Minnesota Lawyer articles from January 2004

Minnesota Lawyer archives from January 2004

Minnesota Supreme Court reverses building contractor's conviction.
January 5, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore While Minn. Stat. sec. 16B.69 makes a violation of the Uniform Building Code (UBC) a misdemeanor, it is not a public welfare or strict liability statute and requires a showing of intent before criminal liability may...

Minnesota Supreme Court denies request for public defender caseload relief.(State Board of Public Defense )
January 5, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Only the Legislature can address appropriately the budget crisis faced by Minnesota's public defenders, the Supreme Court said last week. The court denied a public defender request for relief to lower its...

Minn. Court of Appeals rules landowner may bring mandamus and tort claims.
January 5, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones A landowner that alleges that the government caused its property to flood may simultaneously petition for a writ of mandamus seeking inverse condemnation and, in the alternative, file a complaint alleging tort...

Minnesota's judicial election campaigns are already up and running.
January 5, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore The next judicial election is still 10 months away, but many of the judicial campaign committees are already up and running. Two of the seven justices on the Minnesota Supreme Court are up for election next year -...

Commentary: Ethical issues in pro bono work.
January 5, 2004... Byline: Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility Under Minnesota State Bar Association President Jim Baillie's direction, the MSBA is making a concerted effort to renew and reinvigorate the bar's commitment to providing pro bono legal...

Minn. Court of Appeals rules Steele County need not provide data on jail construction.(WDSI, Inc. v. The County of Steele)(Brief Article)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Steele County did not have a duty to obtain and provide data concerning the construction of a jail to a private party where that information was in the sole possession of the architectural firm with...

Rule changes by Supreme Court to impact criminal and family law, legal education credits.
January 5, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Several rule changes were promulgated by the Supreme Court as 2003 drew to a close. The changes will especially impact the practice of criminal and family law, as well as the way attorneys gather their continuing...

U.S. Supreme Court to hear case regarding the rights of Native American tribes.(U.S. v. Lara)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick An interesting and unusual case from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the rights of Native American tribes, their members and nonmembers, will be heard soon by the U.S. Supreme Court. The case...

Minn. Court of Appeals rules hearing needed in pollution permit case.
January 12, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) decision to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to the cities of Faribault and Owatonna was not supported by substantial evidence...

Minnesota Supreme Court hears challenge to anti-bias, continuing legal education rules.
January 12, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore The Minnesota Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a case questioning the constitutionality of the two-credit anti-bias requirement in the state's continuing legal education (CLE) rules. Threatened with an...

Minn. Court of Appeals finds trustees did not abuse their discretion.
January 12, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore Where a trust beneficiary failed to allege an improper motive or conflict of interest on the part of trustees in their distribution of stock from a trust, the trustees did not abuse their discretion, the Court of...

Minn. Supreme Court examines the duty to warn in foundry worker's silicosis case.
January 12, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The Minnesota Supreme Court currently is pondering whether a man who developed silicosis after working in a foundry for more than 40 years and being exposed to silica sand there may sue the company that supplied...

Minneapolis attorney mentioned in U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice's report on federal judiciary.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, in his 2003 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, made special mention of Minneapolis attorney B. Todd Jones, former U.S. Attorney for the...

Minnesota judges kick off 50th annual youth-in-government program.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Several Minnesota Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges helped swear in more than 1,800 of the state's young people during last week's opening sessions of Minnesota YMCA Youth in...

Number of trials not diminishing in Minnesota's federal courts.
January 12, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Bucking a national trend, the number of federal court trials in Minnesota is not diminishing. Nationally, the number of federal cases going to trial has been falling despite the fact that federal dockets have...

American Bar Association to hold midyear meeting in San Antonio.(Brief Article)
January 12, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The American Bar Association will hold its midyear meeting from Feb. 4 through 10, in San Antonio, Texas. Among the cutting-edge legal issues to be covered in programs at the meeting are: *...

Commentary: Letter to the editor regarding error in case caption in "Perspectives" column.(Letter to the Editor)
January 12, 2004... Byline: Letter to the Editor To the editor: I am writing with regard to the "Perspectives" column ("A review of the year's 'Top 10' cases), as written by Mr. Marshall Tanick and printed in the Dec. 29, 2003, edition of Minnesota...

MN Legal Briefs: January 12, 2004.(Minnesota)
January 12, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Moss & Barnett has announced the election of its board of directors for 2004: Thomas J. Shroyer, CEO and president, and Dave F. Senger, chairman of the board. The firm has also announced two new...

Minnesota courts decide four issues regarding attorney fees.
January 12, 2004... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Attorney fees are not usually the driving force of litigation, but they often are situated in the equivalent of the passenger's seat in many litigation journeys. Issues of attorney fees are litigated in many...

Minneapolis immigration attorneys criticize 8th U.S. Circuit Court's asylum ruling.
January 19, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore Local immigration lawyers are disappointed with a recent 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision concluding that the streamlined procedures employed by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals (BIA) do not violate an...

MN Court of Appeals rules that churches can challenge state's conceal-carry law.(Minnesota)
January 19, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore The Minnesota Court of Appeals has found that a group of churches have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the state's conceal-carry law that was enacted last year. The plaintiffs - who want to prohibit...

Commentary: A primer on dealing with the difficult opposing counsel.
January 19, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The first place a lawyer who is faced with a difficult opposing counsel should look for a solution is within because it takes two people to create and maintain hostility. That was the message at a continuing...

