Under Minnesota Statute 80A.01/80A.68 (repealed and recodified in 2006), in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of a security, directly or indirectly, it is unlawful: a) to employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud; b) to make any untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state material facts necessary in […]
A recent order by U.S. Magistrate Arthur Boylan (D. Minn.) is worthy of note in several respects. First, a lawyer actually appears to have argued that creating and producing a privilege log to the opposing party violates Minnesota Rules of Professional Responsibility. Second, Judge Boylan addresses the subtler question of what communications between a creditor […]
From time to time, we are reminded that lawyers’ work is often adversarial to the point of escalating to tragic violence, most often, it seems, in the context of family law. The following is a forwarded message from Susan Sheely sent out by Kim Dresser of the Minnesota State Bar Association: **** Most, if not […]
Plaintiff Bernice Gainer brought a product liability claim against Mylan Pharmaceuticals arising from alleged injuries from the generic version of the drug, Dilantin, and its active ingredient Phenytoin. Gainer was diagnosed with Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN). These conditions required lengthy and painful treatment, including a skin graft, and allegedly left Plaintiff with permanent […]
The vast majority of American lawyers started their careers reading the 1928 Palsgraf case in law school which concerned whether Helen Palsgraf could recover from a railroad for her injuries caused by a passenger getting on a train, jostled by railroad workers, which dislodged the package, which fell to the tracks, which contained fireworks, which […]
[UPDATE: U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank (D. Minn.) affirmed (relatively quickly) in this case.] Plaintiff Allen R. Thomsen, doing business as AJ Sign Company was involved with the Famous Dave’s of America BBQ restaurant chain in the early days. Back in 1995, Thomsen worked with Famous Dave’s “flagship” Linden Hills Twin City location on […]
In a few weeks, Jo M. Fairbairn of the law firm of Kinney & Lange must respond to the Office for Lawyers Professional Responsibility petition for disciplinary action in connection with alleged improper treatment of client funds in the client trust account. The press release is here. There are allegations of “inadvertent misappropriation” as well as […]
According to allegations of cardiologist Dr. Antoine Khoury, during a surgical procedure that he was conducting (a coronary angiogram), a nurse moved a large machine suspended from a ceiling track in such a way that it posed a risk of hitting the patient. Dr. Khoury moved quickly, grabbing the device to prevent a collision, and, […]
Defendant FMI, a resident of California, was sued in Iowa. At the outset FMI raised the defense of lack of personal jurisdiction and lost at the U.S District Court level (Bennett, J., U.S. Dist. Ct. N.D. Iowa). As all experienced litigators know, this is not an immediately appealable final judgment. Apparently highly confident that […]
ELA Medical, based in Colorado, but with Minnesota offices, distributes pacemakers, defibrillators, and related equipment. It entered into a sales rep agreement with Advanced Cardiac Consultants (“ACC”) to sell such devices in Florida. Then came allegations and investigations of kickbacks to physicians down there in Florida, followed by the termination of ACC, followed by litigation […]