Minnesota Litigator
News & Commentary
Do not consider the blog to be a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney licensed in your state.
U of M v. AGA Medical Patent Infringement Litigation: Headed for Trial?
AGA Medical and the University of Minnesota have been locked in patent litigation since late November, 2007, over two patents relating to a medical device used in the repair of holes in hearts. This week, U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.) decided AGA Medical’s motion for summary judgment, granting it in part […]
Judicial Board vs. Hennepin County Judge Patricia Kerr Kerasov
Update: Rochelle Olson gives the blow-by-blow of day one of trial… Original Post (1/4/11) : The Star Tribune’s Rochelle Olson has the details. Judge Kerr Karasov is apparently representing herself, notwithstanding the old saying about lawyers representing themselves. (BTW, the linked article is a “lawyer’s lawyer‘s” marketing material highlighting the need for lawyers to retain […]
Choate Is Not A Prep School And Does Not Rhyme With “Boat”
OK. Sometimes Choate is, in fact, a prestigious East Coast prep school and does rhyme with “boat.” But Minnesota real property lawyers should take note that “choate” starts with a hard “c” and rhymes with “know it” and it’s handy for mortgages to be “choate” when battling with other creditors as to whose security interest […]
Rucker v. Schmidt, Rider Bennett: Does the Law Allow for Ruckerfraud, The Sequel?
Update: In an opinion authored by Justice Alan C. Page (and a concurrence by Justice Christopher J. Dietzen), the Minnesota Supreme Court affirms the Court of Appeals in favor of the plaintiff in this fraud case against the now defunct firm of Rider Bennett and attorney Stephen Schmidt. Original Post (May 5, 2010): William Skolnick […]
Minnesota Litigator Word Cloud
Using Wordle.net, here is a typographical graphic of Minnesota Litigator.
Brennan v. Qwest FLSA Class Action: Threshold of Trial (Set for January 11)
Filed in April, 2007, the day of reckoning draws near for employment this employment class action before U.S. District Court Judge Ann D. Montgomery (D. Minn.). The jury trial is noticed for January 11, 2011 (memorably 1/1/11) at 8:45 a.m. The plaintiffs’ employment class action firm of Nichols Kaster goes up against Minnesota Litigator’s […]
Minnesota Latest Revised Ethics Rule: “Nonrefundable Retainers” and Flat Fees
Managing cash flow is a challenge for all businesses and, in particular smaller businesses. This probably explains the appeal of flat fees or the so-called “nonrefundable retainer,” i.e., lawyers propose money up-front in exchange for work to be performed over time, with the up-front agreement that the retainer is “non-refundable.” In exchange for the immediate […]
A Crumbling Foreclosure Defense: “Show Me The Note”?
Update: Perhaps Minnesota Litigator’s report, below, of the imminent demise of the “show me the note” foreclosure defense was premature? Minnesota homeowners Steven and Tamara Gewecke make national news in a story about a supposed broadening acceptance among courts for this defense. The Geweckes’ case is before U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim and […]
Federal Jurisdiction Over TCPA “Junk Fax” Cases? District of Minnesota weighs in…
The federal Telephone Consumers Protection Act or TCPA is a federal law targeting certain telephone marketing practices, but that statute seems to provide that lawsuits under the federal law should be brought in state court (“A person or entity may, if otherwise permitted by the laws or rules of court of a State, bring in […]
Something went wrong. Something went very wrong…
In 2004, Frontier Insurance brought a lawsuit against Frontline Processing Corp., et al., based on a business relationship that went bad and based on Frontier’s allegations of unsound underwriting and alleged failure to pay premiums by defendants, Frontline and others. Frontier brought the lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court (Holahan, J.). Judge Holahan, in turn, […]