Minnesota Litigator
News & Commentary
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How to Defect to a Competing Company and How Not to?
Pacific Union v. Dingman is a generic example of “brain raid” litigation that we have covered several times. What makes this case different is the alleged breadth of the exodus. This was not a small number of employees. It appears to have been an entire region of Pacific Union’s mortgage lending business de-camping and pitching their […]
“Respect” and a Free Speech vs. Free Speech Puzzle (Continued…)
Update (February 10, 2018): In the face of Edina High School’s motion to dismiss, it looks as if the Edina High School Young Conservatives Club, having made its publicity splash with their lawsuit, will now quietly slink away in a quick settlement. Original post (January 26, 2018): Following up on Monday’s post, we got Edina High […]
The Warning Shot, Unheeded, Judge Schiltz Lowers the Boom on Plaintiff’s Counsel
Update (February 9, 2018): We have covered Naca v. Macalester at some length and the conduct of Plaintiff’s attorney, Mr. Peter Nickitas. The way this case has been prosecuted might yield many useful practice pointers in how NOT to practice law in U.S. District Court. The Court [(U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, D. Minn.)]…finds […]
On Reputation & Lawyering: Fixing Minnesota Ethics Rules
Update (February 9, 2018): If you are late to the game, you (and all of us) must confront the painful truth: the “world-wide web” is a world-wide fetid cesspool of information, misinformation, distortion, and propaganda. Lawyers and all people are vulnerable to unjustified and unfair personal attacks. The cost of disseminating defamation has never been […]
Does Award of “Conduct-Based Attorneys’ Fees” Deter Misconduct in Litigation?
In a recent post, we lamented the existence of “zombie cases” — cases where there seem to be no genuine disagreements either as to the facts or the law but the cases persist anyhow for one reason or another (often because a litigant is simply delaying the inevitable). One solution, we suggested, is the more liberal […]
Police Use of Force Found Reasonable as a Matter of Law
The refrain in The Message by Grandmaster Flash (1982) goes like this: Don’t push me, ’cause I’m close to the edge/I’m trying not to lose my head/It’s like a jungle sometimes/It makes me wonder how I keep from going under… Most if not all of us are pushed, we are tried, and we are stressed. […]
The Punctilio of an Honor the Most Sensitive
The jurist Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938) used the most florid speech of any famous American judge and his description of “fiduciary duties” has been quoted thousands of times because it is quirky and therefore memorable: When it comes to people who owe other people a fiduciary duty (such as business partners), “not honesty alone but, the […]
When Do We Get Paid for Hosting The Super Bowl?
Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area residents are putting up with quite a lot of disruption due to the upcoming NFL championship football game and one has to wonder what we are getting in return? In particular, what about Minnesota lawyers? Don’t they deserve a little bump, a little compensation, for putting up with this extravagant spectacle? […]
More Thoughts on Zombie Cases and Our Broken Legal System
Update (January 24, 2018): Viking Forest Products, LLC v. Twin Mills Timber & Tie Company, Inc. is a nauseating case. The allegations in the case were that Defendant Twin Mills Timber & Tie sold Viking Forest Products non-existent “crane mats” (used in the construction industry as stabilizing pads and bridging for the movement and operation […]
“Respect” and a Free Speech vs. Free Speech Puzzle
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to free speech (among other critical rights, of course) and even speech that many of us find abhorrent. Many find disrespecting the national flag or refusing to stand during the pledge of allegiance abhorrent but that is protected “symbolic speech.” “It is poignant but fundamental […]