Update (April 7, 2015): Something as silly as a large inflatable plastic wedge with garden hose mount invented so that adults can use a slip’n’slide — that is, so adults do not have to dive from standing position (or running) into the hard ground to enjoy the slip’n’slide toy but can more gently slide from a […]
Most Minnesota Litigator readers are legal professionals. This post will be a “tell me something I don’t already know” post for them (I hope). But for many potential clients, these could be messages you need to hear: Whether you CAN sue for something does NOT answer the question of whether you SHOULD. By the same […]
I often quote a large firm lawyer friend who used to give advice about the reasonable limits of spousal whining: “Your spouse will tolerate you complaining about not having enough work. Your spouse will tolerate you complaining about having too much work. It is only fair that your spouse will draw the line, though, if you complain about both at the same […]
Update (April 3, 2015): A video of the March 17, 2015 hearing before the Minnesota Supreme Court is here. The bottom line: there seems a broad-based consensus that the judiciary is headed in the right direction, recognizing the need for public access, recognizing the need to protect privacy in certain limited cases (mostly focused on […]
Congratulations to attorney John E. Trojack might be premature but they also seem appropriate. Trojack represents Elfi Janssen, a widow in a battle over her former husband’ estate with Anna McCormick, Ms. Janssen’s former husband’s daughter. Janssen’s case was dismissed by the trial court but was revived on appeal and the Minnesota Supreme Court denied […]
The Minnesota Supreme Court is considering an array of proposed amendments to the court rules. Many are occasioned by the move to e-filing and digital court records. One new rule will make everything easier. It will simply require that all documents filed be consecutively numbered. So, for example, an affidavit with exhibits will have to […]
Normally, when one party brings a motion to enforce a settlement agreement against another party, it is a matter of “buyer’s remorse.” In other words, one party to the deal wants to back out or re-neg. (Last year, I covered a particularly beloved dispute in which a litigant sought to weasel out of a settlement […]
Under Minnesota common law, a life insurance policy “issued to one who has no interest in the continuation of the life of the person insured, is both a gambling contract, and a contract which creates a motive for desiring the termination of such life, and is therefore against public policy and void.” But “once a life insurance policy […]
Update (March 25, 2015): This past week, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied defendant’s petition for review of the decision described below. The plaintiff’s lawyer can now enjoy the relief that his crossing the line in closing argument did not blow up his client’s favorable verdict. Original post (December 17, 2014): Trials are relatively infrequent and […]
Imagine you work for a grocery store chain and you are under great pressure to think up ways to increase revenue. Here’s an idea: As people go through the store, have your smiling and sweet bagger-employees place bags in the bottom of customers’ carts as they amble through the store. When the customers get to the […]