Minnesota Lawyer articles from July 2009

Minnesota Lawyer archives from July 2009

U.S. Bankruptcy Court: In re: Walker; Walker v. Sallie Mae Servicing Corp.
July 1, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Undue Hardship Where the debtor owes approximately $312,609 in educational loans with which she funded an undergraduate degree and attendance at the first half of a medical school curriculum before she...

Minnesota Supreme Court: In the Matter of the Contest of General Election held on November 4, 2008,.(Brief article)
July 1, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Elections - No Due Process or Equal Protection Violations; Inspection of Ballots Unwarranted 1. Appellants did not establish that, by requiring proof that statutory absentee voting standards were...

Divorce attorneys are missing evidence on social media sites.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh The undeniable popularity of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites has opened up a potential treasure trove of legal evidence, especially in divorce cases where a person’s whereabouts,...

A proud moment for MAIBA; A proud moment for the Minn. State Bar Assn.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Mark A. Cohen It was a proud and solemn moment for the Minnesota State Bar Association as outgoing president Michael Ford passed the gavel to Leo Brisbois to mark Brisbois' accession to the top spot of the state's largest bar...

Minnesota solo practitioners and two-person law firms can no longer use phrase '& associates'.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Michelle Lore Solo practitioners and two-person firms using & Associates as part of their law firm name have until the end of the year to change their letterhead and their door signs or face disciplinary action. The Lawyers...

Minnesota State Bar Assn. committees, sections to look at rights for unmarried couples.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The Minnesota State Bar Association took a small step toward addressing the issue of equal rights for unmarried couples at its convention last month. While the Assembly did not endorse any legislative proposals...

Minnesota law firms advised to avoid cutting diversity programs in bad economy.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Mark A. Cohen A word of advice for law firms and law departments struggling in the lagging economy: Avoid cutting your diversity programs. So advised the panelists at Diversity in a Time of (Economic) Adversity, a continuing...

Minnesota Legal Briefs: July 6, 2009.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff The Advocates submit report to Liberian TRC The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia, the body charged by the Liberian government with determining the facts of the human rights violations that...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: July 6, 2009.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff The conventional quotes The following are a few scattered sound bites from the Minnesota State Bar Association convention held in Duluth on June 23-25: Garrison Keillor said he doesn't live in...

Credit where it's due: Companies in all industries are finding financing hard to come by.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Dan Emerson With continuing healthy demand for student housing around the University of Minnesota campus, the Minnetonka-based Opus Group has big plans for a prime location: Oak Street and Washington Avenue S.E. Opus originally...

Finance for startups 101.(Reprint)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Austin Light This article was originally published in a Dolan sister publication, The Mecklenburg Times, but the advice in it is relevant to all locations. Comments were provided by Chuck Bamford, Professor of Entrepreneurship &...

Consultants can help when businesses face difficulties.
July 6, 2009... Byline: GAYE BUNDERSON Your business isn’t about what you want to sell. It’s about what your customers want to buy. Business consultants are helping people open businesses, stay in business or sell a business in unusually...

Chief justice: Minnesota's judiciary in a state of 'great flux'.(Excerpt)
July 6, 2009... Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson’s State of the Judiciary Address delivered at the Minnesota State Bar Association annual meeting in Duluth on June 26. The full text...

