Minnesota Lawyer articles from January 2008

Minnesota Lawyer archives from January 2008

Lawyer vies with Scott County jail over access to clients.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones What kind of restrictions can county officials place on inmates' access to their attorneys? This question is at the heart of a tussle that has pitted St. Paul attorney Diane Dodd against Scott County officials....

Partners in law, partners in life for Minnesota couple.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman Whether it's as co-proprietors of a corner grocery or as top-level executives in the same corporation, millions of married couples work together -- and somehow find a way to make it work. That includes a number of...

American Association for Justice gears up for another busy year lobbying on Capitol Hill.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Kimberly Atkins As the nation's largest association of trial lawyers wraps up a busy year, it is now focusing on its agenda for 2008. A number of legislative initiatives are planned, but the American Association for Justice is...

Minnesota Court of Appeals dismisses right-of-first-refusal claim as untimely.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff The Minnesota Court of Appeals has determined that the statute of limitations on a claimed breach of a right of first refusal began to run at the time of the alleged breach, even where the holder of the right...

Minn. judge completes work as a Humphrey Institute Policy Fellow.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Renee Worke has completed her work as a Humphrey Institute Policy Fellow through the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public affairs. While a...

When the third branch of government joins the Fourth Estate.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones As always, remember it is your court. That's the message Clearwater County District Court Judge Paul Rasmussen delivers at the end of each column he writes for the newspapers in the 9th Judicial District. Rasmussen...

Commentary: The Top 10 Minnesota legal news stories of '07.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Mark A. Cohen For those of you who missed it when I posted it on our blog, the following are my picks for the top 10 Minnesota-related legal news stories of 2007. I assure you it was all done very scientifically with input from a...

Minnesota Court of Appeals rules inmate can pursue injunctive relief against DOC.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections may be sued for injunctive relief in a case under 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983 alleging a denial of due process in parole decision making, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled...

Move afoot to save Minnesota's certified specialist program.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Michelle Lore Efforts are underway to strengthen and grow Minnesota's program for certifying attorneys as specialists. In a report issued late in 2006, a task force assigned to look at the legal certification program concluded...

Minnesota Lawyer names its 'Attorneys of the Year'.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Michael Krieger Minnesota Lawyer is pleased to announce the recipients of its ninth-annual Attorneys of the Year award. This award is reserved for a select group of attorneys who have distinguished themselves in 2007 through...

State Supreme Court defines 'nonprofit' in Minnesota.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Burl Gilyard Minnesota nonprofits were stunned by a recent state Supreme Court decision that provided a new and narrower definition of a purely public charity. The immediate concern is that, under the decision, many nonprofits...

Commentary: Practice 'business' to practice success.
January 7, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll Starting a new firm, several aspects of which we've discussed in our last four columns, is something quite distinct and separate from practicing law. It brings the lawyer face to face with what I have often called the...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: January 7, 2008.(Lawyerswithdepression.com is a site written by a lawyer for lawyers )(Website overview)
January 7, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Post-holiday blues As winter sets firmly in, many find the cold and darkness increase their susceptibility to depression, an illness that plagues the legal profession. Bar Buzz has noted several resources...

Sentencing cases in Minnesota keep federal defenders busy.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Federal public defenders in Minnesota are reviewing stacks of cases to see if they can get some people out of prison as a result of a federal sentencing commission's recent decision to retroactively reduce the...

Local federal judges in Minn. now have more breathing room in sentencing.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions have loosened the grip that the federal sentencing guidelines have on judges. Some lawyers say they can now be more effective advocates for clients, and some expect sentences in...

In rare opportunity, local lawyers in Minn. get a chance to mock a judge.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Michelle M. Lore It's not often that a practicing attorney gets to play judge. But, thanks to the Minnesota High School Mock Trial Program, many lawyers will be doing just that starting next week. The first trials of the 2008...

Minnesota judges pitch in to bring justice to Kosovo.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman One summer day a couple of years ago, Judge Timothy J. Baland went for a hike in the mountains of western Kosovo, near the Serbian province's border. Eventually he reached a spot where he could straddle the border...

Minn. Advocates for Human Rights expresses concern about immigration crackdown.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights last week said it is deeply troubled by Governor Tim Pawlenty's decision to sign an executive order mandating that certain state law enforcement officials act as federal...

Interview with Edward I. Lynch: Assistant Chief Judge, First District, Dakota County.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman First District Court Assistant Chief Judge Edward I. Lynch is no stranger to highly publicized cases. In 1993, he presided over the trial of Robert Guevara in which Guevara was charged with the murder, kidnapping and...

Renters lose homes in growing mortgage crisis.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Nora Lockwood Tooher Legal Aid and housing lawyers are reporting a surge in calls from renters who are losing their homes because of the mortgage crisis. Thousands of tenants -- from poor and elderly residents in Boston...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: January 14, 2008.(Minnesota Women lawyers)
January 14, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Author of 'Supreme Conflict' to speak at MWL Minnesota Women lawyers will host its 2008 Winter Celebration on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. This year MWL has moved away from a big...

Leaving IRAs to trusts -- a good tax-minimizing device.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Reni Gertner As the baby boomers become the first individuals to retire with big IRAs, estate planning attorneys must be prepared to help clients minimize the tax burden on their beneficiaries by leaving their IRAs to trusts. ...

