News & Commentary

Litigation as Debt Collection

It is a symptom of our times that a great deal of current civil litigation is more debt collection than anything else. During times such as these, litigators are called upon increasingly for post-judgment enforcement — that is, “getting the money” rather than for “winning at trial” — where defendants either have no defense or […]

Thanks & Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Thank you, readers, for following Minnesota Litigator! Readership is up to about 2,000 visits for the past month, with the vast majority from throughout the state of Minnesota (followed in order of volume by California, Illinois, New York, our neighbors in North Dakota (what’s up with that, Wisconsin?), and Texas, respectively) — visits from a total of […]

MERLA Statute of Limitations: Issue of First Impression Warranting Interlocutory Appeal?

The BNSF Railway Company once owned a railroad maintenance shop in Brainerd, Minnesota. About 20-30 years ago, BNSF worked with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (“MPCA”) to clean up the site, agreeing to a limit of 1,400 parts per million (“ppm”) for lead contamination. But when current owner Northern Pacific Center (“NPC”) wanted to redevelop […]

Chiropractors Gone Wild…

Sometimes the coincidence of a couple of court decisions released around the same time can cause one to wonder. Two recent decisions involving alleged misbehavior by chiropractors (here and here).

$580,000 E-Discovery Bill NOT OK (then, on reconsideration, OK)

Ever spent some aggravating minutes when you have little or no time to spare looking for a document on a messy desk? Imagine having to find a document somewhere among, say, 35,000 desks… E-discovery is to large U.S. litigation like air traffic control is to modern aviation. You don’t want to think very much about […]

St. Louis Park Pawn Shop Regulation Withstands Three Court Challenges

As previously covered on Minnesota Litigator here, Plaintiff Pawn America was well on its way to opening a pawn shop in St. Louis Park (“SLP”) but residents got wind of the plan, voiced their opposition, and SLP’s Mayor and City Council imposed an “interim moratorium” on the issuance of pawn shop licences, stopping Pawn America […]

The Cascade of Business Challenges & Litigation

A recent denial of a motion for summary judgment before U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson (Sr. Judge, D. Minn.) provides a good illustration of how the domino sequence of our recent economic collapse has generated litigation. And the decision, perhaps, also illustrates why it might sometimes be in the interest of your business […]

Brian Williams Prevails (for the most part) in Heins Mills Appeal of Jury Verdict

As previously covered here on Minnesota Litigator, Brian Williams argued before a Hennepin County jury that he sacrificed a great deal in reliance on a representation by his then-employer Heins Mills & Olson (HMO) that he would receive 5% of the class action bonanza enjoyed by that firm in the AOL Time Warner securities fraud […]

Deadlines matter (and, again, so do local rules)…

From time to time, Minnesota courts remind us that case schedules are sometimes read and applied strictly. In the long-standing District of Minnesota case of Nicollet Cattle Co. v. United Food Group (“UFG”), U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim (D. Minn.) recently issued the latest reminder. In November, 2009, UFG changed trial lawyers and […]

Breaking: 35W Bridge Settlement with URS Engineers ($52.4 million)

StarTribune has the story. This was announced within the hour at Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, which represented a number of the victims.

Minnesota Litigator

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