Most Minnesota lawyers are well aware of the bedrock principle that they are barred from communicating directly with a represented adversary.  The reason for the rule is pretty obvious.  Lawyers enter the arena with the side-arm of legal training and it would be an abuse of the legal system if they were allowed to ambush […]

Ouroboros. The Afremov v. Sulloway & Hollis legal malpractice litigation is part-M.C. Escher, part-Elmer Gantry, part-Dante’s Inferno, and part-Lewis Carroll.  Followers of the case vacillate between disbelief, amusement, confusion, and despair.  This past week, Judge Mayeron waded into the hellish hall of mirrors in an effort to navigate the disputes of attorney-client privilege and attorney […]

No one can seriously deny that Occupy Minnesota and other similar actions across the country that have flared up over the past several months are, by and large, at least, peaceful protests.  As such, they are a cherished expression of some of our country’s most tightly held values: the freedom of speech. On the other […]

It is probably news to no one that the economy has been, shall we say, “sluggish” the past few years.  Family lawyers certainly can attest to the difficulties created by the economic downturn, both at the time of dissolution and post-decree.

There are few orthodoxies more widely adhered to in U.S. civil litigation than plaintiffs’ preference for state courts and defendants’ preference for federal courts (plaintiffs’ distaste for arbitration is another similar orthodoxy). As a consequence, plaintiffs often draft complaints in such a way as to preclude the exercise of a federal court’s jurisdiction.  Defendants, whenever possible, […]

There is something comic and paradoxical about that fact that we have near instantaneous access to information and communication these days but most of us have no idea where that much of the information or communication  “at our fingertips” actually resides. And what is a company’s obligation to produce employee emails when those emails are, […]

Update (November 28, 2011): Fannie Mae takes up its Minnesota Appeals Court loss, described below, with the Minnesota Supreme Court, which heard argument today.  Bruce Jones argued for Fannie Mae.  Lew Remele argued for the respondent.  Justice Helen M. Meyer was particularly active in challenging respondent’s position. The key question is whether Minn. Stat. 575.05 […]

In Javinsky-Wenzesk v. St. Louis Park, the City of St. Louis park gave a couple landlords an ultimatum: Either evict a long-term tenant with a valid lease or lose your rental license. The landlords sued the city, seeking an injunction. While the legal issue (Whether the city’s ultimatum violated the landlords’ due process rights) is interesting and novel, […]

Fred Ramos is an attorney and e-discovery expert. He provides consulting services on electronic records management, information governance, discovery technology, and litigation support matters. He served as one of the managers on one of the largest discovery projects in history, working on and leading various teams, including Collections, Review, and Productions. He analyzes electronic discovery […]

One of the most effective and pervasive defenses in an enormous amount of civil litigation is to simply have no money.  Therefore, one common strategy for defendants who have money is to say they have no money.  This is not a particularly sophisticated strategy, but it can be effective.