U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen (D. Minn.) has built a bit of a local reputation for strict adherence to 28 U.S.C. § 1332 and admonishing counsel that fail to plead diversity of citizenship correctly (see, for example, here and here). Recently, Judge Ericksen again called out an attorney that “did not properly allege the citizenships of all the […]

Back in July, we reported on an unfortunate gamble (in retrospect) of a plaintiff who had the choice between a jury verdict reduced by the judge or a new trial. He went for a new trial and he got “zeroed,” a jury verdict of $0.00.  But the Court awarded plaintiff $1.00, giving him a chance […]

This blog has covered the lawsuit against plaintiff’s class action lawyers (Bill Lerach, lawyers Kevin Roddy and Spencer Burkholz, and the Milberg law firm) by Grand Casinos and Lyle Berman previously (here and here). Brief background:  the Milberg law firm hired a damages expert in shareholder class action cases (Torkelson) who accepted money from the […]

U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen (D. Minn.)concluded her 32-page award of summary judgment in defendants’ favor issued today with a literary reference: In light of the relatively small amounts of the three misstatements at issue, and the apparent low risk that Defendants pose to shareholders of U.S. publicly-traded companies, the Court questions whether the […]

A trademark fight that celebrates its third birthday in the U.S. District Court, D. Minn., in less than two weeks, is set for court trial on February 8. Louis Roederer’s Cristal-brand champagne sells for over $150/bottle. Defendant’s Cristalino “Brut Cava” (not champagne, the defendant will no doubt stress) is less than $10/bottle. U.S. Judge Joan […]

There have been two recent rulings on local patent infringement trials, past and, by all indications, imminent, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Move over, United States District Court, E.D. Texas (Marshall Division), once thought of as “ground zero” for U.S. patent infringement litigation? (Don’t bet on it.) Even if the […]

In an earlier post, this blog covered a case decided today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, reversing the U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota. In the earlier post, I opined that the District Court’s decision elevated form over substance and the Eighth Circuit appears to have reached the same conclusion.

In a variant of the classic game show, Let’s Make a Deal, after a jury returned a $100,000 verdict for plaintiff, Judge Ericksen gave plaintiff the choice between a reduced verdict (“remittitur”) of $50,000 or another jury trial on the issue of damages. Plaintiff opted for “Jury #2” and the jury came back with damages […]