Update (March 23, 2018): The original post, below, is nearly 10 years old. We still stand by it. These remain valuable practice pointers. The lawsuit between Blu Dot Manufacturing against Stitch Industries d/b/a Joybird in U.S. District Court (D. Minn.) seems to be an illustration of Mistake #6, “buyer’s remorse.” At least according to Blu Dot, the […]
This fight between T-Mobile and RPC Properties has gone up to the Minnesota Supreme Court, back down to the trial court, and back up to the Court of Appeals and it would seem the entire dispute might be about no damages or, at most, substantially less than $100,000. For those who think “fee-shifting” (that is, […]
The FBA hosted a panel on Monday, moderated by Mag. Judge Arthur Boylan on settlement conferences/mediations, which included Lew Remele, one of Minnesota’s best known lawyers and mediators, Judge Jonathan Lebedoff, former Hennepin County judge and former U.S. Magistrate Judge, and Susan Richard Nelson, U.S. Magistrate Judge and likely future U.S. District Court Judge (D. […]
Coming on the heels of the less-than-entirely successful Czech case, reported below (state claims were dismissed without prejudice saving the case from an outright defeat (subject to appeal, of course)), it seems only fair to highlight a case in the same industry in which the same plaintiffs’ class action counsel, Rob Shelquist of Lockridge Grindal, […]
Farmers bought a “pneumatic grain-moving system” manufactured by Defendant Sukup and sold by Defendant dealer Superior. Apparently the system worked a little too well, going at such a high rate of speed that it damaged the grain, notwithstanding efforts by Superior to help Farmers get the system to work correctly. Farmers litigated and settled with […]
An interesting little puzzle: if a public entity and a “gad-fly” advocacy group enter into a settlement agreement whereby the gad-fly will not address any further challenges to the public entity’s conduct that he originally challenged through litigation, will a later complaint by the public entity for the breach of that settlement agreement against the […]
Back in March, this blog report that Grand Casinos and well-known Minnesota business man, Lyle Berman, represented by Dorsey & Whitney LLP, are pleading fraud, conspiracy, negligent supervision, and RICO against the prominent plaintiffs securities class action law firm, Milberg Weiss, based, primarily, on the fact that Milberg worked with a damages expert who accepted […]
Plaintiff Newinksi worked for Northern States Power (NSP) during which time he worked with Defendant Crane’s abestos-containing products, which, he alleged, caused his mesothelioma. Newinski also dealt with asbestos-containing products from other manufacturers, but less so. The case involved three defendants and four other potential suppliers of harmful asbestos-containing products that may have contributed to […]
An all-too-frequent misfortune is the over-inclusive or the under-inclusive settlement. A recent Minnesota Court of Appeals decision reflects a litigant’s apparently inadvertent surrender of a negligence claim. A tree company (“TC”) contracted with a horticulture specialist (“HS”) to spray the tree company’s trees. The tree company, unhappy with HS’ performance, withheld the $3,500 payment for […]
The Middle-Snake-Tamarac Rivers Watershed District ordered the establishment of a flood-control project, private owners objected to the compensation offered for their property, protracted litigation ensued, and the parties entered into a settlement agreement resolving the litigation. Minnesota law provides a procedure to avoid or minimize the risk of strategic lawsuits against public participation (an “anti-SLAPP […]