Minnesota Lawyer articles from March 2009

Minnesota Lawyer archives from March 2009

Minnesota Lawyer Attorneys of the Year 2008.(List)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Dan Heilman It was a big year for big cases in Minnesota, and some of the attorneys behind those big cases are among those being honored by Minnesota Lawyer with its 10th annual Attorneys of the Year award. The award is...

Minnesota Supreme Court: Big Lake Association v. St. Louis County Planning Commission.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Wavier of Issue Based on separation of powers principles, we will not consider an issue that was not properly raised before a local zoning authority. The court reviews the record to determine whether the...

Minn. Supreme Court: Danforth v. Minnesota.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Retroactivity of New Rule 1. As a matter of Minnesota law, whether to retroactively apply a new rule of federal constitutional criminal procedure to cases decided before the rule's announcement is...

Minnesota Supreme Court: Deadline for Submitting Comments on Proposed Amendments to Student Practice.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Student Practice Rules The Minnesota State Bar Association filed a petition that proposes amendments to the Student Practice Rules. This Court will consider the proposed amendments without a hearing....

Minnesota Supreme Court: Rules of Juvenile Protection Procedure and Rules of Adoption Procedure.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Amendments to Rules The Advisory Committee on the Rules of Juvenile Protection Procedure filed a report recommending proposed amendments to the Rules of Juvenile Protection Procedure and Rules of...

U.S. Bankruptcy Court: In re: Halverson; ADV 08-4123 Halverson v. U.S. Department of Education.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Student Loan Debt Where the 65-year-old debtor has two student consolidation loans which have a total balance of $295,182 and accrue monthly interest of $1,963; the debtor has no significant assets, has...

Minnesota Tax Court: Bakewell v. Commissioner of Revenue.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Digital Photography Where a wedding photography business charges only for photographer services and provides the customer with a a digital video disc (DVD) containing all images its takes, the Tax Court...

U.S. District Court: Clergy Financial, LLC v. Clergy Financial Services, Inc.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Venue; First-Filed Rule Where a Minnesota company brought a trademark claim against a Colorado corporation seeking a permanent injunction and damages; the Colorado corporation, which lays claim to the...

Minn. Court of Appeals: In re the Matter of the Application of: Barth to Register the Title.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Collateral Estoppel The doctrine of collateral estoppel does not preclude a municipality from defending its interests in land in a registration action when the land is not the same land that was the...

Minn. Court of Appeals: Revestors Group 1, LLC v. Severson.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Arbitrability of Dispute Even though the parties' 2006 letter of engagement for legal services does not contain an arbitration clause, we conclude that the dispute between the parties is reasonably within...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: In the Matter of the Civil Commitment of: Trones.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Mentally Ill and Dangerous Where the proposed patient swung a lamp at his father who fell and suffered a compression fracture and a wound requiring 30 stitches; the District Court did not find credible...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Donaldson v. Drake Bank.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Release of Claims Where a corporation and a lender entered into a forbearance agreement under which the corporation released all claims occurring and/or arising from transactions entered into with the...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Helfman v. Johnson.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Valuation Where a minority shareholder sought a buy-out of his shares in a corporation which provided title examination and real-estate closings; using an income approach, the minority shareholder's...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Savoren v. LSI Corp. of America, Inc.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Marital-Status Discrimination Where plaintiff was hired as the human resources manager for the same corporation that employed her spouse as director of manufacturing; and a few years later, the CEO of...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Hassan v. Dakota County Community Development Agency.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Section 8 Benefits Where the only evidence supporting the determination that claimant's husband had moved into her rent-assisted unit was a notation in a child support file, and this evidence is...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Johnson v. Progressive Northern Insurance Co.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report No-Fault; Anti-Stacking Where plaintiff was injured in a one-car accident while riding as a passenger in a vehicle which was underinsured; plaintiff elected to seek $250,000 in underinsured motorist...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Gunderson v. United Sugars Corp.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Voluntary Quit Where claimant, a forklift operator, suffered back problems from an incident in which he was manually lifting bags of sugar; two months later, he was released by his chiropractor to...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Matter of the Application of: Lawrence for a Conditional Use Permit.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report CUP; Dog Kennel Where the applicant sought a conditional use permit to allow her to kennel 12 sled dogs on land zoned Forest Recreational; the applicant lives on 15.91 acres in a platted subdivision in...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Anderson.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report 'Lothenbach' Proceeding Even though the record appears to contain evidence sufficient to support defendant's convictions, we remand for findings as to each element of the offenses where defendant...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Mohamed.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Cathinone; Fair Warning Where defendant was convicted of fifth-degree possession of cathinone after being found in possession of khat, which contains cathine and cathinone, both controlled substances...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Lowe, Sr.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Criminal Record Where, during trial, the prosecutor asked an officer if the victim had reported that defendant threatened her during the assault; and the officer testified, I don't remember exactly.... .

