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.

Credit is due.

Hennepin County District Court Chief Judge Ivy S. Bernhardson issued an order this week that got broad attention in the media because it dealt with a family fight over tens of millions of dollars and a locally familiar supermarket chain (Lunds & Byerlys). The media pay attention to such cases because most of us are fascinated […]

Give Me Champerty or Give Me Death

Update (June 2, 2017): The prohibition of “champerty” —  the sale of a share of one’s interest in a lawsuit to “a stranger” —  may seem antiquated to many (and bad policy to some) but it is clearly alive and well in Minnesota. In the post below, we were critical of Minnesota courts’ prohibition of […]

Civil Litigators & Language

Lawyers who specialize in civil litigation spend most of their days writing. We have heard it said that U.S. lawyers, collectively, are the highest-paid professional writers in the country and there might be truth to that. Some lawyers get playful with language. A federal judge made up a word and, over time, others adopted the […]

Will the Court Postpone a High Profile Case to Accommodate Plaintiff’s Enrollment in Summer School?

Update (May 31, 2017): We just learned today that, on May 26, the day of our most recent post on Rumble v. Fairview Health Services, et al., (below), the case settled on confidential terms. Plaintiff’s tenuous motion for a continuance of trial filed on 5/23 could not have been helpful leverage for Plaintiff in settlement […]

Honor the Sacrifices of Service Members

Minnesota Litigator wishes its readers a happy Memorial Day.

The Challenge of Seeking Vindication for Baseless Lies in Minnesota

If I wish to harm a person’s reputation, what is to stop me from simply making things up (for example, that the person was involved in a far-reaching financial fraud, that the person engages in bizarre sexual conduct, that the person is a pathological liar)? Obviously, such allegations are serious and harmful. They could form the […]

Sweat the Small Stuff

In our minds, many trial lawyers like to think of ourselves as warriors, clashing our weapons and out-maneuvering our adversaries. Some of us imagine ourselves in an epic struggle of good against evil, a pitched battle for nothing less than Justice — a transcendent reckoning, an adjustment or realignment of reality so that a wrong […]

The “Ace up the Sleeve” and Civil Litigation Strategy

The lawsuit, Transport Drivers, Inc. v. Coca Cola Refreshments USA Inc. (“TDI” v. “CCR”), in the U.S. District Court (D. Minn.), is a generic and stunningly boring contract dispute (like many others, admittedly). In a nutshell: A predecessor of CCR made a promise to a predecessor of TDI in 1985. CCR and TDI made later promises […]

McFadden v. Ameriprise: An Alleged $15 Million Fleecing

Dallas Cowboy running back, Darren McFadden, has brought suit in Little Rock, Arkansas against Ameriprise, alleging that an Ameriprise financial adviser stole millions of dollars from McFadden. The Star Tribune reported the story late in the evening two days ago. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal picked up the story (noting and linking to the Strib’s story) […]

Health Insurance Policies and External Reviewer Decisions—How Do They Integrate?

[NOTE: Notwithstanding the auto-populated “by-line,” above and to the left, the post below is by an eminent Minnesota ERISA benefits litigator and counselor, Kate Mackinnon (pictured to the left, from her 2014 Minnesota Litigator profile).]   What does it mean that a Minnesota health insurer is bound by a decision of an external review organization? In […]