This week, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota has put out some proposed rule changes (more specifically the Federal Practice Committee, headed by Jeannine Lee of the Leonard Street law firm). A “redline” of the proposed changes are here and, of particular interest, the court would apparently like lawyers to problem-solve […]
Kim Hansen has just learned the hard way about the adage: “you can win the battle but lose the war.” She sued her former employer, Robert Half International, for violations of the Minnesota Parenting Leave Act, Minn. Stat. §§ 181.940-181.944. She won on the first question presented to the court, which held that an employee […]
Andy Warhol’s spooky image of capital punishment is excessive to describe the consequences of a recent unpublished Minnesota Court of Appeals decision against a small Eagan, Minnesota law firm, but still some will wonder how the firm decided the risk/benefit calculus favored this public relations gambit in bringing suit against its former clients for a […]
With no admission of any wrong-doing (and no hint of any evidence of any wrong-doing as far as Minnesota Litigator can tell), the law firm of Fredrikson & Byron, through its professional liability insurance policy, has dispelled the ominous cloud and threat of Petters-related litigation behind it for good, it would seem (Strib post, Pioneer […]
Follow-Up (June 1, 2012): Jacobs Trading Co. of Hopkins, Minnesota thought it would be a real bargain to buy Comobar espresso machines from Ningbo Hicon International Industry, Inc. in China back in 2009. It was very wrong. (The $140,000 worth of machines were allegedly counterfeit and U.S. District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen (D. Minn.) […]
Update (May 31, 2012): Target’s motion to exclude opponent’s expert testimony, discussed below, succeeds. The “accused” architects’ motion for summary judgment fails. Now the defendant architecture firm needs to think about whether it wants to go to trial against Target Corporation in Minnesota without its liability expert and the architects do not have lots of time […]
Update (May 31, 2012): As Chad Kelsch’s post yesterday pointed out, reply briefs can be handy. Linked here is the defendants’ reply brief in the Facebook/School case. It is a strong brief into which it is clear that defendants put a lot of work. Hearing is now set for July 13 at 9:00 AM in […]
[Post by Minnesota Litigator Contributor: Chad Kelsch] Procedural rules that trial lawyers must know and follow are not particularly fascinating to most people, but they can often be quite important and differences between various courts’ rules can substantially change how justice is meted out. Rule 9006-1 of the Local Rules of the United States Bankruptcy […]
As a Minnesota litigator, my visits to bankruptcy court (also known (by me) as Mordor, dwelling place of Sauron, in the southeast of northwestern Middle-earth to the East of Anduin) have been infrequent and slightly perilous. Minnesota Litigator is therefore delighted to announce its newest contributor, Chad Kelsch, who calls that region home. Chad A. Kelsch is the owner of […]
The seemingly endless Petters litigation saga continues. In February, Minnesota Litigator reported that the litigious hedge fund Ritchie Capital Management sued Fredrickson & Byron and attorney Simon Root for, among other things, violations of the RICO Act, fraud and tortuous interference for allegedly failing to formalize security interest in Tom Petters’ wholly owned company, Polaroid Corporation. […]