Minnesota Lawyer articles from December 2005

Minnesota Lawyer archives from December 2005

University of MN among the challengers of the Solomon Amendment.
December 5, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore The U.S. Supreme Court this week will address the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment, a federal law that threatens schools with the loss of federal funds if they exclude military recruiters from their...

Minnesota Association of Law Libraries turns 50.
December 5, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones On Dec. 1, 1955, 11 librarians from five law libraries met at the University of Minnesota's Campus Club for the first time as the Minnesota Association of Law Libraries (MALL). Early MALL records indicate the roast...

Texas attorney, ex-judge fights to save Minn. judicial-campaign rules.
December 5, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Former Texas Supreme Court Chief Judge Thomas R. Phillips has strong views on judicial independence and earned them the hard way - through a 23-year career in a state judiciary that has some of the country's most...

Minnesota state bar considers adding new specialty certifications.
December 5, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) currently is considering expanding its offerings of specialty certifications. Currently, only the Civil Litigation and Real Property sections of the MSBA are accredited...

MN Bar Buzz: December 5, 2005.(Hanson v. Office of Sen. Mark Dayton)
December 5, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The times they aren't a changin' The blog Federalism.typepad.com currently features an interesting quote from the book Winning on Appeal by 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Ruggero...

MN Supreme Court rules smell of alcohol from passenger didn't justify vehicle search.
December 5, 2005... Byline: Mark A. Cohen The Minnesota Supreme Court last week clarified the situations in which police can search a vehicle after they stop it and detect the odor of alcohol. When Peggy Burbach was pulled over for speeding in Winona on...

Commentary: 'Now, does everyone understand that I don't represent you?'.
December 5, 2005... Byline: Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility Many times, attorneys face issues regarding potential conflicts when assisting a group of individuals, not as individuals, but as a separate and distinct legal entity, such as a...

Commentary: Letter to the Editor: Dakota County prosecutors' starting salary misstated.(Letter to the Editor)
December 5, 2005... Byline: Karen A. Schaffer To the editor: On page 1 in the article about salaries for Hennepin County prosecutors ("Hennepin County Prosecutors seek major pay hike" in the Nov. 21 edition of Minnesota Lawyer), the starting salary for...

MN Lawyers in the News: December 5, 2005.
December 5, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) recently added Kevin Reuther to its team of environmental lawyers. Reuther will serve as a primary litigator on environmental law cases. He is a...

Commentary: Taxing dilemma: 8th Circuit rules on severance.
December 5, 2005... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick The taxation of proceeds received by employees in connection with the resolution of legal disputes in the workplace has posed a vexing problem for years. A series of rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, coupled...

Courts ring in new year with several civil rule changes.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones A word to the wise: in civil motions to be heard after Jan. 1, don't request judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a directed verdict. If you do, you will reveal that you're not up on the new rule changes that...

Problem courthouses in Minnesota have undergone or scheduled for renovation or replacement.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore Early on a Sunday morning in September 2000, the ceiling of a fourth-floor courtroom in the century old Winona County Courthouse came crashing down, pulling down the sprinkler system and flooding the rooms and offices...

A facilities overview for Minnesota's 10 judicial districts.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore The following is an overview of the new facilities and renovations planned, underway or completed in the state's 10 judicial districts. The information was provided by the State Court Information Office. 1st...

Appellate judges, women inmates share a reading group in Shakopee.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore Four times a year a group of judges from Minnesota's Court of Appeals pile into a vehicle and head to the women's correctional facility in Shakopee. The purpose of the trip is not to hear individual appeals or decide...

MN Court of Appeals rules Bloomington may be liable for officer's mistake loading gun.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The city of Bloomington and one of its police officers may be sued over the officer's actions in accidentally using lethal ammunition while attempting to subdue a woman threatening suicide, the Court...

Minnesota Clerkship Program is off to a good start.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The Minnesota Minority Clerkship Program is well on its way to becoming a reality. The program, approved by the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) in September, was proposed by the MSBA's...

MN Bar Buzz: December 12, 2005.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter What happens in Vegas A retreat for public defenders throughout the country will be held in Las Vegas next March. The event - which is sponsored by the Office of the Tulane County Defender...

Commentary: Recent retaliatory rulings: Appeals analyze 'adverse' actions.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Employees who assert that they have been the subject of wrongful retaliation in the workplace must overcome a number of hurdles. To prevail, they need to show that they engaged in protected conduct and were the...

Domestic partner agreements can prevent trouble down the road.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones When a relationship between unmarried domestic partners sours, it can have all the dynamics of a divorce - from the question of who stays and who goes from the joint residence to those inexplicable fights about...

Estate-planning tips for nontraditional families.
December 12, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Nontraditional families - including same-sex couples, single parents or adults raising minors who are not their biological children - do not always benefit from social presumptions and existing legal protections....

Governor names Justice Russell A. Anderson new chief justice of MN Supreme Court.
December 19, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones In an announcement that took some court observers by surprise, Gov. Tim Pawlenty last week named Justice Russell A. Anderson as the new chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Pundits had speculated that...