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Bernard.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Recusal; Partiality Where defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a 14-year-old student at the school where defendant was employed as a teacher and coach; at the sentencing...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Abdulkader v. Minnesota.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Court's Participation Where defense counsel's affidavit indicates that in the midst of jury selection, an in-chambers discussion occurred during which defense counsel discussed his intention to seek a...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Schuler v. Minnesota.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Valid 'Alford' Plea Where defendant acknowledged the state's evidence, admitted going over the complaint, acknowledged a substantial likelihood of conviction, and testified that he knew that the state...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Wernikiewicz v. Minnesota.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Assistance of Counsel Even though petitioner is represented by a public defender in this appeal of the denial of his postconviction petition, we conclude that petitioner was denied his statutory right...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Lucht.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Were They Lying Questions Where defendant, who was charged with second-degree DWI, denied that she asked the first person on the scene of an accident if her breath smelled like alcohol, as that person...

Minnesota Court of Appeals: Minnesota v. Erickson.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report No Seizure Where an officer's report stated that when he responded to a person slumped in a vehicle in a restaurant parking lot, the person in the vehicle got out of his car and approached the officer;...

Minnesota law students still searching for jobs in a bleak market.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Barbara L. Jones During the tough economic times of the early-to-mid '80s, Bruce Springsteen sang, The times are tough now, just getting tougher. This old world is rough, it's just getting rougher. The Baby Boom generation rocker's...

Minnesota Supreme Court sticks with 'Teague' rule on retroactivity.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The Minnesota Supreme Court last week adopted a retroactivity rule for newly recognized federal constitutional procedural requirements that may not be perfect, but that the court found preferable to any of the...

Feud over Intoxilyzer's source code will come to a head before U.S. District Court judge.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report The long-brewing feud over the Intoxilyzer's source code will come to a head this May with a bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank. The case pits DUI defense lawyers, who want...

Proposal would expand restrictions on use of peremptories in Minnesota.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Michelle Lore A proposal to place new restrictions on the use of peremptory challenges is causing a stir in the state's legal community. A peremptory strike is a way to exclude a potential juror without giving a valid reason....

U.S. Supreme Court justices to hear deportation case.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether immigrants must be told by their lawyers that they face deportation if they plead guilty to serious crimes. The justices will consider whether...

American Bar Association passes lateral hiring amendment.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Following a hotly contested debate at its House of Delegates meeting last month, the American Bar Association voted to amend its Model Rule of Professional Conduct concerning lateral hiring and...

Grant requests being accepted by Hennepin County Bar Foundation.(Public notice)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report The Hennepin County Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the Hennepin County Bar Association, considers grant requests once each year. The HCBF supports programs that: * provide legal services to...

What's hot & what's not: Immigration law.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Michelle Lore The downturn in the economy is having a dramatic effect on the practice of immigration law, an area that's complicated even in good financial times. Immigration lawyers are busy advising their corporate clients on...

Commentary: Feelings or facts? How jurors use emotional information to decide cases.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Richard Gabriel A mother sobs gently in her deposition, describing the last moments of life her teenage daughter experienced after a head-on collision. She cries as she talks about the plans her daughter had to go to medical school...

Finalists for Hennepin County bench announced.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Finalists for a seat on the Hennepin County District Court bench were announced last week. The vacancy is the result of the death of Judge Steven A. Pihlaja on Sept. 17, 2008. The finalists are...

Minn. Supreme Court seeks to fill positions on legal services committee, trust account board.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report The Minnesota Supreme Court is seeking to fill two positions on the Legal Services Advisory Committee. One opening is for a client-eligible representative and one is for a public nonlawyer...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report All this CLE's a stage... Minnesota Women Lawyers, the Guthrie Theater and West LegalEdcenter will join forces for a CLE that uses plays to explore the perception of female professionals, gender...

