Previous Minnesota Litigator “Tales from the Trenches” posts have been first-person narratives — mundane trials and tribulations of LEVENTHAL pllc. This trench-tale is second-hand. Last week, the trial of C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. v. XPO Logistics, Inc., et al., started before Hennepin County District Court Judge Ronald Abrams. C.H.Robinson claims misappropriation of trade secrets and […]
Having just posted on litigation funding, we got an email the very next day: Hi there, I discovered your practice through the mentioned matter and believe we are well-aligned to help one another moving forward. For context, I represent XXXXXXXXX, a litigation funder. We invest in commercial cases that are historically too small (values of […]
We have repeatedly warned Minneota litigators and litigants that courts really hate to undo settlements (most recently, here). This lesson was taught again this week in Rocco v. Khan in which a neighbor’s property dispute was resolved in a settlement conference, put on the record at the Ramsey County District Court, and, after that, the […]
Update (February 16, 2017): As predicted (and as urged) below, this case settled before trial. Although many lament the paucity of civil trials in current U.S. law, this lawsuit was one of many, if not most, where settlement seems a better result than the expense, uncertainty, and stress of trial. Original post (November 18, 2016): Regular […]
Minnesota Litigator focuses primarily on news and comments about Minnesota civil litigation but we recently focused on the bigger picture of “dual federalism” and “subject matter jurisdiction.” Now we look at another important issue: “personal jurisdiction.” Since 2013, at least, we have argued that “U.S. jurisprudence on personal jurisdiction leaves something to be desired and the law […]
(Mr. Merissa’s previous Minnesota Litigator post can be found here.) Just two weeks into his presidency, U.S. Pres. Donald Trump has threatened to send troops to Mexico to take care of their “bad hombres” and hung up on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia after a heated discussion about refugee policy. Given this frightening treatment of […]
[Those of you older than 50 will understand the headline and the image to the left. For the nostalgic among you (or the young’uns who have no clue), click to see the linked advertisement from 1976.] Regular Minnesota Litigator readers (and all experienced Minnesota litigators) are familiar with Rule 5.04 of the Minnesota Rules of […]
Minnesota Litigator generally avoids covering stories that other larger news outlets are covering because we do not have the resources to cover such stories like the bigger players. Our “coverage,” therefore, is too often simply echoing what others have written. University of Minnesota law Prof. Painter’s lawsuit against Pres. Trump is such a story. Since […]
The following is a guest-post by Mikael Merissa: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” – Maya Angelou Consistent with his campaign promise to ban Muslims from entering the United States until we “can figure out what’s going on,” President Trump issued an executive order on Friday temporarily banning refugees […]
Making products to kill human beings involves some complicated issues. First, humans can be clever and hard to kill. Second, as a general rule, we humans are not supposed to kill one another. The first challenge is a technical challenge. The second challenge is a legal, moral, and political challenge. The recently filed complaint of […]