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.

Denial of Motion to Dismiss in Pex Consumer Fraud Class Action

Defendant Uponor, Inc. sought the dismissal of a class action complaint against it, arguing that the complaint was insufficiently detailed (failed to meet Rule 9(b) requirements of “particularity”), that plaintiffs had failed to allege damages, that plaintiffs’ negligence-based claims were barred by the economic loss doctrine, that plaintiffs’ warranty claims failed due to the failure […]

How H1N1 Has Changed Our Lives: Patent Litigation over “Germ-Free Communion-Host–Delivery System”

“It’s a business issue, even though it is the dispensing of the embodiment of Christ that we are talking about…”

Ramsey Cty. Chief Judge Holds Pawlenty’s Exercise of Unallotment Unconstitutional

The key point of Ramsey Court Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin’s decision: The Legislative branch has the fundamental constitutional power to appropriate the public funds.  This power is tempered by the Governor’s veto authority. Their policy differences regarding how to deal with Minnesota’s present budget situation can only be resolved by them. Those branches have the […]

One-Year Anniversary of MLB/No Top Ten List of 2009

The close of 2009 marks the first-anniversary of Minnesota Litigator blog (MLB). Although MLB’s traffic has been less than large websites attract in a single minute on a slow day, nearly 75% of MLB visits have been from Minnesotans across the entire state and, I suspect, the vast number of those from Minnesota lawyers. MLB […]

Resolution, at last, for a Whistle-blowers’ Long Haul

Two nurse anesthetists fought a fifteen-year battle as named plaintiffs for the Minnesota Association of Nurse Anesthetists (MANA). For years, apparently, area hospitals considered whether a job should be performed by anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists and opted for the more expensive (and more profitable) anesthesiologists. MANA fought back with twin lawsuits: an antitrust lawsuit and […]

That depends on what the definition of “is” is…. (Vendio incurs the Court’s wrath (again))

President Clinton was subjected to widespread scorn and derision when an August, 1998 deposition transcript was made public in which he answered (answered?) a question by saying that the answer depended on what the definition of “is” is. Lawyers, as a group, presumably laughed a little less hard than lay people at Clinton’s careful parsing (if […]

A Christmas Story from the District of Minnesota

Plaintiff Margaret J. Coleman is a 68-year-old woman who lives with her 15-year-old granddaughter, a 19-year-old woman with special needs, and 22-year-old who was formerly her foster child in a single family home she has owned for nearly 40 years. That is, she has lived there for an awfully long time but a lender allegedly […]

The Impact of Iqbal and Twombly on U.S. Civil Litigation Plays Out in Legal Malpractice Suit

Rockwood Retaining Walls, Inc. spent ten years and obviously a lot of money defending claims of patent infringement represented by the boutique Twin Cities IP firm Patterson Thuente Skaar & Christensen (PTSC).  The litigation did not go very well for Rockwood.  After the ten-year fight, the jury handed down a $24 million verdict against it. Rockwood turned […]

Redman v. Sinex: Judicial Resistance to Awarding Attorneys Fees?

It seems to me that an unwritten rule of U.S. civil litigation is that courts, in a large number of cases in which the award of attorneys’ fees is a possibility, prefer not to award them (and it is common, also, for courts to give fee claims a “haircut.” See, e.g., here.) Redman v. Sinex, […]

Spoliation Sanction: Fix First, Sue Later = Non-Starter

Today, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, in a published decision (authored by Judge Stauber), held that, “[I]n order to provide a meaningful opportunity to correct defects, prepare for negotiation or litigation, and safeguard against stale claims…we conclude that a party must provide actual notice of the nature and timing of any action that could lead […]