Minnesota Lawyer articles from March 2008

Minnesota Lawyer archives from March 2008

Weighing jury waivers in Minnesota.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman Should defendants in criminal cases have the right to a bench trial if they want one? Or should the public interest include a provision that the prosecution must consent to the defense's wishes? That's part of the...

Minnesota Supreme Court gives sex harassment standard for employers a second look.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Michelle Lore The Minnesota Supreme Court is taking a look at whether a seven-year-old amendment to the Minnesota Human Rights Act created a new standard for an employer's liability for sexual harassment. Tomorrow the state...

Minnesota lawyers find solid niche in nonprofits.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman Monticello attorney Jim Fleming never knows who might walk through the door when he hangs out his nonprofit shingle. It might be a high school baseball team looking to organize a fundraiser, or it might be a new group...

William Mitchell in St. Paul opens Center for Negotiation and Justice.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones One of the notable business success stories in Minnesota was the spin-off in 1996 from the 3M Company of what became Imation, which in turn moved from being $450 million in debt to having that much in cash on hand....

Minnesota Bar Buzz: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter And all the men and women merely smokers, errr, players Cambridge attorney Mark Benjamin made Bar Buzz's definition of the big time last week when he was interviewed by our favorite Canadian...

Commentary: An update on improving 'the score'.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Ed Poll I wrote recently that building and maintaining a good relationship with your banker is a crucial strategy for beating the credit crunch. Relationships are important, but bankers also value numbers, and the most important...

Minnesota Lawyers in the News: March 3, 2008.
March 3, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Neal T. Buethe, Michael J. Grimes and Jack Y. Perry have been elected directors of Briggs and Morgan, P.A. Buethe is a shareholder and member of the employment law section and head of the firm's...

Minnesota Court News: March 3, 2008.(Ramsey County Substance Abuse Court)
March 3, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Ramsey County Substance Abuse Court turns five The Ramsey County Adult Substance Abuse Court program celebrated its fifth anniversary with an open house last week. The featured speaker at the...

How will the budget pinch in Minnesota affect the judiciary?
March 10, 2008... Byline: Michelle Lore The bleak budget forecast has the courts and Legal Services agencies worried about the potential of losing some of their funding in the fallout. We are obviously very concerned, said State Court Administrator Sue...

Minn. Supreme Court rules law firm not liable to nonclients for advice in loan transaction.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Mark A. Cohen A malpractice action against the Minneapolis law firm of Dorsey & Whitney brought by nonclients under a third-party beneficiary theory cannot proceed, the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled. Dorsey had been hired...

New Rule 68 not popular with the defense bar in Minnesota.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Recent changes to the rules of civil procedure designed to clarify when and how costs are assessed when cases are settled have drawn the ire of some defense lawyers. Last month the state Supreme Court adopted...

Animal law niche breeds success.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman When Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was arrested and tried last year for his connection with a dog fighting ring, the case threw a harsh light on a practice that was more widespread than many suspected. ...

Minnesota Legal Briefs: March 10, 2008.(The Hennepin County Bar Association)(Books for Africa)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff HCBA New Lawyers Section collecting books for Africa The HCBA New Lawyer Section is sponsoring a book drive for Books for Africa. Books for Africa is a nonprofit that collects, sorts, ships and...

Up & Coming Minn. Attorney award recipients for 2008 announced.(Minnesota, United States)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Michael Krieger Minnesota Lawyer is proud to announce the recipients of our Up & Coming Attorneys award for 2008. Now in its eighth year, this award is reserved for newer attorneys who have distinguished themselves during their...

Support for judicial election reform in Minn. coalescing in Legislature.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones As lawmakers take up the question of judicial-election reform, proponents of change are lining up behind the retention-election model. A majority of the Quie Commission -- a citizens' group that issued...

Commentary: Breath method for determining sobriety doesn't pass the smell test.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Mark A. Cohen There is a place where defendants have gone to prison based upon evidence that cannot be verified; where lawyers' attempts to find out the source of this incriminating evidence have been completely rebuffed; and where...