Column: The market and malpractice insurance.(Reprint)(Column)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Edward Poll Despite the small percentage of lawyers who potentially cause problems, all lawyers in Minnesota must certify in their annual registration statements whether they are covered by professional liability insurance. That...

Minnesota Lawyers in the News: March 2, 2009.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Mark J. Kemper has been named a shareholder in Oskie, Hamilton & Sofio, P.A. Kemper represents individual and corporate clients in property loss and construction defect claims throughout Minnesota and...

Report gives lawyers new argument to keep out forensic evidence.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Sylvia Hsieh A recent forensic science report released by the National Academy of Sciences is likely to be a new weapon for attorneys, particular criminal defense lawyers trying to exclude non-DNA forensic evidence, such as...

Ramsey County District Court: Ibarra v. Paskvan.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer staff Automobile Accident Plaintiff's Summary of the Case: Plaintiff Moises Ibarra was 73 years old and a native of Mexico. He and his wife had seven children and at the time of his death was employed, earning...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Gilkerson.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Migratory Bird Treaty Act; 'Preservation Facility' Where the operator of a game-processing operation was found guilty by a magistrate judge for having untagged geese at his facility, the District Court...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: Lewellen v. Wildlife Farms II, LLC, et al.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Sanction; Bankruptcy Filing Where a bankruptcy court and District Court found that a motion for relief from stay was legally baseless and filed for the improper purpose of hindering the sale of land and...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: Englund v. SBS Financial Services, Inc.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Motion For Contempt; Monetary Damages; Adversary Proceeding Where a bankruptcy court denied debtors' motion for contempt against a creditor because the court concluded that the debtors were required to...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: Fortress Systems v. Bank of the West.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Refusal To Extend Loan; Commitment Letter; Promissory Estoppel Where a company brought an action against a bank seeking damages for the bank's refusal to extend a loan, summary judgment for the bank was...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: ProGrowth Bank, Inc. v. Wells Fargo Bank.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Security Interests; Priority; Financing Statement Where plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment against banks to determine the priority of their security interests, summary judgment for the plaintiff is...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Beck.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Limitation; Police-Officer Scandal Where a District Court prohibited a criminal defendant from questioning an investigating officer about the officer's involvement in a scandal involving World Series...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Lofton.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Sufficiency Of Evidence; Late Disclosure Where witnesses who testified that defendant threatened them with a gun were found to be credible by the jury, sufficient evidence supported defendant's...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Coleman.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Tax Stamp Conviction; Variance Where a defendant convicted on drug conspiracy charges had an earlier conviction for violating Iowa's tax stamp law, the offense qualified as a prior felony offense, and...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: Earl v. Fabian.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Timeliness; State-Created Delay Where a criminal defendant claimed that the state failed to timely notify him that his judgment of conviction had become final, which caused his late filing for a writ of...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Palega.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Name Discrepancy; Probable Cause (1) Even though a search warrant listed the first name of defendant's brother rather than defendant, the description of the defendant's residence was accurate and the...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Easley.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Enhancement; Prior Conviction Where a criminal defendant appealed a four-level sentencing enhancement for possession of a firearm in connection with another felony offense, the guideline does not...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Littrell.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Enhancement; 'Connection' With Felony Where defendant threatened his landlady with a gun and left several hours later with her car, a four-level sentencing enhancement for using a firearm in connection...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Martinez.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Methamphetamine Conspiracy; Enhancement Where a defendant challenged his 264-month sentence for charges connected with his participation in a methamphetamine-distribution conspiracy, the District Court...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Gordon.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Predicate Offense; Child Endangerment Where a defendant who pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon had a 2004 conviction for endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree,...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Lewis.
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Money Laundering; Willful Blindness (1)Where defendants convicted as part of a fraud and money-laundering conspiracy argued that they were entitled to separate trials, the District Court did not err in...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Williams.(Brief article)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Length Of Delay; Tolling Where a defendant, who claimed violations of the Speedy Trial Act after spending more than 400 days in jail awaiting trial, traveled out-of-state to cooperate with the...

