At today’s FBA luncheon, U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim (D. Minn.) walked the audience through a whirlwind of matters that have been or are catching the attention of the United States Courts’ Court Administration and Case Management Committee, on which Judge Tunheim has served for ten years, the past four as Chairman: Cameras in the courtroom; […]

A while back, this blog reported on a Minnesota case (C.H. Robinson v. FLS Transportation) involving a Canadian firm bound by a forum selection clause in a contract to which it was not a party. Today, U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim ruled against British Confectionary, a British company with a plant in Labrador Newfoundland, […]

Is there a federal right to cheap cheese? The Dairy Farmers of America might like that formulation of the legal issues in the case brought against it by Killer Whale Holdings, LLC and others. Surely the plaintiffs in this case of alleged market manipulation might want to characterize the case differently — perhaps, can the […]

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, FDCPA, can be a harsh and unforgiving statute for debt collectors, setting out fairly exacting standards on acceptable and unacceptable conduct related to debt collection (and providing for fee-shifting). (Some of the FDCPA’s rules are (or should be) nearly self-evident — it is improper to make empty threats, harassing […]

The so-called subprime mortgage meltdown has not only resulted in the shutdown of hundreds of mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers in Minnesota and across the country. Another consequence has been a rash of enhanced state and federal laws intended to crack down on what were viewed as sharp practices by the mortgage lending industry that […]