Commentary: Coach's Corner: It's better to work with a 'Net.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll How should small law firms and solos entice prospects into using their services? From the smaller firm's perspective, the number of contacts that you make, the number of people you talk to, will have the biggest...

Companies ramp up raining against sexual-orientation bias.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh A growing number of companies driven by a concern over litigation are ramping up employee training in an effort to stamp out sexual orientation bias in the workplace. Over the past few years, 20 states have passed...

Website videos by lawyers become much more common.(www.bobbattlelaw.com)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Dick Dahl If you're a DUI defendant in Virginia and you're curious about how Richmond lawyer Bob Battle might come across while representing you in court, the answer is only a click away. Visitors to Battle's website...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: March 10, 2008.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Counselor celebrates curling championship Curling has been called chess on ice -- a game of strategy and execution. It's also described as throwing 42 pounds of granite down 140 feet of ice while players...

Commentary: Leap year expectations: An extra day, an election and litigation enigmas.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, who declared that only two things in life were certain -- death and taxes -- three matters are inevitable in years that are divisible by the number four. Invariably, those...

Commentary: Feds approve new reporting requirements for nonprofits.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Dan Emerson Revising tax forms and creating new ones is a continual process for the Internal Revenue Service. But the recent release of a new Form 990, the filing vehicle used by nonprofit organizations, represents a major...

Companies report fewer lawsuits, less use of outside counsel.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh The number of lawsuits filed against companies has dropped to 2005 levels, and companies are relying less on outside counsel than they did two years ago, according to a recent survey of corporate litigation trends. ...

Minn. woman ia soldier, attorney, patriot.(Interview)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Lacee Bjork Anderson Claire Zajac leads a double life. One day she can be seen in a business suit, confidently striding down a hallway at HealthPartners. Another day you'll find her wearing boots and camouflage on a military base...

Commentary: When wellness goes too far.
March 10, 2008... Byline: David Jordan-Huffman When it comes to managing health care costs, a great deal of common ground exists among employers, employees and health insurers. By some estimates, nearly 70 percent of all health care costs can be...

Lessons learned from 'Qualcomm v. Broadcom'.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh A judge's decision to slam attorneys with $8.5 million in sanctions last year for failing to monitor their client's electronic discovery failures sent ripples of fear through the legal community. But now that some...

Commentary: Preventing fraud.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Craig Siiro Fraud comes in all sizes, from billion-dollar cases of corporate fraud to employees overcharging on expense reports. Therefore an effective fraud prevention strategy must be multidimensional, taking into account...

2007 was a banner year for legal news in Minn.(Brief article)
March 10, 2008... Byline: Michael Krieger On the plaintiffs' side, Robert Bennett negotiated a $4.5 million settlement for a Minneapolis police officer who was a victim of friendly fire. Timothy E. Branson shined a spotlight on the Drug Enforcement...

Hanson plans to continue his outstanding service to Minn.'s legal community.
March 10, 2008... Byline: Michelle Lore After 34 years of practicing law, two years on the Minnesota Court of Appeals and more than five years on the Minnesota Supreme Court, some attorneys might considering retiring. But not Sam Hanson, who intends to...

Sourcefire down under.
March 11, 2008... Byline: Daily Record Staff Sourcefire Inc., of Columbia, a developer of network security technology, said its 3D System has been selected by Woodside, Australia's largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company, to...

Firms find benefit in law firm networks.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman In an increasingly global legal marketplace, having a presence outside the physical reach of one's own firm is crucial. But very few firms have the resources to establish a brick-and-mortar presence in another city, let...

Hennepin County self-help center recognized.(Brief article)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Susan Ledray and Katrina Zabinski, coordinators of the Minnesota Judicial Branch Virtual Self-Help Center and the Hennepin County Self-Help Center, have been named Honorable Mention recipients of the 2008...

ABA reports on law school enrollment stats.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff A report on law school enrollment by the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar showed that total enrollment by students seeking the Juris Doctor degree increased only...

