Minnesota Litigator
News & Commentary
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Fun Times at Breezy Point Marina Bar: Seven Times Tasered…
In Willenbring v. City of Breezy Point, et al., U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Davis (C.J.) addressed many defendants’ motions for summary judgment on many claims this week. Although plaintiffs had some causes of action that survived summary judgment, the vast majority did not. Moreover, the recitation of facts — note that they are […]
MSBA Legal Blog Top 25
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Pleading Subject Matter Jurisdiction: Diversity of an LLC
Twice in April, Minnesota Litigator covered this issue. In June, Minnesota Litigator noted another decision in which lawyers overlooked a pleading requirement of 12 U.S.C. § 1332, when pleading “diversity of citizenship” for a business entity (that is, a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company). Here we go again. Absent some interesting nuance or fine point, […]
Why is litigation expensive?
[UPDATE: Minnesota Litigator has covered the hard-fought Cenveo v. Southern Graphic Systems case repeatedly. In the latest installment of this serial, Cenveo prostrates itself before the Court in abject apology for an over-length brief and an erroneous word count after having asked for leave to file an over-length brief, which the Court denied. The point […]
Afremov v. Sulloway & Hollis, et al., A Long Saga Under Seal (But Now A Lot Less Under Seal…)
[UPDATE #2: (Sept. 2010) Third-party Maslon Borman Edelman & Brand is apparently out of the case.] [UPDATE: (July, 2010) Originally commented on in early June in light of the apparent secrecy of the case, this case was “all sealed up” but now somewhat less so in light of last week’s order by U.S. Mag. Judge Janie […]
Eighth Circuit Ruling on $75,000 Jurisdictional Prerequisite in Ins. Coverage DJ Action
What could be easier than determining whether, in a particular lawsuit, there is more than $75,000 “in controversy” (which is a requirement for “diversity jurisdiction” in federal courts)? In fact, the analysis is most often quite straight-forward. But what about a case in which an insurer seeks a declaratory judgment from the federal court — […]
LifeTime Giveth & LifeTime Taketh Away?
[UPDATE: Originally post below was in April. This week, as predicted, the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the Minnesota Court of Appeals (here) Plaintiffs lost.] At issue in this case, Life Time Fitness paid employees base salaries and also a bonus based on performance of various segments of the company. Life Time would advance the bonus […]
Fired for Opposing a Practice Mistakenly Believed to Violate State Human Rights Act?
[UPDATE: Originally posted in January, another correct Minnesota Litigator prediction, and another Plaintiff fares badly at the Minnesota Supreme Court (opinion here (Judges Page, Meyer, and Anderson, Paul, dissenting in two separate dissenting opinions)).] Let’s say an employer (say, Capella University) terminates an employee (Elen Bahr) because, asked to perform some act, she refused, sincerely […]
To Be or Not To Be (in Minnesota, that is…)
3M has sued TransWeb LLC for patent infringement and the case is before United States District Court Judge John R. Tunheim (D. Minn.). TransWeb, in turn, represented by the prestigious bi-coastal litigation powerhouse, Quinn Emanuel (and locally by Leonard Street & Deinard), has a problem with that. To hear New Jersey-based TransWeb tell it, they […]
Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa Sues for Federal Recognition
As reported by the Native American Times, a group of about 90 American Indians has brought suit in U.S. District Court (D. Minn.) for recognition. Here is the complaint. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Donovan F. Frank and newly minted U.S. Mag. Judge Leo Brisbois (whose tribal affiliation, incidentally, is with […]