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.

Lawsuit Victories Can Mask Moral Failings

Sylabus [sic] When the business entities that were utilized in a Ponzi scheme filed for bankruptcy, a plaintiff lender-investor lacks authority to bring fraud-related claims arising out of the Ponzi scheme against an earlier lender-investor, absent an allegation of an injury separate and distinct from an injury suffered by the entities. Such fraud-related cause of action [sic] is derivative […]

Innocence, Imprisonment, & “Exoneration Remedies”

Danna Back dated someone on and off for several years who, in judicial opinons, goes by the name of “D.H.”  Back and D.H.’s was a rocky relationship and in 2006 Back moved out of the house that they co-owned and shared. Then Ms. Back started dating Nick Super who appears to have toxically combined anger management issues […]

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange et al. Could Have Reasonably Foreseen Being Haled….

Personal jurisdiction jurisprudence in the 21st century is something of a pet peeve of mine (most recent post here (linking to still more posts)). To decide whether they can impose jurisdiction over a party, courts analyze whether the party could “reasonably foresee” being “haled” into a court within the jurisdiction. My most recent post on the […]

More on Trial as Theater

Update (October 20, 2016): Here is the Shattuck school’s response to the motion for one trial by three plaintiffs, all allegedly sexually abused by the same Shattuck teacher (I discuss plaintiffs’ motion to consolidate in the original post): From Shattuck’s perspective, the Motion to Consolidate for Trial is a prejudicial attempt to create a montage of a […]

Timing for Amending Pleadings

Most lay people and many novice litigators do not know what “pleadings” are. I did not know when I started practicing in the year of the first flip phone, the Motorola StarTAC, and 20 years B.T. (before the reign of Emperor Trump the Terrible). When I started working as a lawyer, the firms where I worked kept “pleadings” in a “pleadings folder” […]

Minnesota Litigator Name-That-Courthouse Contest

Be the first person to name the courthouse and win a $10 gift card. (Put the answer in a comment to this post.) (And, no, this was not a set from the dystopian movie classic, Brazil,  but maybe it could have been.)

A Reminder of the Need for “Civil Gideon”?

Update (October 14, 2016): The Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought suit against Mr. Louks for securities fraud in September 2015. The SEC accuses Mr. Louks of defrauding some 90 “investors” in FiberPoP, a bogus “investment opportunity.” This is a civil action, not a criminal prosecution. Therefore, Mr. Louks is not entitled to the appointment […]

When is Enough Enough?

I recently posted about an 81-page complaint that U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.) threw out of court, finding it to have been a violation of Rule 8, the federal rule requiring that complaints be “short” and “plain.” What about a 48-page complaint in a class action? Too long? Too short? Plaintiffs […]

A Rare Bad Prediction by Minnesota Litigator

Update (October 5, 2016): From time to time, I brag about Minnesota Litigator successful predictions (here and here, for example). In fairness to readers, I have to fess up and take my lumps when my predictions fail. I thought that Exergy’s defenses to Fagen’s lawsuit were worse than anemic from the get-go but U.S. District Court Judge […]

Thoughts on Legal Blogging & Lawyer Marketing

Update (October 5, 2016): To the list of large Minnesota law firm blogs in the original post, below, you can now add Robins Kaplan! At least, as of today, Robins Kaplan is disseminating an email allowing people like me to “subscribe” to their blog posts. Judging from the fare on the Robins Kaplan site as of […]