Minnesota Litigator
News & Commentary
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Tracking Down Dollars…Someone’s Gotta Do It…
Among civil litigators, the variety of legal practice is staggering. It is hard to believe that we think of ourselves as having the same job. In fact, we most certainly do not. Many lawyers at Messerli & Kramer do debt collection work (like Josh Hasko in the case discussed in this post), for example. These […]
Hansmeier/Steele, Guava/Prenda Coda: The Tail of a Sad Tale…
Update (September 11, 2017): Mr. Hansmeier’s public defender’s efforts to dismiss the 18-count indictment against Mr. Hansmeier were unsuccessful (denial of motion, last week, linked here). Few, if any, will feel sympathy for Mr. Hansmeier who, essentially, uploaded pornography onto the internet, made it accessible for download at no cost, and then used the court […]
He Sad/She Sad, The Next Big Wave?
Minnesota Litigator has received reader feedback that Minnesota Litigator predictions are particularly fun reading. This is likely because lawyers are generally, typically, and frustratingly circumspect and equivocal. Socially and informally, their answers to legal questions often seem to be “good question!,” “maybe so…,” “it depends,” “hard to say,” “I’d need to know more to have […]
BK Lawyers: Show Minnesota Litigator Readers How Smart You Are
Denny Hecker, a car dealership mogul turned convicted criminal (who might be back on the streets any day now), left a lot of people owed money. Our government has several procedures for recovering money on behalf of creditors. One way is through bankruptcy. In criminal proceedings, another way is through orders for restitution. As between […]
Anti-Vax Intuition is Not a Recognized Disability (& The Implications of Ignorance)
Plaintiff Janice Hustvet sued Allina Health System because Allina terminated Hustvet from her job as an Independent Living Specialist (an “ILS”). Allina fired Ms. Hustvet because she refused to get vaccinated against rubella, which was a requirement imposed by Allina for ILS’s who work with immunocompromised people. It appears that Ms. Hustvet was concerned about […]
“[D]isputes-run-amok ground this lawsuit into stalemated trench warfare.”
OW! This is one ugly order. The parties in this case have morphed the rules-driven process of a lawsuit into an unrecognizable kerfuffle fueled by mutual distrust and a paucity of reasonable compromise. The merits of the underlying dispute appear lost to the ether, while the parties struggle as if over a global conflagration on […]
Three Pathways, One Destination: Writs of Certiorari in Minnesota
Writs of certiorari are an important part of the appellate toolbox. Writs of certiorari are their own kind of appeal, and they are not well understood by Minnesota litigators. Certiorari matters are not like the usual civil case that starts in the district court and then proceeds to the appellate courts. These matters instead start […]
Another Minnesota Haircut for Expensive Out-of-State Hired Guns
When out-of-state companies hire out-of-state lawyers with billing rates far beyond what lawyers cost in Minnesota and they seek an award of attorneys’ fees for winning a lawsuit (under a statute that provides for award of attorneys’ fees), our courts often punish them. “You coulda/shoulda hired Minnesota lawyers,”. Arguably, this is protectionism for Minnesota litigators […]
A Close Call on a Sanctions Motion: A Plague o’ Both Your Houses
William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, Act III, Sc. 1. Plaintiff Maria Ramirez-Cruz sued her former employer, Defendant Chipotle. Whether or not she was scheduled for work on particular days was relevant to the case. Defendant Chipotle “initially withheld” scheduling information from its employee shift scheduling (via its computerized MenuLink system) “because it was inaccurate.” Also, […]
E-Spoliation & Hyperbolic Outrage
We’ve covered the issue of fiery florid rhetoric and the distaste that courts generally have for it (“The Persuasive Force of Dispassionate Passion”). The sequence of drafts of our own legal argument sometimes go like this: Draft #1: In suggesting that XYZ case supports their position, opposing counsel and his nauseatingly deceitful client brazenly flout […]