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.
How Hard Do Minnesota Whistle-blowers Have to Blow Their Whistles?
Update (August 9, 2017): A significant win for Minnesota whistle-blowers this week! An employee who confronts his boss about his boss’ illegal conduct and, as a result, is fired may be considered a whistle-blower under Minnesota law. In light of a recent amendment to the statute, the “good faith” requirement for a whistle-blower does not […]
A Hard Look at Minnesota Lawyer Discipline
A personal injury plaintiff’s lawyer (“PI Guy”) takes a contingent fee case for a car accident victim (“Vic”). PI Guy explains to Vic that PI Guy “would not pursue litigation” for Vic’s case. But PI Guy makes a settlement demand on Vic’s behalf of $50,000 on the adversary insurance company. Adversary counters with an offer […]
Legislators Do the Darnedest Things…
If you were a state legislator, what laws would you try to pass? What laws would you try to repeal or amend? You might not have spent a lot of time thinking about it and these might be tough questions to answer quickly. It seems that the closest thing to a correct answer (if cynical […]
There are Limits to Protections Afforded to On-Line Exposés…
Update (July 28, 2017): A free-lance writer published criticisms on-line of Guruji Mahendra Trivedi, a man who claims to be a miracle worker, of sorts (“an ordinary man – with an extraordinary ability”). Our courts have held that most of the writer’s criticisms enjoyed heightened protection from defamation claims because Mr. Trivedi is a “limited-purpose […]
Who Can Sue Under a Fake Name?
Update (July 28, 2017): A Minnesota lawyer and Hawaiian dance performer (along with her father) was allegedly spied on while changing costumes at a company party apparently hosted by Empire Entertainment, L.L.C., d/b/a The Pourhouse. Ew. If this person wants to bring a lawsuit in connection with this invasion of privacy, must she go forward […]
Minnesota Litigator Profile: Kristine Kubes
There are not many Minnesota civil litigators in private practice with as specific of a focus and practice area as Kristine Kubes. Kristine is a construction litigator and, even more focused than that, she specifically represents design and construction professionals – contractors, architects, engineers, interior designers – “one side of the table,” as she calls […]
A Big Bank Defense of Its Role in the Mortgage Meltdown
In car manufacturing, some manufacturers and, more specifically, certain models enjoy solid reputations of dependability. Imagine a scenario where, over several years, the manufacturer of such a highly respected model starts cutting expenses and investment in the model (that is, lowers quality), while keeping the price the same, or even increasing it a bit (thus […]
Machinery Machinations
Andrew Archer sold a wholly-owned company to Bulldog Holdings. Part of the deal, from Archer’s perspective, was that Bulldog Holdings would continue to sell machines that included Archer’s retained intellectual property and Bulldog would be obligated to pay royalties back to Archer upon sale of the machines. Another part of the deal, of value to […]
Millions of Dollars Spent Litigating a Dispute Over Eight Years, All for Nothing.
Update #6 (July 19, 2017): The lawsuit, described below, has to be one of the most dramatic reversals and one of the greatest failures of our legal system we have ever seen. After litigating a case for years, Plaintiff Great Lakes Gas Transmission won a jury verdict of $37.8 million in U.S. District Court. Then, […]
Purple Pain
Lawyers acting for the personal representative of Prince (whom we will call “Prince’s lawyers” for convenience) have their sights on Mr. George Ian Boxill, a mixing and recording engineer, who allegedly had five unpublished Prince recordings when Prince died in April, 2016. The recordings, Prince’s lawyers contend, belong to Prince’s estate, not to Boxill, and […]