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.
Computer Forensics, Costs, Subpoenas in a Criminal Case
Earlier, Minnesota Litigator covered the fight between Michael Afremov on one side and Computer Forensic Services and Mark Lanterman, on the other in state court over the substantial expense of Lanterman’s work as a computer forensics expert (data storage costs, specifically). The fight has another (federal??) front: an order from U.S. District Court Mag. Judge […]
Give ’em Credit for Tenacity…
One of the more heavily reported pieces of civil litigation in the U.S. District Court, D. Minn., by Minnesota Litigator has been the lawsuit brought by Lyle Berman and Lakes Entertainment against the famed securities fraud class action litigation firm Milberg L.L.P., Bill Lerach, and others (see entries here). To recap: Berman and Lakes Entertainment […]
Securities Fraud Case Revived on Appeal: No Scienter Under State Securities Statute
Under Minnesota Statute 80A.01/80A.68 (repealed and recodified in 2006), in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of a security, directly or indirectly, it is unlawful: a) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud; b) to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state material facts necessary in […]
“Reasonable Accommodations” — A Question for a Jury
[UPDATE: Trial is set for August 24 according to today’s press release by plaintiffs’ counsel] Defendants Celestica Corporation and Adecco USA sought summary judgment to defeat claimed violations of the Civil Rights Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act arising out of their alleged failure to accommodate the needs of 21 Plaintiff Muslim workers and […]
An Appeal For Support
From time to time, we are reminded that lawyers’ work is often adversarial to the point of escalating to tragic violence, most often, it seems, in the context of family law. The following is a forwarded message from Susan Sheely sent out by Kim Dresser of the Minnesota State Bar Association: **** Most, if not […]
Discovery Sanction & Law Firm Debt Collectors/Attorney-Client Privilege
A recent order by U.S. Magistrate Arthur Boylan (D. Minn.) is worthy of note in several respects. First, a lawyer actually appears to have argued that creating and producing a privilege log to the opposing party violates Minnesota Rules of Professional Responsibility. Second, Judge Boylan addresses the subtler question of what communications between a creditor […]
When You’re Happy to Pay a Late Fee…
Plaintiff Bernice Gainer brought a product liability claim against Mylan Pharmaceuticals arising from alleged injuries from the generic version of the drug, Dilantin, and its active ingredient Phenytoin. Gainer was diagnosed with Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN). These conditions required lengthy and painful treatment, including a skin graft, and allegedly left Plaintiff with permanent […]
ACLU v. Tarek Ibn Zayad Academy: Dispute over Scope of Protective Order
[UPDATE: Mag. Judge Jeanne Graham (D. Minn.) rejects the defendant’s theory of the breadth of privilege from discovery but provides a procedure to evaluate a subset of some of the privilege claims made.] Arguing for a protective order of a scope and breadth that this author’s not seen before, counsel for Taren Ibn Zayad Academy […]
When Negligence Plays Out Unpredictably: A Modern Day Palsgraf Case in Minnesota
The vast majority of American lawyers started their careers reading the 1928 Palsgraf case in law school which concerned whether Helen Palsgraf could recover from a railroad for her injuries caused by a passenger getting on a train, jostled by railroad workers, which dislodged the package, which fell to the tracks, which contained fireworks, which […]
Don’t Monkey With Money in Client Trust Accounts
In a few weeks, Jo M. Fairbairn of the law firm of Kinney & Lange must respond to the Office for Lawyers Professional Responsibility petition for disciplinary action in connection with alleged improper treatment of client funds in the client trust account. The press release is here. There are allegations of “inadvertent misappropriation” as well as […]