MN Supreme Court rules mother may recover for seeing car hit her son.(Minnesota)(Engler v. Illinois Insurance Co)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Mark A. Cohen The Minnesota Supreme Court over the years has been extremely reluctant over the years to expand the tort of negligence infliction of emotional distress (NIED). So it was big news last week when the court decided to...

A wannabe actor turned lawyer now leads 1st Judicial District.
December 19, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore When Judge William E. Macklin took over as chief judge of the 1st Judicial District in July, he made it his mission to visit every courthouse in the district, meeting with court staff and getting suggestions for how...

Preparing for death and disability is vital for lawyers with own practice.
December 19, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore Preparing your law practice in case you die or become seriously disabled may sound a bit macabre, but it is imperative. Betty Shaw, senior assistant director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility...

Betty Shaw will be acting director of Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board.
December 19, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Betty Shaw has been named acting director of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB) and Client Security Board effective Dec. 29, 2005. Shaw, 63, will take over for Kenneth...

MN Bar Buzz: December 19, 2005.(Edward Toussaint gets award)(St. Thomas More joins U.S. District Court)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter 'Everyone likes Edward' Bar Buzz congratulates Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edward Toussaint, who received the Chief Justice Award from Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen A. Blatz earlier this...

Is there a Santa Claus? Minnesota Lawyer says, 'Yes'!
December 19, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Editor's note: In the spirit of the holidays - and with apologies to Virginia, the little girl who asked New York Sun editor Francis P. Church in 1897 if there is a Santa Clause - Minnesota Lawyer this week offers...

Commentary: Whistleblowers ride recent litigation roller-coaster.
December 19, 2005... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick There are very few doctrines of law that are subject to as many vacillations as whistleblowing. Ever since its inception in Minnesota as a legal doctrine two decades ago, recognized first by the common law...

MN Legal Briefs: December 19, 2005.(Susan Gaertner appointed as president of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association)(Hellmuth & Johnson appoints Jill K. Peterson as an associate)(Kristine A. Kubes joins the Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner was elected president of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association at their recent annual meeting. Other election results included: Clay County Attorney Lisa...

MN governor announces finalists for 4th District bench vacancies.(Minnesota)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Gov. Tim Pawlenty has announced the finalists for three trial court bench vacancies in the 4th Judicial District in Hennepin County. The first vacancy occurred with the resignation of Judge Jeanne J....

Commentary: Prudent practices for investment fiduciaries.
December 19, 2005... Byline: James J. Eccleston Financial advisers, trustees, plan sponsors and anyone else involved in investment decision-making face a host of issues as they navigate through complex and sometimes uncertain areas. But guidance is available....

Green Espel attorney to join MN Court of Appeals.
December 19, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Minneapolis attorney Kevin Ross -- whom Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed to fill the vacancy created on the Minnesota Court of Appeals created by the retirement of Judge Robert Schumacher - is a partner at the...

Interview with Russell A. Anderson, chief justice-designate of MN Supreme Court.(Minnesota)(Interview)
December 26, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Russell A. Anderson, the chief justice-designate of the Minnesota Supreme Court, has related that he was a candidate for Beltrami County Attorney in 1982 when a sitting judge died and he was "flattered into"...

Practitioners respond to expansion of NIED damages.(negligent infliction of emotional distress)(Engler v. Illinois Insurance Co.)
December 26, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore The Minnesota legal community is absorbing the potential impact of the Supreme Court's recent expansion of the negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) tort. In Engler v. Illinois Insurance Co., the court...

Lorie Gildea says goodbye to Hennepin County bench.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore Hennepin County District Court Judge Lorie Gildea was on the bench just a few months before Governor Pawlenty's recent announcement that she was being elevated to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Gildea will fill the...

MN State Bar Assn. seeks volunteer judges for mock trial competition.(Minnesota State Bar Association )(Brief Article)
December 26, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) is in need of volunteers to judge trials for the 2005-2006 Minnesota Mock Trial Competition, which will take place on various dates in late January and...

MN Bar Buzz: December 26, 2005.(Minnesota Women Lawyers organizes fund raising campaign)(National Law Journal named special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald its attorney of the year)
December 26, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Secret court proceedings U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Rosenbaum faced an interesting dilemma in a recent case involving an attorney who was a witness in a grand jury proceeding. The grand...

Commentary: The jerk opposing lawyer: An invitation to circle the drain together.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Neil W. Hamilton Reflect for a moment on the proportion of jerk lawyers in your practice area. Professor Timothy Perrin defines a "Rambo" lawyer, a synonym for a jerk lawyer, as a lawyer with three characteristics: * a...

Commentary: Top 10 cases of the year range from 'A' to 'Z'.(Ace Contractors, Inc., v. IBEW)(Hyatt v. Anoka Police Dep't)(State v. Gabbert)
December 26, 2005... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Noteworthy cases decided by the federal and state courts in Minnesota during the past year covered a wide gamut of subjects, ranging in topics from "A" for age to "Z" for zoning. Here's a collection of 10 of...

Bankruptcy clerks, practitioners are catching their breath following filing rush.
December 26, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Bankruptcy courts and practitioners are regaining their balance after the tsunami of bankruptcy filings that hit the courts before the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was implemented in...