Minnesota Lawyer articles from January 2002

Minnesota Lawyer archives from January 2002

MN Legal Briefs: January 7, 2002.(Minnesota )(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter International Multifoods Corp. has announced that Frank W. Bonvino has been promoted to senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of the corporation. He joined Multifoods as an attorney in...

Commentary: Only 7% of disability bias claims are successful.
January 7, 2002... Byline: Marshall Tanick Claimants asserting disability discrimination claims might consider trying the lottery instead. Employees who claim disability discrimination in the workplace hardly ever win cases that reach final...

University of St. Thomas names new law school dean.(Thomas Mengler)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Thomas Mengler, dean of the College of Law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will become dean of the School of Law at the University of St. Thomas in June. Mengler, 48, will...

No privacy expectation in back of squad car, rules MN Court of Appeals.
January 7, 2002... Byline: Michelle Lore The surreptitious taping of statements made by a defendant while in the backseat of a police car did not violate the Fourth Amendment, the Court of Appeals has ruled in a case of first impression. The defendant...

Commentary: Receiving client property as a legal fee.
January 7, 2002... Byline: Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility Lawyers may take property other than cash as payment of a fee or as security for payment of a fee. (See "Mortgages to secure fees" in the Dec. 27, 1999, issue of Minnesota Lawyer.) Even...

MN Court of Appeals finds no-knock warrant not justified.(Minnesota)
January 7, 2002... Byline: Barbara Jones A search warrant application's general allegation that "people frequenting the address hav[e] dangerous weapon criminal histories as well as histories reflective of obstructing the legal process" did not justify a...

Atty. certification rule changes being considered by MN Supreme Court.(Minnesota)
January 7, 2002... Byline: Michelle Lore The Minnesota State Board of Legal Certification, which regulates the agencies that certify lawyers as specialists, recently asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to revise the rules governing its operations. ...

Whistleblower claim need not implicate public policy, rules MN Supreme Court.
January 7, 2002... Byline: Barbara Jones Two employees whose jobs were eliminated after they reported a suspected violation of law governing vacation pay to their employer and to the Minnesota Department of Labor may proceed with a whistleblower claim...

Lawyers discuss anti-terrorism rights restrictions.
January 14, 2002... Byline: Barbara Jones Harvard University Law School Professor Arthur Miller was in Minnesota last month to discuss free speech issues that have cropped up since the events of Sept. 11. The program, which was sponsored by All District...

MN Supreme Court considers if landlords can rely on inspection reports by state fire officials.(Minnesota)
January 14, 2002... Byline: Michelle Lore Are landlords entitled to rely upon a report by a state official finding that their property complies with the state fire code as a defense in a negligence action? The Minnesota Supreme Court has been asked to...

MN law firm settles lawsuit by former client.(Minnesota, Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter A case against the Minneapolis law firm of Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben (SGS) for damages arising from theft by its former partner, David Moskal, has been settled for $78,000, attorneys report. The...

Commentary: Creative problem solving for your client and the ethics rules.(professional conduct, lawyers)
January 14, 2002... Byline: Neil Hamilton The issues clients bring to us essentially boil down to how we should behave toward one another in complex human communities. The tradition of our profession set forth in the Preamble to the Minnesota Rules of...

MN Supreme Court ponders statute enhancing sentences for gang-related crimes.(Minnesota Gang Strike Force)(Minnesota)
January 14, 2002... Byline: Barbara Jones When William Allen Frazier pled guilty in Aug. 2000 to one count of a controlled substance crime committed for the benefit of a gang, he received a sentence of 60 months under Minn. Stat. sec. 609.229. His sentence...

State, federal dependency related for tax purposes, rules MN Tax Court.(Internal Revenue Code)(Minnesota)
January 14, 2002... Byline: Barbara Jones Where a divorce decree provides that the parents of two children will each be entitled to claim one of the children as an exemption for federal income-tax purposes, the custodial parent cannot claim both children as...

Commentary: Age discrimination becomes issue of corp. culture.
January 14, 2002... Byline: Marshall Tanick Age discrimination litigation is becoming more than a matter of mere chronology. Recent court rulings have made it a question of corporate culture as well. Businesses may be culpable for creating and...

MN Court of Appeals grants withdrawal of guilty plea.
January 14, 2002... Byline: Michelle Lore A District Court judge erred in refusing to allow a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea where the subsequent imposition of a 10-year conditional-release term exceeded the maximum sentence contemplated by the...

Commentary: Taking care of clients in a post-Sept. 11 world.
January 14, 2002... Byline: Kathryn Davis Messerich The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, changed every aspect of American life. How we do business, the way in which we travel, even how we choose to spend time with our families, has been dramatically...

