A few weeks ago, Minnesota Litigator queried as to why medical malpractice claims are a widely discussed form of civil litigation but legal malpractice claims are relatively uncommon and inconspicuous but shied away from offering an explanation, which may have been wise self-restraint. Now that is cast aside. The most obvious explanation for medical malpractice claims […]
Washington University School of Law Dean Kent D. Syverud (and my first year Civil Procedure Professor at University of Michigan), to my knowledge, coined the expression, “Yes, no, maybe so, all the way to Mexico…” as a model answer in a law school exam. A typical law school exam sets out a factual and legal backdrop […]
As a new lawyer, I have only heard about how important litigating in your own backyard is to the outcome of your case. However, as an unabashed sports fan and I know that having home-field advantage in critical games can be awfully important and seasoned lawyers know the same: having home-court advantage is one of […]
Our legal system is often subtle and delicate, for example, the way it generally maneuvers around the words “liar,” “lying,” and “dishonest.” This may be a good thing because these words seem to go to one’s fundamental character. Circumlocutions like, “The judge failed to be candid and honest,” or “This statement is an affirmative misrepresentation,” […]
Here is the complaint. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.).
Update (November 15, 2011): By order filed today, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied review in the Passolt case. Update (September 22, 2011): A petition for review was filed today in the Passolt case. We’ll see whether the Minnesota Supreme Court decides to weigh in. Original Post (August 25, 2011): Spousal maintenance is often an issue of […]
In early May, it seems that a company enXco had concluded that negotiations with Northern States Power over a terminated wind energy transaction (complicated by a risk of “lethal take of whooping cranes” and, possibly, our economic free-fall) had reached impasse requiring litigation and enXco filed a lawsuit against NSP in U.S. District Court for the […]
Minnesota Litigator is delighted to announce an additional guest poster, Jake Smith. A recent graduate of William Mitchell College of Law, a University of Michigan graduate, now clerking at the Minneapolis law firm, Skolnick & Shiff, P.A., Jake will bring the perspective of a newly minted Minnesota litigator to Minnesota Litigator. Stay tuned! (And if […]
Why is it that medical malpractice is seen (at least by some in our civic discourse) as a terrible scourge afflicting our society, driving up medical costs and clogging our court system with meritless lawsuits, some say? But other kinds of professional malpractice seem almost invisible? Isn’t it ironic that medical malpractice claims, normally brought, […]
Pointer #2 (November 8, 2011): Robert Mayman is a California lawyer who is alleged to have conspired with charlatans to separate plaintiff William Barth from Barth’s $3.5 million for a bogus mining operation. The fictional mining venture in Utah, the lawyer in California, the plaintiff from North Dakota, the ringleader of the fraud in Vancouver, […]