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.
Sanctions on Boston Scientific for Late Disclosure of Potential Key Witnesses
Higgins v. Boston Scientific (“BS”) is a qui tam case (a kind of whistle-blower case) against BS in connection with alleged defects in a couple of cardiac defibrillator devices (Cognis and Teligen). A major bone of contention in the potentially multi-million dollar lawsuit is what BS disclosed to the FDA (and what it concealed from […]
Yet Another Brain Raid…
Update (February 21, 2020): The overpowering and acrid smell emanating from the linked reply brief is a toasted adversary, if we are not mistaken. We started keeping our eyes on vRad v. Rabern with the observation that things looked one-sided and bad for Mr. Rabern. With the help of his excellent lawyers, we up-graded his […]
Trust, Lawyers, and Clients
We were recently hired by a new client (YAY!) and the new client was quite blunt in expressing her concerns and reservations, based on previous past bad experiences with other lawyers. “How can we be sure you’re not over-billing us?” “How can we be sure we’re not going to get socked with a huge bill […]
Practice Pointer: How Not To Do A Privilege Log…
When you’re facing challenges to entries on your privilege log (if you don’t know what a privilege log is, scroll down to the bottom of this post), here are words or concepts you do not want to read in a Magistrate Judge’s ruling after in camera review of withheld documents listed on your privilege log: […]
Yet Another Brain Raid…
No one knows better than trial lawyers and judges that “there are two sides to every story” (at least two sides, actually). But, as with all adages, this adage is just wrong in some cases. The latest “brain raid” case of Virtual Radiologic (“vRad”) v. Rabern is looking pretty one-sided at the moment. According to […]
Too Good To be True (And Another Reminder About Improper “Motions To Strike”)
Nancy and Monti Moreno borrowed $333,700 from a mortgage lender to buy a house and a barn in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota in 2004. They failed to make payments on the loan. The lender, Wells Fargo, brought a lawsuit to foreclose on the property. In that proceeding, in 2015, the court held that the […]
A Brief Note on the UCC Statute of Frauds
A contract for the sale of goods for the price of $500 or more is not enforceable … unless there is some writing sufficient to indicate that a contract for sale has been made between the parties and signed by the party against whom enforcement is sought…. A writing is not insufficient because it omits or incorrectly states a term agreed upon but […]
An Attorney Discipline, The Scourge of Alcoholism, & The Road to Recovery
The recent news of an 18-month suspension from the practice of law of Minnesota lawyer, Jon Eric Paulson, is worthy of note for two reasons: (1) the broad scope of his alleged wrong-doing; and (2) the concurrence of Justice Ann McKeig (joined by Justices Lillehaug and Hudson): Before being appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, […]
Retired Federal Judge James Rosenbaum, Now Class Action Plaintiff
Long-time Minnesota litigators all know retired U.S. District Court Judge James M. Rosenbaum (D. Minn.). (Here is our interview with him from about five years ago.) How many of us would have predicted that, after his retirement from the bench, he’d opt for being the named plaintiff in a consumer class action? Not me. I […]
“It’s Hard to Say Good-bye When You Won’t Let me Leave.”
Update (January 22, 2020): Closing the loop on the post below, this week U.S. District Court Judge John R. Tunheim (Chief Judge) affirmed Judge Bowbeer’s decision allowing Taft Stettinius & Hollister (fka Briggs & Morgan) to withdraw. Judge Tunheim made short work of it, largely relying the highly deferential standard owed to magistrate judge decisions […]