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.
Nominations are Open (Again) for the ABA “Blawg 100”
The American Bar Association (ABA) tapped Minnesota Litigator as a top 100 law blog nationwide in 2012 but since then, it has not made the list, even though I have gotten enormous amounts of positive feedback, mostly from Minnesota lawyers and even some judges (and also from my mother). Kind of like public radio, you get Minnesota Litigator without […]
Who Killed Tristan Seehus?
In February, 2015, thirteen year-old Duluth native, Tristan Seehus, fatally shot himself with a gun. Seehus went to a school where bullying allegedly occurred. A little more than a year before Tristan died, his father posted on Facebook that he was proud of Tristan for standing up to and fighting a schoolmate, who, he said, had […]
A Happy Harbinger of Civil Litigation Cost Containment
Last week, I posted on “CAR,” computer assisted review, as a significant challenge to U.S. civil litigators’ business models. Then I came across a recent “order on discovery of hard copy and electronically stored information” in a civil case (linked here). Looking back on still other Minnesota Litigator posts, I note scores of posts on the high cost […]
The Crime of Password Sharing
We all understand employers chasing departing employees who downloaded company data on their way out the door. We all understand the interest in suing the disloyal rogues (from the employers’ perspective, at least). But do we want to “make a federal case out of it”? Should the feds be involved under these circumstances? When is federal criminal law […]
Robots Hunger for the Jobs of Large Firm Litigation Associates and Paralegals
Check out the linked “Protocol Regarding Computer Assisted Review” (“CAR,” or “HAL”) from the multi-district litigation concerned “Bair [sic] Hugger Forced Air Warming Products,” currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota before U.S. District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen. Technical experts could explain this “protocol” and its underlying methodology far better than I […]
What a Difference a State Makes…
Update (July 13, 2016): An Alabama plaintiff claiming to have been the victim of a tort by a Minnesota-based entity does not get the benefit of Minnesota’s six-year statute of limitation but, rather, must live (and his case must die) with his state’s two-year statute. Update (May 18, 2016): The original post, below, concerned a […]
A Medical Malpractice Case Revived on Appeal
Cary Schirmer noticed something on his back, a “lesion,” some time before November, 2010. He went to a doctor, Dr. Wagner, who diagnosed it as benign seborrheic keratosis (see an example to the left) and the Dr. Wagner removed it using liquid nitrogen. To the right, see examples of malignant melanoma. Note the image to the left, […]
Incarceration Nation (But No Jail Time for Guilty Corporate Executives?)
Update (July 7, 2016): “Egg Executives Lose Appeal Over Prison Sentences.” Original post (October 16, 2015): The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and the vast majority of prisoners in the United States are in prison for non-violent offenses. Many people, world-wide, regard this as nothing less than a repugnant, shameful, […]
Owning Orange
When I mention the color “orange,” I wonder how many people think of Cedar Valley Exteriors (CVE), which repairs roofs, siding, windows, and gutters. CVE holds two service marks (which are more or less like their more familiar sibling, trademarks) for “all shades of the color orange… in any article of clothing or any form of advertisement related to any […]
In Praise of Sanctions (When Appropriate and Proportionate)
Update 2.0 (July 5, 2016): The sanction, discussed below, stands. Hennepin County Judge Mary Vasaly’s denial of the request to file a motion for consideration was terse: NO. Update (July 5, 2016): It is always a risky thing to ask judges to reverse themselves, which is what lawyers are doing when they ask for permission […]