Minnesota Litigator
News & Commentary
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On-Going Exploration of U.S. Supreme Court’s More Rigorous Pleading Rules
As all U.S. civil litigators and regular readers of Minnesota Litigator know, the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years has substantially ratcheted up the requirements for pleading a complaint in federal court (see here, for example). What about the responsive pleadings — that is, answers to complaints (and, in particular, affirmative defenses raised by defendants)? […]
An Important Decision for Minnesota In-House Counsel re: Whistle-blowing
[UPDATE: This story’s gotten some national attention along with coverage generally of in-house counsel’s access (or restrictions) to the protections of whistle-blower laws under various states’ laws.] After a very long gestation, the Minnesota Supreme Court has finally issued its decision in Kidwell v. Sybaritic. The delay can be explained by virtue of the fact […]
D’OH! Another Plaintiffs’ Class Action Firm Caught Nibbling on Forbidden Fruit…
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 […]
Twombly Notwithstanding, Plaintiffs Survive SuperValu Motion to Dismiss Antitrust Action
After Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, U.S. civil litigators know that pleading requirements in federal court have been ratcheted up substantially, and probably in no area of law more than in the antitrust context, that is, the context of Twombly itself. In the antitrust case brought against SuperValu pending before U.S. District Court Judge Ann D. […]
Preliminary Approval of Settlement of Best Buy Class Action re Dryer Vent Installation
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 […]
When is tenacity sanctionable?
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 […]
Lyle Berman & Lakes Entertainment….Next Stop, St. Louis?
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 […]
Stare Decisis Has Its Limits…
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 […]
Seeking Court Award of Attorneys’ Fees? Get Ready for Serious Billing Scrutiny…
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 […]
University of Minnesota Law School’s Release of Darrow Letters: The Digital Collection
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 […]