by blowing past the “i-dotting/t-crossing” minutiae critical to fully and finally concluding litigation. For obvious reasons, the other extreme is less common — that is, wanting to keep the battle raging after a truce has been reached — but such scenarios are […]
Previously, in reference to the “bubbly battle,” Minnesota Litigator touched on the paradoxical strategy of bringing a motion before a Judge to ask the Judge to ignore evidence that the other side will seek to offer at trial (before the same Judge). Needless to say, the Judge will have to look at the evidence to […]
Bill Michael, former Green Beret, judge advocate, federal prosecutor and Dorsey & Whitney white collar crime lawyer hosted a panel of three Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Joe Dixon (corporate and investments (Petters) prosecutor), Mike Cheever (prosecutor for tax crimes), and Tim Rank (prosecutor for cybercrimes) on white collar crime in Minnesota. The U.S. Attorneys Office is […]
Plaintiff Willcox brought an ERISA case against Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston and she won on summary judgment. The case went up on appeal. Plaintiff prevailed on that appeal. Then, when the case went back down to U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson (D. Minn.) for a statutory award of attorneys’ fees for the […]
As has been widely reported in state news, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard argument on Monday in the “unallotment” case (video of argument here). The issue, in a nutshell: when the legislature passes laws distributing public funds and the state Constitution mandates a balanced budget, may the Governor, unilaterally and without meaningful limits on the […]
Over an objection by a member of the plaintiffs’ class, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kyle, Sr. (D. Minn.) issued an order approving attorneys fees in Yarrington v. Solvay Pharmaceuticals to the class action plaintiffs’ counsel (Gustafson Gluek, PLLC, Lieff Cabraser)– $5.445 million for about 5,450 hours of work over six years. That’s awfully close […]