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.
Donaldson Co.: Filtration & Litigation
Last September, Minnesota Litigator noted that Donaldson Co., along with Team Gross, was again launching into battle with old foe Baldwin Filters in patent litigation (complaint : here). (Today, incidentally, counsel for Baldwin has moved to amend the scheduling order in that case and also moved for sanctions against Donaldson. The memorandum was filed under […]
Birds of a Feather, Fire Together?
Defendant/employer LSI Corporation is alleged to have terminated one employee because LSI had terminated her husband — the alleged rationale being that one assumes the “surviving spouse” might harbor some ill feeling at the fate of her terminated husband. (Also LSI is alleged to have reasoned that the husband would probably have to relocate so […]
Did Birchwood Jump the Gun? Shooting Targets, Standing, and Declaratory Judgments
When you have intense commercial competition and intellectual property rights, there are times when the question is not WHETHER there will be IP litigation but when and where (Apple vs. Android is as good an example as any.) In the business of “reactive targets,” shooting targets with layered paper and inks to make “hits” more […]
Sunbeam Burnt: No Summary Judgment for Tragic Products Liability Case
Virginia Quist escaped her burning Richfield, Minnesota home alive (but with third-degree burns); her husband did not survive the fire. Virginia had been using a Sunbeam heating pad, put it aside, fell asleep, and woke up to flames and smoke. The Quist family has sued Sunbeam. Sunbeam raised several defenses to escape the case […]
First Amendment and Public Hiring
Hypothetical: if a City were hiring police officers, would it violate the First Amendment if it declined to hire a candidate because the candidate had been openly and publicly critical of the city? From the sound of the hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit last week in Dempsey v. City […]
The Holy Sue: Jeff Anderson’s Suit against the Pope
Minnesota lawyers took on Big Tobacco, with spectacular success and now Minnesota attorney, Jeff Anderson, takes on another rather formidable opponent, the Holy See. Anderson’s complaint is here, and a list of media links is here. There is more to the parallel than the David v. Goliath angle. In both situations, the lawyers have had […]
Minnesota Supreme Court Win for Debt Collectors
As civil litigators who track federal dockets know, a substantial volume of lawsuits are filed every month based on violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The statute is strictly construed and applied, calls for fee-shifting, and woe to the debt collector who communicates by post-card or otherwise violates the statute’s many rules about […]
Jill Clark v. Mark Ritchie: Challenging Minnesota Law on Appointment/Election of Judges
Argument (Jill Clark for petitioners, Alan Gilbert for respondents) before the Minnesota Supreme Court: April 20. Brief description: here. Minnesota Constitution: here. (Check out Article VI, Sections 7-8.) Clark challenges the Governor’s right to appoint a person to fill a vacancy. Gilbert argues that the Governor not only can appoint someone but has a constitutional […]
U.S. District Court Judge James M. Rosenbaum (D. Minn.) Stepping Down
Here is the Star Tribune coverage and here is the Pioneer Press. Just about every Minnesota civil litigator has a story about being before U.S. District Court Judge James M. Rosenbaum, often about his wit and his directness, either on the receiving end of same or, generally preferably, as an innocent bystander. A recent example […]
Marty Ginsburg v. InBev: Anheuser Busch Anti-Merger Litigation (past “last call”?)
Arguing for the plaintiffs who lost on a motion to dismiss before the U.S. District Court (E.D. Mo.), was Joseph Alioto, Jr. (of famed San Francisco lineage) before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (James B. Loken, Myron Bright, Roger Wollman). Alioto argued emphatically that the ruling on a motion to dismiss […]