MN Legal Briefs: January 21, 2002.(Minnesota)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Aaron Myers has joined the law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. as an associate where he will focus his practice on intellectual property litigation. Myers received his J.D. from the...

Commentary: Unpublished appellate opinions: Indulgence or irritant.
January 21, 2002... Byline: Marshall Tanick The issuance of unpublished opinions by appellate courts is viewed as an indulgence for some judges and often an irritant for many litigants and their lawyers, especially in Minnesota. (See "Dealing effectively...

MN judge to retire from Court of Appeals.(Minnesota)(Gary L. Crippen)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter After nearly 36 years of public service, one of the "founding fathers" of Minnesota's Court of Appeals, Judge Gary L. Crippen, has announced his retirement from the bench, effective April 2002....

MN Court of Appeals rules destruction of ladder did not warrant summary judgment.
January 21, 2002... Byline: Michelle Lore In a negligence action involving an allegedly defective ladder, it was error for a District Court judge to grant summary judgment to a homeowner's insurer as a sanction for its insured's disposal of the ladder, the...

Sentencing circle's sentence is upheld by MN Supreme Court.
January 21, 2002... Byline: Mark Cohen A District Court judge had the authority to stay adjudication of the defendant's guilt on two welfare fraud charges based on a sentencing circle's recommendation, the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled. The...

Man's extended prison term for racketeering upheld by MN Court of Appeals.
January 21, 2002... Byline: Barbara Jones A longer prison term than called for by the sentencing guidelines was permissible when a defendant was convicted of drug-related racketeering with seven aggravating factors, including activity over a lengthy period of...

Minnesota's state-run guardian ad litem program in the works.(child protection )
January 21, 2002... Byline: Michelle Lore Last year, the state of Minnesota committed itself to improving its child protection system. That commitment includes enhancing the delivery of guardian ad litem services to the state's abused and neglected children....

Minnesota state's bar prepares to mobilize against tax on legal services.
January 21, 2002... Byline: Mark Cohen Once again the state's bar is organizing to mount an opposition to a proposal by Gov. Jesse Ventura to place a tax on legal services. During the last legislative session, lawyers teamed up with a number of other...

MN Legal Briefs: January 28. 2002.(Minnesota)(Appointments)
January 28, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, LLP has announced that Laurie Kindel, a former associate, and Jacques Cowan have joined the firm. Kindel will assume a leadership role in its established insurance...

MN Court of Appeals rules noncustodial mother properly imputed with $37,800 in income.
January 28, 2002... Byline: Michelle Lore A mother who quit her job as a nurse anesthetist the day before a scheduled hearing on her child-support obligation was voluntarily underemployed and was properly imputed with a gross annual income of more than...

8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules hospital billing lawsuit can proceed.
January 28, 2002... Byline: Mark Cohen The Minnesota Association of Nurse Anesthetists has standing to bring a qui tam action alleging that a group of hospitals and anesthesiologists committed Medicare fraud, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled....

Ramsey County judges press for expanded security screening.
January 28, 2002... Byline: Barbara Jones Following an incident on Jan. 9 where a woman was found at the entrance to a Ramsey County courtroom with a loaded .45 semiautomatic handgun, the courts chief has told the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and the...

Statewide civil rights coalition formed.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild has announced the formation of a statewide coalition to address potential civil rights and civil liberties violations in a post Sept. 11 world. The...

Court of Appeals vacancy announced.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter A vacancy exists on the Minnesota Court of Appeals due to the resignation of the Hon. Gary Crippen effective April 2, 2002. Crippen has served as a Court of Appeals judge from the 2nd Congressional...

Recent appellate cases address employees' speech rights.
January 28, 2002... Byline: Marshall Tanick The decision late last year by the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a ban on judges or judicial candidates from engaging in partisan politics highlights...

Attorney celebrates 57 years at Minneapolis firm.(John Mooty)
January 28, 2002... Byline: Michelle Lore Very few lawyers in the state can say that they have practiced law for 57 years fewer still can boast that they have practiced law for 57 years with the same law firm. John Mooty is one of the few. As an attorney...

MN justice's federal bench nomination is official.(Minnesota)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter President George W. Bush last week nominated Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Joan Erickson Lancaster to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Lancaster will replace U.S....

Redistricting panel issues order setting hearings.
January 28, 2002... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The Special Redistricting Panel appointed by Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz issued an order last week setting public hearings to be held around the state. Public testimony will...

Injunction against the Minnesota Twins, Major League Baseball upheld.
January 28, 2002... Byline: Barbara Jones A Hennepin County District Court judge did not abuse its discretion in granting an injunction against the Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball preventing them from breaking the terms of a lease agreement...