(Update February 12, 2015): Camtek, the Israeli maker of silicon wafer inspection tools, has been battling without much success in Minnesota for several years now and the fight continues. (Have you ever tried inspecting your own silicon wafers? Very difficult with the naked eye. I have found that detecting slip lines inside a wafer’s crystalline structure […]

Summer can be a slow time for sports fans. Basketball season is over, football season hasn’t started, and, while baseball season is still going, some fans know that their team’s season is effectively over (see: Minnesota Twins). But one season has been alive and very active this summer: college sports litigation! The NCAA has been […]

Update (July 15, 2014): The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit recently affirmed the District of Minnesota’s ruling in favor of Nothern States Power (NSP), covered previously on Minnesota Litigator (below) by Jake Smith: Assuming, without deciding, that Minnesota courts would apply the doctrine of temporary impracticability to conditions precedent for use as […]

On December 10, Jammie Thomas-Rasset filed a petition for a writ certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court (meaning that she seeks review of an intermediate appellate court’s ruling against her) asking to have a jury verdict reduced on the grounds that the award is excessive and violates her due process rights. Thomas-Rasset shared 24 songs […]

Update (September 6, 2012):  Just in time for the new school year comes an initial ruling on the validity and boundaries of Facebook speech in public high schools. Chief Judge Michael Davis (D. Minn.) partially granted the Minnewaska School District’s motion to dismiss, but left the majority of the claims in 12-year-old R.S.’s Complaint live […]

Update: Case settled. Cheers! Restaurateur turned booze-entrepreneur Kieran Folliard is taking spirit and wine giant Pernod Ricard, the parent company of Jameson whiskey, to court alleging violations of the Lanham Act as well as common law trademark infringement.

Chief Judge Michael Davis (D. Minn.) has reduced the judgment against Jammie Thomas-Rasset down from $80,000 per illegally downloaded song to $2,250. (The earlier jury verdict covered here.) (Today’s opinion, after the break.)Capitol Records v Jammie Rasset

Judge Michael J. Davis (D. Minn.) has adopted the December 3, 2009 Report and Recommendation (R&R) of Mag. Judge Keyes dismissing claims by attorney Julie Delgado-O’Neil (through her lawyer, Jill Clark) that she was the victim of racial discrimination by the Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office (a complaint first reported here). Mag. Judge Keyes’ “R&R” is […]

Wells Fargo made a mortgage loan, then failed to record the mortgage for whatever (undisclosed) reason, so that, when borrower/homeowner filed for bankruptcy, Wells Fargo was a mere unsecured lender due to its failure to perfect its security interest by recording it. Wells Fargo had been designated as a secured creditor throughout the bankruptcy due […]

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Davis heard argument today on cross-motions for summary judgment in a case brought by Sierra Club Northstar Chapter in regard to a bridge over the St. Croix River. Cross motions for summary judgment had been pending since late May. The Sierra Club, represented by the Environmental Law & Policy Center, […]