Update (July 15, 2014): The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit recently affirmed the District of Minnesota’s ruling in favor of Nothern States Power (NSP), covered previously on Minnesota Litigator (below) by Jake Smith: Assuming, without deciding, that Minnesota courts would apply the doctrine of temporary impracticability to conditions precedent for use as […]
It has been a while since Minnesota Litigator’s last installment of TAAFOMFT (“These are a few of my favorite things….”) (earlier posts are here). I suppose this is a good sign because my TAAFOMFT posts are tongue-in-cheek (if not bile-in-throat). The infrequency of TAAFOMFT posts might correlate to my having a better, more positive attitude about […]
Readers may wonder why Minnesota Litigator, which covers news and commentary about Minnesota civil litigation, is not covering the biggest local civil trial of the year (if not of the past several years) that is going on right now: Ventura v. Kyle. Answers: (1) I do not have the time to cover the day-to-day of […]
It is not every day that a plaintiff tries and fails to dismiss his own case, which is opposed by the defendant. But it happens. Associated Bank sought to foreclose on property and the bank named all interested secured creditors or other interested individuals (for example, heirs to the deceased property owner), including the United States of America […]
Springboard for the Arts (“S4TA”) has been around a long time. It is a great resource for Minnesota artists and a good place for Minnesota lawyers interested in helping in our arts community. S4TA is hosting a CLE this week (July 11) in downtown Minneapolis, 12:00 – 4:30 pm, followed by Business Law Society Happy Hour, with a San […]
Do pro bono legal work. Help the disadvantaged. Help struggling artists (visual artists, performers, musicians, writers) who are sometimes in desperate need of legal help but without enough money to vindicate their rights (or negotiate their contracts, or settle their intellectual property disputes, etc. etc.). To get new clients? To show the community what a good […]
Update (July 9, 2014): Chalk up another accurate prediction of Minnesota Litigator in Citizens State Bank Norwood Young America v. Gordon Brown (described below). It would appear that Gordon Brown hoped to avoid creditors by divorcing his wife and giving her his assets as part of the divorce settlement so that creditors could not reach […]
“[Under Minnesota law,] [i]s reliance an element of a breach-of-express-warranty claim? If so, what type of reliance is required: contract-like reliance or tort-like reliance?” Wut? Three cheers for the Minnesota Supreme Court for a recent decision (by Chief Justice Lori Gildea) in response to a late 2013 request by the U.S. Court of Appeals […]
Update (July 7, 2014): Our civil justice system is A Tale of Two Stories. Trials are competing narratives and the fact-finders and law-givers decide whose stories they believe (if any). When one side does not show up, it can be the worst of times that that side… Assuming Sr. U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson (D. […]
Not to be a wet blanket or anything, but you might want to have a wet blanket handy (or ice or antibiotic) when you intentionally ignite explosives and hand them to children. Sparklers are the most common cause of injury (way more than “home-made” fireworks, I note). But if you do find yourself or the light […]