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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Sheila Engelmeier has a long and distinguished career in Minnesota employment law, both counseling and litigating, for both employers and employees. In the interview below, Sheila’s heart, her commitment, her candor, her hard-won expertise and experience, her humility, and her generosity all shine. Her dark outlook on the current climate of the practice of law, […]

Update (January 17, 2020): In a decision this week, the Minnesota Supreme Court has answered the issues discussed below. In sales of condominiums in a newly constructed building, it is now clear under Minnesota law that there is a single warranty date for a condominium building rather than different warranty dates for each unit. (See […]

We recently posted about a “faulty machinery” case (sugar silo reclaimers) and, in that post, we referred to two earlier “faulty machinery” cases (egg-carton presses, pasta boxers). In a nutshell, we queried how these cases could be cost-justified because, it seems to us, whether or not a machine works as promised is not best (or […]

Last month, we noted a lawsuit over technology in the sugar industry, “reclaimers” built inside sugar silos, to illustrate a basic point about the complexity of legal damages (Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative (“SMBC”) v. Agri Systems (“ASI”). Unsophisticated litigants think “the sky’s the limit” and one can argue any amount of damages one feels […]

A few months ago, we had a post on the subject of post-accident insurance company investigations and when the attorney work-product doctrine is triggered to protect investigation materials from discovery in civil litigation. We predicted that the defendant’s privilege claims, by and large, would prevail. The underlying case relates to fumigation of a food-packaging facility […]

The right to free speech ‘includes not only the right to utter or to print, but the right to distribute, the right to receive, the right to read,’ and ‘freedom of inquiry and freedom of thought.’ Karsjens v. Jesson, 6 F. Supp. 3d 916, 938–39 (D. Minn. 2014) (quoting Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, […]

Mr. Timothy Wodarck sued his former employer, Lakota, Inc. for wrongful termination. A jury agreed with Mr. Wodarck and awarded him $31,236.26 in past wage loss, $145,600 in future lost earning capacity, no compensatory damages, and no compensation for unlawful deduction from wages due or earned. On a post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter […]