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.
Anti-Consumerist Zombies Getting Some Walking-Around Money
As covered previously on Minnesota Litigator, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit revived claims of anti-consumerist protesters (dressed as “zombies”). The City of Minneapolis faced a lawsuit for its treatment of seven protesters who peacefully sought to protest our consumerist, materialistic culture. The City had prevailed before U.S. District Court Judge Joan […]
Minnesota Insurance Law & Interstate Trucking
On June 30, 2005, a trucker rolled his rig in Carlton County, Minnesota and his passenger was injured, her arm amputated as a result of the accident. Multiple insurance policies arguably provided coverage for the passenger’s liability claims against the trucker and the company for whom he was hauling at the time. You might be […]
Good Luck Getting Punitive Damages in Minnesota
On paper, the legal hurdle for obtaining punitive damages in civil litigation in Minnesota does not look very high. As all Minnesota civil litigators know, one’s original complaint must not include a claim for punitive damages. One must bring a motion to amend the complaint to add one. When bringing that motion, one only needs […]
Medtronic Loses in Gambit to Hire St. Jude Exec
Twin Cities employment lawyer and blogger T.J. Conley analyzes the decision and its import against Medtronic and in favor of St. Jude Medical. Conley concludes that Ramsey County Judge M. Michael Monahan got it right, though the case broke no new legal ground. A commenter to TJ’s blog chimed in, “Who was the mystery lawyer […]
New Twist on the “Non-Signing Spouse” Cases (The “Unwitting Non-Spouse”?)
Regular Minnesota Litigator readers are familiar with several cases over the past couple of years in which, during the current mortgage foreclosure tsunami, some home-owners have challenged foreclosures against them for lack of a signature of a spouse on the mortgage without which the security interest may be invalid. (Their challenges have had mixed success.) […]
Lessons from a Legal Mess
[UPDATE : This week the Minnesota Supreme Court denied the petition for review of the Murrin v. Mosher appellate court decision, a case orginally discussed below on Minnesota Litigator back in March, 2010.] Minnesota Litigator aspires to provide a one-stop source for news and developments in Minnesota state and federal courts, whether about particular cases, […]
Immediate appeal of a denial of a motion to dismiss?
Minnesota Litigator recently covered the U.S. District Court (D. Minn., Frank, J.) denial of law firm defendant’s motion to dismiss in a case of alleged professional malpractice, highlighting the Court’s strong disapproval of the moving party’s tone (Minnesota Litigator also covered the earlier dismissal of plaintiffs’ case with leave to amend) in the case of […]
The Flipside of Trial By Ambush… (When is the remedy worse than the illness?)
On television, as the courtroom drama reaches its climax, the doors in the back of the courtroom bang open and, lo and behold, the key witness, long thought dead or nonexistent, radically alters the trial’s dynamics and outcome. In the real world, such scenarios are anathema. The proverbial “trial by ambush” is to be avoided […]
“Whereas ‘recital clauses’ mean nothing….”
It is a convention of many contractual agreements to begin with a title, a very brief sentence identifying the contracting parties and the date, followed by “recitals,” followed by “the agreement.” “Recitals” often are numbered and start with “Whereas,” as in, “Whereas the Party A has a broken car, Whereas Party B is a mechanic…” […]
“Sorry, Buddy, your money’s too good here… scram…getouttahere”
[UPDATE: ML Readers will recall this case in which Gander Mountain took issue with a credit card vendor that allegedly refuses to pay an agreed-upon card-holder “bounty” for customers who are unprofitable for the card company (i.e., they pay off their card balances, incurring no penalties and paying no interest). Now World Financial Network National […]