Back in late 2004, the now-defunct law firm of Sprenger & Lang found itself disqualified as counsel for a plaintiffs class in a class action against Cargill because a former Cargill executive shared his Cargill-privileged documents with the plaintiffs’ lawyers (related opinion here). Now, in a class action lawsuit against Target Corp., the Halunen law […]

Some time ago, Best Buy appears to have installed dryers in peoples’ homes in a manner inconsistent with manufacturers’ printed instructions on the dryers themselves — installing “metal foil vents,” which apparently present a known increased risk of fire from lint buid-up over time. Ashleigh Frankel, of Georgia, with the help of an army of […]

An out-of-state computer software company (Aspect, a Massachusetts company, which had purchased Melita, a Georgia company) terminated a Minnesota company (Automated Telemarketing Servs., Inc. (ATS)) with which Melita had had a sales representation agreement, for ATS’s supposed failure to meet a multi-million dollar annual sales quota in 2008. ATS sued, taking the position that Aspect […]

Regular readers of Minnesota Litigator will be familiar with the lawsuit brought by Lyle Berman and Lakes Entertainment against the Milberg Weiss law firm, Bill Lerach, and other disgraced and fallen angels from the plaintiffs’ side securities fraud class action law firm that disintegrated after the revelation of improper payments made to co-defendant securities fraud […]

Let’s say an insured has two insurance policies from different companies for the same risk (call them Company A and Company B).  Can the insured elect to impose all of the defense and coverage costs on one of the two for whatever reason (say, due to a side-deal with Company B as to on-going premiums […]

Plaintiff in Hart Security v. Number One Health (Middle East) et al. entered into a settlement with Defendant Gary Butters but, as sometimes happens, Butters does not appear to have been very eager to actually pay the settlement. Plaintiff’s counsel brought this to the Court’s attention with a motion to enforce the settlement agreement, seeking […]

The New York Times recently covered the U of M Law School’s release of letters to and from Clarence Darrow. Robins Kaplan lawyer and Darrow scholar, Randy Tietjen, is responsible for the discovery of a treasure trove of Darrow letters. You can search the Darrow letter digital archive by year, by people (Helen Keller, Frank […]

Here are some typical scenarios in which state “Anti-SLAPP” statutes come into play:  (1) subject of newspaper exposé of fraud sues paper for defamation, newspaper story is accurate and the fraudster’s lawsuit against the newspaper is frivolous – the statute provides a means for the newspaper to dispose of the case quickly and get its […]

When Minnesota Litigator noted yesterday’s decision in a case with a defendant, Blast-Tek, the initial thought was that U.S. District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle (D. Minn.) had timed a decision involving a pyrotechnics company just in time for the Independence Day fireworks, but no such luck. Blast-Tek built and sold a bulk abrasive sandblaster that […]

Defendants sometimes get sued and, on the day they receive the complaint (or maybe even earlier?), they know of a fatal infirmity (or two?) in the claims against them.  If the plaintiffs’ lawyers have done their job, though, the weakness would probably be factual and not legal.  (That is, the fatal infirmity would not be […]