Commentary: New Rule 12 dismissal standard: Semantic or seismic?
January 14, 2008... Byline: Marshall Tanick There's an aphorism that circulates through the federal courthouses in Minnesota that a case has not been dismissed on the face of the pleadings since the days of McKinley. The saying, ascribed to U.S. District...

Commentary: The 2.0 concept of interaction.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll The latest technology buzzword is "Web 2.0" -- the trend to interactivity on the Internet that is epitomized by the give and take between online users of blogs and social networking sites. The idea is that the...

County of Washington v. Kenneth L. Albrecht et. al.(Brief article)
January 14, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Washington County commenced a condemnation proceeding in 2004 to take the property on which Shady Birch Resort was located on Big Marine Lake. The Condemnation Commissioners awarded $940,000 for the larger...

Minnesota Lawyers in the News: January 14, 2008.
January 14, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff William J. Maddix, Anne M. Lockner, Ryan G. Miest and Stephen P. Safranski have been named partners in Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Maddix represents individuals in medical malpractice and personal...

Mediators offer tips for better negotiation.
January 18, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman Attorneys, as a rule, are not trained to compromise. In the courtroom, winning is everything. That's why many attorneys, especially younger ones, tend to lack negotiating skills that can shorten a protracted dispute...

Minnesota sports attorneys are in the arena.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman When linebacker E.J. Henderson was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2003, his second-round status all but guaranteed a handsome NFL contract. As a hot prospect, Henderson could have had his pick of agents and...

Bad times mean booming business for bankruptcy lawyers.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Michelle Lore Consumer bankruptcy attorneys are as busy as ever, despite the fact that they aren't filing nearly as many petitions as they were before passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act just over two years...

Minn. Supreme Court rules gov't can't get Torrens property through de facto taking.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The government cannot acquire an interest in Torrens property by way of a de facto taking, the Minnesota Supreme Court has decided. The decision resolved a dispute over a road built in 1971 that encroached on...

ADR providers, advocates give their views on arbitration during seminar in Minn.(alternative dispute resolution)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Michelle Lore Advocates and arbitrators provided their insights into the arbitration process at a recent continuing legal education seminar. The hour-long program -- What Advocates Want (and Don't Want) in Arbitrators and What...

Minnesota Legal Briefs: January 21, 2008.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff New Court of Appeals judges sworn in Heidi S. Schellhas, Francis J. Connolly and Matthew E. Johnson were sworn in as Minnesota Court of Appeals judges in a ceremony last week. They are the 38th, 39th...

Total top ten verdict awards for 2007 is smallest in 14 years.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff The nation's largest verdicts just keep getting smaller. After climbing towards the stratosphere from 1997 to 2002, the largest verdicts to individual plaintiffs have been in a steady decline ever since....

Commentary: quick 'health' checks for you and your practice.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Nancy Byerly Jones There's just not enough time in a day. Where did the years go? How did I get to this age so fast? Got to get to that backburner client matter tomorrow! If you're like me, these types of thoughts pop up all...

Commentary: bill confidently, even in tough times.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll A question recently sent to me has particular resonance for lawyers at any time, but especially today when the news is full of stories about an impending economic slowdown: At what point in your career do you decide...

Caution: use power of attorney wisely.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Correy E. Stephenson As the population ages and the use of power of attorney as an estate planning tool increases, attorneys are advising caution when handing so much power to another person. The recent case of Brooke Astor...

Minnesoya Lawyers in the News: January 21, 2008.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Cheryl A. Stanton has become a shareholder in Anthony Ostlund & Baer. Stanton practices in all areas of commercial litigation. She received her law degree from Hamline University School of Law in 1997. ...

Minnesota Court News: Januaray 21, 2008.
January 21, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Erickson reappointed as magistrate judge Chief Judge James M. Rosenbaum and the members of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota are pleased to announce the reappointment of U.S....

Verdicts & Settlements January 21, 2007: Patient awarded due to missed diagnosis of anemia.(Case overview)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff The 48-year-old plaintiff experienced progressive neurological problems with weakness in her legs and difficulties with her balance. She visited a neurologist. The standard of care required pernicious...

Verdicts & Settlements January 21, 2007: $2.5M awarded in medical malpractice case.(Case overview)
January 21, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff In December 2001, a 19-year-old woman in her first pregnancy was admitted for induction of labor at nearly 37 weeks. During the day the induction was uneventful. The obstetrician examined the patient about...

Warning: This call might be recorded.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Lawyers who get those late-night phone calls from the police station from a driver who wants advice about taking a blood alcohol test know the police may listen to what the driver says. But they may not be aware...

Workshop in St. Paul aims to help lawyers have a purpose driven life.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman The rate of burnout among attorneys is a well-documented part of the profession, but what leads to that point? The top answer much of the time is simply dissatisfaction with a career that one has worked hard (and spent...

Failed law firms leave lessons behind.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman When the Rider Bennett law firm dissolved last spring, the event sent shock waves throughout the Twin Cities legal community. After all, the firm was successful and stable -- or so it was thought. But there are...

Wisconsin isn't going to require in-house lawyers to get local law license.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Jack Zemlicka Here's an item of interest to Minnesota lawyers who want to cross the border and take a corporate position in Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Supreme Court has adopted a rule providing that nonresident attorneys serving as...

Commentary: Courts consider challenges to judicial impartiality.
January 28, 2008... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Impartiality is supposed to be at the cornerstone of the judicial process. The freedom from bias is essential for jurists to carry out their roles in the legal system. Litigants, especially those who lose,...