When cutting edge technological ventures are getting off the ground, it is widely recognized that there are tremendous risks along with the potential for tremendous rewards. Investors should go into such “opportunities” with eyes wide open to the risk. Things can get complicated, however, when a venture’s losses are borne by some shareholders (“outsiders”) and […]
Updates #2, 3 (January 28, 2011, February 2, 2011): Caught. (Defendant appears to have been unsuccessful in getting the case dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.) (They have now agreed not to contest service, in exchange for a stipulated extension of time to respond to the complaint.) Update #1 (August 20, 2010): For oenophiles, here is […]
Minnesota Litigator has frequently noted the significant hurdle to medical malpractice claims under Minnesota law posed by its affidavit of expert review statutes (or for MDs and one for other professionals) and the affidavit has proved impassable for yet another medical malpractice plaintiff. In Hanson vs. McNiff, et al., Dakota County Judge Kathryn D. Messerich […]
One person can invent a medical device and this can result in billions of dollars of revenue. Medical device giants Medtronic and St. Jude know this to be true and the two seem perennially lock in battles to loot one another’s brain banks. Last summer, Minnesota Litigator covered an unsuccessful Medtronic effort. This past week, […]
David Hanners of the Pioneer Press has the story of the hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.) by four Minnesota head shops’ efforts to offer ersatz reefer to Minnesota’s law-abiding but high-seeking citizens. Apparently, there are more of these Minnesotans than at least one upper-middle-aged Minnesota lawyer would have thought. […]
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura has brought suit against the Transportation Safety Administration, challenging the “whole body imaging” (WBI) procedures at airports. “The Body” filed his complaint yesterday. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson (D. Minn.).
While Minnesota Litigator touted a CLE on negotiation and settlement this past week in recognition of the fact that “90-99%” of litigators’ lives are not in trial, I was in the middle of a four-day jury trial before the Hon. Thomas M. Neuville in Faribault, Minnesota (Rice County). Christina M. Weber of Wilford & Geske […]
Minnesota Litigator recommends the following recipe to win every single lawsuit every single time: (1) a totally meritorious case both as to the facts and the law, (2) the lawyer’s complete mastery of all relevant facts and law, (3) completely unreasonable and obtuse opposing litigants, and (4) a tribunal blessed with the wisdom to tell […]
Over the past year, Minnesota Litigator joined the chorus of those pointing out the serious challenges facing the Minnesota judicial system — a vital organ of the state (most recently, here). The StarTribune covered an angle in Sunday’s paper.
Litigators generally spend between 90-99% of their professional lives in their offices, on the phone, in conference rooms — not in court and not in trial. “Ms. Foreperson, has the jury reached a verdict?” is a lot less frequent than negotiation and settlement. But many lawyers spend more time honing their trial advocacy skills at […]