Minnesota Litigator
News & Commentary
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Riding on coat-tails or getting what’s due: Thomsen v. Famous Dave’s of America Appeal
[UPDATE: U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank (D. Minn.) affirmed (relatively quickly) in this case.] Plaintiff Allen R. Thomsen, doing business as AJ Sign Company was involved with the Famous Dave’s of America BBQ restaurant chain in the early days. Back in 1995, Thomsen worked with Famous Dave’s “flagship” Linden Hills Twin City location on […]
Litigation Gamble Comes Up Snake Eyes
Defendant FMI, a resident of California, was sued in Iowa. At the outset FMI raised the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction and lost at the U.S District Court level (Bennett, J., U.S. Dist. Ct. N.D. Iowa). As all experienced litigators know, this is not an immediately appealable final judgment. Apparently highly confident that […]
Not the kind of litigation expected from a mishap during surgery…
According to allegations of cardiologist Dr. Antoine Khoury, during a surgical procedure that he was conducting (a coronary angiogram), a nurse moved a large machine suspended from a ceiling track in such a way that it posed a risk of hitting the patient. Dr. Khoury moved quickly, grabbing the device to prevent a collision, and, […]
A Futile Attempt To Get Outta Town…
ELA Medical, based in Colorado, but with Minnesota offices, distributes pacemakers, defibrillators, and related equipment. It entered into a sales rep agreement with Advanced Cardiac Consultants (“ACC”) to sell such devices in Florida. Then came allegations and investigations of kickbacks to physicians down there in Florida, followed by the termination of ACC, followed by litigation […]
Reversal of Fortune: A “180” for U.S. Bank
Back in 2000, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. offered certain high net worth employees the opportunity essentially to borrow money and, with that borrowed money, invest in a U.S. Bancorp Piper investment fund. The loans were to be 50% “recourse” and 50% “non-recourse,” meaning that some of the debt would be repayable only from proceeds […]
Faegre & Benson: Debt Collectors??? Are you? Is your law firm?
[UPDATE: Faegre wastes no time in moving for summary judgment.] Faegre & Benson has been sued in U.S. District Court (D. Minn.) on a claim under the fair debt collection practices act (FDCPA), which regulates “debt collectors” (complaint: here; exhibits: here). Without taking a position on the merits of that lawsuit (tempting though it is), […]
Train Kept A-Rollin’ All Night Long…
[UPDATE: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed trial court dismissal of replevin action as barred by the statute of limitation, issuing the opinion on June 2, 2010.] On April 17, 1939, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad gave retired, historic (1905) “Camelback” steam locomotive #952 to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society […]
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Mayo Clinic Challenge to Social Security Tax on Medical Residents
In reporting today on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on an issue of a criminal defendant’s Miranda rights, the Wall Street Journal mentioned at the end of the piece that the Court granted a petition for writ of certiorari of the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota appealing from a U.S. Court of Appeals […]
Minnesota Supreme Court Revives Case Alleging Repressed Memory of Intrafamily Sexual Abuse
As covered previously by Minnesota Litigator, Mary Lickteig brought a complaint in 2007 against her brother in which she alleged that in 2005 she recovered repressed memories of sexual abuse in the 1970’s. Sr. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson threw the case out in July of 2008, holding that Minnesota provided Ms. Lickteig with […]
If you want it, I don’t (even if I did before you did)…
Litigation can sometimes make for some interesting reversals of positions as in the case of Percic v. European Autowerks, dba Autopia, in which plaintiffs brought their putative TCPA class action (federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act) in Minnesota state court, defendant removed it to federal court, then defendant changed its mind and sought to have the […]