Under Minnesota law, there is something called the “implied duty of good faith and fair dealing,” an amorphous concept that, very roughly, means that a party to any legally enforceable agreement (better known as “a contract”) must do more than abide by the express obligations and requirements of the contract under Minnesota law. If you […]

In business litigation, particularly in litigation between businesses that have had an on-going relationship, like more than a few couples, there is a recognition that divorce is traumatic and divorce lawyers expensive.  There is, therefore, a build-up, pre-filing skirmishing, sometimes for weeks, months, or years before a complaint is filed in court. But there comes […]

Update (March 22, 2012):  Plaintiffs have voluntarily dismissed their case.  Apparently, the filing of the complaint sufficed for the airing of grievances.   Original post (March 7, 2012):  Our federal bankruptcy system uses court-appointed “bankruptcy trustees” who are entrusted to preside over bankrupt estates and, through the bankruptcy court system, to maximize the value of […]

Next week, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and a Minnesota business has submitted an amicus “friend of the court” brief attempting to inform and sway the Court’s decision on the most divisive issue. Employer Solution Staffing Group (ESSG), a temporary employment staffing company based in Edina, has submitted […]

Mr. H signed up for a Discover credit card in September, 2002, married Ms. H in October, 2002, and called Discover in November, 2002 to add Ms. H to the Discover credit card. Three years later Mr. and Mrs. H were history (divorced).  In the divorce decree, it was agreed that Mr. H would be […]

Literature and art that exercise our emotions deal with extremes but our realities are in the ambiguous gray middle. So it is with the United States federal court statistics for 2011, which reflect a great deal of data, which does not present a single over-arching theme (at least to the casual observer). The district of […]

If you thought the twists and turns on Wisteria Lane were exciting, just add computer forensics to drama of the “Desperate Housewives” trial. Nicollette Sheridan’s character was not supposed to die, according to her $6 million lawsuit against ABC and producer Marc Cherry, but was killed off after she complained to ABC executives that Cherry […]

This past week, 1st Fidelity Loan Servicing, LLC had its foreclosure of plaintiff Doris Ruiz thrown out on appeal because, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held, the Hennepin County District Court (Daly, J.) erroneously required only “substantial compliance” of the foreclosing party rather than “strict compliance” with Minnesota’s non-judicial foreclosure process. So, for example, a […]

The focus of Minnesota Litigator is “news and commentary about Minnesota litigation” but its owner permits it to wander occasionally to keep things lively. The article, “Privacy R.I.P.,” by Super Lawyer and 30-year Twin Cities litigator, Gary A. Weissman (most recently of Jackson Hole, Wyoming) in the March issue of The Hennepin Lawyer is Minnesota […]