Across the Region.
July 6, 2009... IOWA Supreme Court reverses ruling in Germany case The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a district court decision in a negligence case filed by a woman whose son died from injuries he received while participating in a program organized...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Fleming.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Evidence - Prior Inconsistent Statement Where an eyewitness testified before the grand jury that after defendant and the victim began to argue, defendant pulled out a gun and shot the victim; and at...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: In the Matter of the Welfare of: M.L.B.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Evidence - Business Record; Element of Offense Regardless of whether an estimate prepared by a car-repair shop falls within the business-records exception to the hearsay rule, we conclude that defendant's...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Oestreich.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Evidence - Show-up Identification Where a car pulled up to the curb next to complainant, who was walking; the passenger in the car spoke briefly to complainant and then snatched his phone from his hand;...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Stewart.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Evidence - 'Spreigl' Where defendant was charged with first-degree possession of methamphetamine and cocaine after officers found drugs and paraphernalia in a residence defendant shared with others; and...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Fardan.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Interrogation - Juvenile; 'Miranda' Waiver Where the 15-year-old juvenile defendant was arrested and given a Miranda warning; defendant restated the warning to the officers in his own terms; the juvenile...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Dillon.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Plea - Intelligently Made Where defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct; the plea agreement did not include the mandatory lifetime conditional-release term; and a lifetime...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Vang v. Minnesota.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Plea - Language Competency Where the postconviction petitioner, who speaks both Hmong and English, pleaded guilty in 2003; during interviews, meetings and court proceedings, petitioner spoke in English,...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Zvorak.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Plea - Withdrawal Denied Where, on the day trial was scheduled, defendant pleaded guilty; and the plea agreement called for the state to recommend a sentence of no more than 100 months, the same sentence...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Alfano v. Minnesota.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Prosecutorial Midconduct - Argument re: Tailoring Testimony Where defendant's story changed between the time he first spoke to police and when he testified at trial; during closing argument, the...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Rachuy.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Right to Counsel - Disqualification of Attorney Even though the District Court determined that defense counsel would be a necessary witness at trial, we conclude that the District Court erred in...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Cotton.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Sentencing - Severity Level; Child Pornography Where the District Court addressed the gravity of the specific conduct underlying defendant's unranked offense of possession of child pornography; the court...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Premier Bank v. Becker Development, LLC.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Blanket Lien Foreclosure A contractor may foreclose a perfected blanket mechanic's lien on less than all the property subject to the lien, provided that the equities demonstrate that the foreclosure does...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Bryan v. Kissoon.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Torts - Misrepresentation; Proximate Cause In an action for misrepresentation relating to the purchase of a home, it is necessary to prove that the alleged misrepresentation proximately caused the claimed...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Stewart v. Koenig.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Torts - State Recreational Trail The driver of a motor vehicle operating on a private driveway that crosses a state recreational trail is a trail user and is subject to the rules governing state...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Waymouth Farms, Inc. v. Olam Americas, Inc.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Arbitration - No Agreement to Arbitrate Where contracts between the parties, a seller and a buyer of a food product, provided that any controversy or claim under the contracts may be settled in binding...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Mahoney & Emerson v. Private Bank of Minnesota.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Civil Procedure - Attorney-Fee Sanction Even though the District Court's orders demonstrate its belief that appellant, a partner in a law firm, was acting in bad faith in litigation with respondent, also...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Benson v. Holding.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Contracts - Guaranty Where two investors wrote checks to a corporation and received a promissory note which included a personal guaranty from the president and vice president of the corporation; and the...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Neuman v. Graving.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Damages - Product of Passion or Prejudice Even though defendant conceded liability for a motor-vehicle accident and the jury found that plaintiff had sustained a permanent injury and a 60-day disability,...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Trocaderos, LLC v. City of Minneapolis.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Defamation - Nature of Statements Where a city council member responded to constituents' complaints about a night club by stating in e-mails that there had been a huge number of issues with the bad...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: St. Louis County Public Health/Human Services Dept. v. Henry.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Domestic Relations - Child Custody Modification Where, in 2005, the District Court involuntarily transferred permanent legal and physical custody of two children to mother's brother; mother moves to...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Seuberth v. Nieber.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Domestic Relations - Child Support Modification Where father, who has worked as a self-employed roofer, suffered a back strain, was advised to avoid heavy lifting, and was advised against working as a...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Williams v. Williams.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Domestic Relations - Maintenance Although the record supports the award of permanent maintenance, we conclude that the record does not support the District Court's finding of the amount of the obligee's...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Anderson v. Anderson.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Domestic Relations - Property; Business Asset Where wife claimed that husband owned an equitable interest in an online advertising company and that the company's articles of organization were misstated...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: McGowan v. Commissioner of Public Safety.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Drivers License Revocation - Breath Test Where a trooper testified that the arrestee was given four minutes to provide a breath sample, that he and another officer repeatedly instructed the arrestee to...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Chapman v. Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Insurance - Legal Malpractice Where the evidence is conclusive that the attorney knew of a client's malpractice claim during the 1998-1999 professional liability insurance policy period but failed to...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Tea v. City of St. Paul.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Municipal - Nuisance Abatement Where petitioner purchased residential property on May 1, 2008 and recorded the deed on June 5, 2008; before petitioner recorded the deed, the city (1) served an order to...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Hopen v. Weaver.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Real Property - Quieting Title Where the Hopens and Buzzells, who are adjacent landowners, reached an agreement regarding a property description, the Buzzells agreed not to answer the Hopens' complaint,...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: DiMa Corp. v. Rogers.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Unemployment Benefits - Misconduct Even though claimant was diagnosed with depression after she was discharged, we conclude that the record does not support the ULJ's determination that claimant was...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: duCharme v. Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Zoning and Land Use - CUP; RV Park Where the applicants applied for a cluster development and conditional use permit (CUP) for an recreational vehicle (RV) park on the shore of a lake classified as...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Bitcon.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Defense of Self - Evidence regarding Elements Where defendant claimed that his girlfriend threw a beer at him and lunged forward, and he became scared and backhanded her and then hit her three or four...

Minn. State Bar Assn. gives stamp of approval to $100 hike in lawyer license fee.
July 6, 2009... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The Minnesota State Bar Association, with evident reluctance from some of its members and over the objections of 25 percent of Assembly members present at its annual meeting, recently approved a resolution to...

Minnesota Supreme Court: In the Matter of the Contest of General Election held on November 4, 2008,.(Brief article)
July 6, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- Elections - No Due Process or Equal Protection Violations; Inspection of Ballots Unwarranted 1. Appellants did not establish that, by requiring proof that statutory absentee voting...