Minnesota Litigator
News & Commentary
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$280,000 in Fees Denied for $14,800 Claim (Bombastic Lawyers: Proceed with Caution)
Plaintiff Willcox brought an ERISA case against Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston and she won on summary judgment. The case went up on appeal. Plaintiff prevailed on that appeal. Then, when the case went back down to U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson (D. Minn.) for a statutory award of attorneys’ fees for the […]
Unallotment Before the Minnesota Supreme Court
As has been widely reported in state news, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard argument on Monday in the “unallotment” case (video of argument here). The issue, in a nutshell: when the legislature passes laws distributing public funds and the state Constitution mandates a balanced budget, may the Governor, unilaterally and without meaningful limits on the […]
Payday for Plaintiffs’ Counsel: $5.445 Million Fees OKAY’d for Hormone Replacement Therapy Class Action
Over an objection by a member of the plaintiffs’ class, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kyle, Sr. (D. Minn.) issued an order approving attorneys fees in Yarrington v. Solvay Pharmaceuticals to the class action plaintiffs’ counsel (Gustafson Gluek, PLLC, Lieff Cabraser)– $5.445 million for about 5,450 hours of work over six years. That’s awfully close […]
Accommodating Tourette Syndrome and OCD for the LSAT
Tourette Syndrome can be an extremely debilitating condition (the subject of a documentary, Twitch & Shout, excerpted here) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a more widely known and more widely suffered severe disability. The questions in Olin v. Law School Admission Council are essentially, what accommodations must the LSAC give to test-takers with Tourette […]
Spring-cleaning: Jani-King Disposes of a Class Action
Jani-King sells commercial cleaning franchises to individuals (and, from the names of plaintiffs, appear to have had something of a foothold in the Minnesota Hmong community along with other immigrant communities). Proposed class action plaintiffs felt deceived by defendants Jani-King of Minnesota, Jani-King International and others, alleging that (1) many of the accounts offered to […]
National Arbitration Forum: “I’ve Fallen Down and I Can’t Get Up…”
An earlier post highlighted a “smackdown” in which the NAF received a stinging denial on a motion to dismiss (here). Unsurprisingly, the NAF would like to put the brakes on everything while they appeal the denial of their motion to dismiss. Not going to happen. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson does not seem to […]
Breaking News: $700 Million Dog
Dennis Hecker settles the Bankruptcy Trustee’s suit against him seeking the non-dischargeability of over $700 million in debt in exchange for the Trustee’s giving a dog he bought for his girlfriend back to his girlfriend. “[P]arting with an interest in the dog is a worthwhile exchange for denial of debtor’s discharge.”
Right to a Jury ≠ Right to No Jury???
Criminal defendants’ right to a jury is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and in the Minnesota Constitution. If the criminal defendant has a constitutionally protected right to a jury before his peers, does he also have the constitutional right to waive the jury trial? Or can the prosecution insist on a jury? Today, the Minnesota […]
“People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?”/ Why Does Civil Litigation Cost So Much?
Back in 1992, the City of Los Angeles was engulfed in riot and flames after the video-taped police-beating of Rodney King who, on the third day of the rioting, went on television and implored, “People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?” 53 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, […]
Criminal Prosecution of Putative Petters Judge Briber Affirmed, Notwithstanding Impossibility
Back in late 2008, Derrick Riddle appears to have thought he would be able to score some serious cash by proposing that he would facilitate a bribe of Thomas Petters’ trial judge for Petters’ criminal case. There were more than a few problems with the scheme, not the least of which was that, at the […]