Immigration lawyers' group in Minnesota seeks to educate and advocate.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Michelle Lore With the immigration debate continuing to rage on both locally and nationally, one Minnesota lawyers' group is doing its part to educate the profession and the public on issues affecting immigrants. In early May,...

Commentary: Is loyalty cheap?(Report)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll The foundation of any lawyer's life and practice is the relationship with the client. Without clients there is no reason to be a lawyer. Lawyers don't just practice law, they serve clients. One brief story brings...

The subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Kimberly Atkins The quiet times are over for securities litigators. The subprime mortgage meltdown has spurred a record number of investor class actions and other litigation, and attorneys and researchers say this is just the tip...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: March 17, 2008.(Supreme Court collapsing with recent retirements)
March 17, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Supreme Court caucuses crumbling Supreme Court Justice Lorie Gildea recently lamented to Bar Buzz that the coalitions she has been building at the court are collapsing with recent retirements....

Minnesota Lawyers in the News: March 17, 2008.
March 17, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Manuel J. Cervantes has been appointed to the Office of Administrative Hearings as an administrative law judge, effective April 7, 2008. Cervantes earned a fellow certificate from the Hubert H....

Minnesota Supreme Court clarifies removal standard in some custody cases.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones A recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision clarifies the proper standard to apply to removal requests in cases in which custody has been specifically conditioned on the custodial parent's and child's continued...

Declaration of Independence coming to Minnesota.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Mark A. Cohen Minnesota will be celebrating its 150th birthday in style this May with a visit from one of the oldest existing original copies of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration will be part of a display during...

'Good-faith' bills remain a subject of debate in Minnesota.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Danny Nelson and his lawyer, Jeffrey Sieben of Minneapolis, think Nelson got a raw deal from his insurance company. Nelson, a 44-year-old bricklayer, was seriously injured in a car accident. He settled his claim...

Lawyer registration fees in Minnesota to increase in July.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Beginning July 8, Minnesota attorneys will be paying an additional $8 when they go to pay their annual lawyer registration fee. The Minnesota Supreme Court has amended the Rules of the Supreme Court on...

ACLU, local Lawyers' Guild sue St. Paul over RNC.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff The ACLU of Minnesota and the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild filed a federal complaint last week against the city of St. Paul on behalf of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War....

William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul to host health-care directives event.(Brief article)
March 31, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff As part of National Healthcare Decisions Day, William Mitchell College of Law students and attorneys will provide free assistance to the public and community with the completion of health-care directive forms...

Legal Aid Society honors University of Minnesota law professor.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff University of Minnesota Law School Professor Laura Cooper will be honored at the 27th Annual Law Day Testimonial Dinner on May 1 at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center. The annual Law Day Dinner is held...

Elder Law?: what's HOT & what's not.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Dan Heilman When it comes to the practice of elder law, according to Minneapolis attorney Laurie Hanson, it's not so much a matter of what's hot and what's not as much as what's hot and what's getting hotter. Advancements in...

Commentary: Minnesota's statute of limitations: Closing the loophole.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Scott A. Smith Amid all the national talk of immigration policy, Minnesotans have a serious legal immigration problem here at home -- the thousands of non-Minnesota product liability plaintiffs whose claims have no relationship...

Commentary: Legal ethics and the Nifong disbarment.
March 31, 2008... Byline: W. William Hodes When Durham County North Carolina District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred in June 2007, much of the world was watching. Not as many people remember that Nifong was held in criminal contempt of court for his...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: March 31, 3008.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Stacey to Paull: I'm no fixer First Judicial District Judge Rex Stacey has advised the Board on Judicial Standards that he prefers not to be called a ticket fixer. Stacey became aware that the board's...

Commentary: Lawyers are not immortal.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Edward Poll A while back I learned of a story that is all too common in our profession. The widow of a California attorney sought to work through the problem of closing her husband's practice after his death. She found little...

Minnesota Lawyers in the News: March 31, 2008.
March 31, 2008... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Tucker Hummel and Stephen Ringquist have joined Jensen Anderson Sondrall, P.A. Hummel practices in the areas of estate planning, business and commercial law, criminal law and employment law. He is a graduate...