MN Court of Appeals issues rare writ to public defenders in Dakota County.(Minnesota)
January 19, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones In an unusual show of authority, the Court of Appeals last week granted a writ of prohibition barring a District Court judge from ordering a Dakota County assistant public defender to serve as advisory counsel. ...

MN Supreme Court dismisses judicial bias appeal.(Minnesota)
January 19, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The Minnesota Supreme Court recently rejected a challenge to first-degree and second-degree murder convictions based on a claim of judicial bias. The defense lawyer argued that Hennepin County...

Law firm managers discuss human resource issues.
January 19, 2004... Byline: Jane Pribek In bygone days, when law firms needed staff, they put an ad in the local paper and typically hired recent high school graduates who had earned high marks in the secretarial classes. They spent the bulk of their days...

Commentary: A step-by-step guide to law firm profitability.(book review)(Book Review)
January 19, 2004... Byline: Jane Pribek "Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't." If you recognized the quote above as Polonius' aside regarding Hamlet's feigned insanity, and his suspicions regarding it, you're probably one of us...

MN Court of Appeals construes real estate statute of repose.(Minnesota)
January 19, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones In two unrelated cases, the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently construed Minn. Stat. sec. 541.05, the statute of repose applicable to personal injury cases brought against owners of real property. In one case...

Commentary: Understanding equity-indexed annuities.
January 19, 2004... Byline: James J. Eccleston Sales of equity-indexed annuities, a relatively new annuity product, have grown considerably in recent years. One problem is that they (like all annuities) often can be difficult to understand. Investors need to...

MN Legal Briefs: January 19, 2004.(Minnesota)
January 19, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Candidates sought for 1st District Court bench The Commission on Judicial Selection has announced a 1st Judicial District trial court bench vacancy in McLeod County. The vacancy occurred as a...

Commentary: Claimant strikes out in baseball tort case.
January 19, 2004... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball - the rules and regulations of the game." - Jacques Barzun, "God's Country and Mine" (1954) It might be the middle of winter,...

Legal document service spawns concern in bar.(We The People, legal document assistant)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore Operating out of a nondescript store on Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis, "We The People" legal document services about a year ago penetrated the Twin Cities market. The company - which offers computerized legal document...

Homeowner's policy doesn't cover injuries from vehicle.(Minnesota Property Insurance v. Slater)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore A homeowner's insurer was not required to defend its insured where a truck that was being repaired in the insured's garage fell from a hoist and injured a visitor, the Court of Appeals has ruled. The truck was...

Litigious pro se plaintiff sanctioned, assessed fees.(plaintiffs fined for contempt of court)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Hennepin County District Court Chief Judge Kevin S. Burke recently issued an order dismissing a case brought by pro se plaintiffs who have "demonstrated a propensity for abusive, frivolous and improper conduct" in...

Non-Indian dad may seek custody in District Court.
January 26, 2004... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Where a non-Indian biological father sought permanent custody of a child previously placed with her Indian grandmother by a District Court judge, the court has continuing exclusive jurisdiction and the Indian Child...

Commentary: Pro bono and social capital in the profession.
January 26, 2004... Byline: Neil W. Hamilton In his second book on social capital, "Better Together: Restoring the American Community" (2003), Harvard professor Robert Putnam and co-author Lewis Feldstein observe that "virtually no one sets out to build...

William Mitchell College of Law names next president and dean.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter William Mitchell College of Law (WMCL) has named Allen K. Easley the next president and dean of the law school, effective July 1, 2004. Easley will succeed Harry J. Haynsworth, who is retiring in June...

Bar responds generously to injured colleague.(Minnesota State Bar Association)(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter When Osseo attorney Richard Hendrickson returned to work after being shot last September outside a Hennepin County courtroom, the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) held a reception in his honor....

Commentary: Corporate counsel options change with the times.
January 26, 2004... Byline: Ember Reichgott Junge You are general counsel of ABC, a large corporation hit hard by the economy. Budget reductions recently forced you to make the difficult decision to downsize your 15-lawyer legal department by three lawyers,...

Commentary: Courts address landlord-tenant disability bias.
January 26, 2004... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Disability discrimination is a concept that is usually associated with the workplace rather than residential settings. Issues of disability discrimination are often raised in employee-employer relationships....

MN Legal Briefs January 19, 2004.(Minnesota )
January 26, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Lindquist and Vennum has announced nine new partners effective January 2004. Jonathan Harris prosecutes and defends claims related to securities matters, including arbitration and mediation, and civil...

Brooklyn Park lawyer has an unusual niche.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Michelle Lore Brooklyn Park lawyer Leslie L. Kimes is in a pretty unusual position. She is a lawyer who works with a company that services individuals who don't want to hire a lawyer. Kimes is the supervising attorney for the...

Gov. Pawlenty names new chief administrative law judge.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Arden Hills lawyer Raymond Krause has been appointed the state's chief administrative law judge by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Krause, 52, will succeed Kenneth Nickolai in the post, which pays $113,435...

Judge honored by coalition against underage drinking.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Ramsey County District Court Judge Joanne Smith was recently honored as an "Advocate of the Year" from Minnesota Join Together Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking (MJT). In 1999, Smith began...

National Lawyers Guild to honor Legal Aid attorney, clerical workers.(Brief Article)
January 26, 2004... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) will honor AFSCME Local 3800 (the University of Minnesota clerical workers) and Legal Aid attorney Larry McDonough at its annual Social...