Update (April 3, 2015): A video of the March 17, 2015 hearing before the Minnesota Supreme Court is here. The bottom line: there seems a broad-based consensus that the judiciary is headed in the right direction, recognizing the need for public access, recognizing the need to protect privacy in certain limited cases (mostly focused on […]

Update (January 23, 2015):  Oral arguments were held in Williams-Yulee earlier this week. That case will decide whether it is constitutional to bar judicial candidates from personally soliciting attorneys for campaign contributions. And the justices seem to be dividing along the usual lines. With Justice Kennedy, who will likely be the swing vote, largely silent […]

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether another regulation governing judicial elections is constitutional or whether it violates the first amendment. On Tuesday, January 20, the Court will consider Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar. (For a free webinar on January 15 with background on the case, click here.) In that case, the Florida […]

  In a recent per curiam decision, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped a bit away from Twombly and Iqbal. Twombly and Iqbal tightened pleading standards for federal court cases. Taken together, Twombly and Iqbal rejected the Conley v. Gibson standard, which said that a complaint was viable unless it appeared beyond doubt that the plaintiff […]

  As the song goes: You’ve got to accentuate the positive Eliminate the negative And latch on to the affirmative Don’t mess with Mister In-Between When it comes to judicial elections, keeping politics out is accentuating the positive.  That helps assure that the best candidates – most likely to really make decisions based on the merits […]

Around this time of the year, Minnesota lawyers are starting to receive questions from the most diligent voters. Who is running for judge and who should they vote for? This year is particularly challenging since the League of Women Voters is not publishing its voter guide because its funder (Target) dropped out. So a usual […]

Here are some things to know about the new Minnesota appellate rules that went into effect July 1.       No certified copy of the judgment or order you are appealing is required with the notice of appeal.  (But an uncertified copy must be included.)  You need to file a paper copy of your […]

The New Appellate Rules:  Three Twists  New appellate rules for the Minnesota courts were just released and go into effect on July 1.  The rules accompany the appellate courts’ conversion to digital records.  Last week I gave you an overview of the new rules. Here are three little wrinkles to those rules: First, even though briefs […]