Verdicts & Settlements March 3, 2009: Defamation - Charles Yancey, M.D. v. Jeffrey R. Weis, M.D. and David R. Hardten, M.D.(Case overview)
March 3, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Plaintiff's Statement of the Case: In 2006, Dr. Charles Yancey testified (by videotaped deposition) as an expert witness in a LASIK medical malpractice case against defendant Dr. Jeffrey R. Weis in St. Louis...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Patent Infringement.(Case overview)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Plaintiff's Summary of the Case: This patent infringement case involved machinery developed and patented by Spectralytics. The equipment is used to make stents, a medical device used to unclog human...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Automobile Accident.(Case overview)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Plaintiff's Summary of the Case: The defendant attempted to cross a city street in-between stopped vehicles in a line of traffic. The plaintiff, driving on the through-street in the lane adjacent to the...

Verdicts & Settlements March 9, 2009: Automobile-Pedestrian Accident.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Plaintiff's Summary of the Case: CK was 86 years old and living in Shakopee at the time of his death in January 2007. He had worked as a bank executive, but was retired. His wife was disabled and he...

Chocolate makers may be headed to federal court.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Chocolate manufacturers may be able to remove a consumer class action alleging antitrust violations to federal court -- even though the plaintiff's complaint failed to indicate that the amount in...

EEOC seeks comment on genetic anti-bias regs.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer staff The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is accepting public comments on its proposed plan to implement the employment-related requirements of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008....

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar wants B. Todd Jones to be Minnesota's U.S. Attorney.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced last week that she is recommending B. Todd Jones as the next U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota. The U.S. Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement...

Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co. issues $1 million in dividends to policyholders.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company is once again giving money back to its policyholders, but the total is a 60 percent decline from the previous year. The company announced last week that...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: Bannister v. Bemis Company, Inc.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Non-Compete Agreement; Employer Breach; Damages Where an employer breached the unambiguous terms of a non-compete agreement by enforcing non-compete provisions and failing to pay the employee his...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: Pichoff v. QHG of Springdale, Inc., et al.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Life Insurance Coverage; Appropriate Equitable Relief; Breach Of Fiduciary Duty Where appellant brought an ERISA action for breach of fiduciary duty against decedent's employer and plan administrator...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: Gibson v. Regions Financial Corporation.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Abuse Of Process; Civil Conspiracy; Business Failure Where plaintiff brought claims of abuse of process and civil conspiracy against the lender of his failed car dealership, the plaintiff failed to...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Janis.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Indian Tribe; Sufficiency Of Evidence Where defendant was convicted of embezzlement from an Indian tribal organization in connection with the tribe's employee pay-advance program, the government showed...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: Streu v. Dormire.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Post-Conviction Motion; Tolling Where a criminal defendant, who sought federal habeas corpus relief, properly filed a motion to reopen post-conviction proceedings in Missouri, the motion was an...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Hoffmann.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Instruction Even though a theory-of-the-defense instruction given by the District Court in an illegal gratuity case erroneously expanded the gratuity statute, the jury instructions as a whole were...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Williams.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Crack Cocaine; Guilty Plea Where a defendant did not admit the elements of aiding and abetting the distribution of crack cocaine, the court did not commit plain error by refusing to enter a guilty plea...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Sicaros-Quintero.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Drug Quantity; Determination Where a defendant who pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine contested the determination of the drug quantity, the court...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Theimer.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Embezzlement; Loss Calculation Where a bank officer who was found guilty on charges of conspiracy, forged securities, embezzlement and mail fraud challenged her sentence, the District Court's findings...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Schlosser.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Incident Report; Evidentiary Hearing Where an incident report relied upon by the court was detailed, convincing and included statements from witnesses, a criminal defendant failed to show that the...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Alexander.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Presumption Of Reasonableness; Advisory Guideline Range Where the District Court impermissibly applied a presumption of reasonableness to the advisory guideline range in the case of two defendants who...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Marron-Garcia.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Proportionality Review; 'Gall' Where a criminal defendant argued for resentencing in light of the intervening decision in Gall v. United States, nothing in pre-Gall cases constrained the District...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Harris.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Reduction; Authority Where a District Court calculated an amended guideline range and resentenced a defendant convicted on crack-cocaine charges under the retroactive amendment, the court correctly...

8th Circuit Court of Appeals: U.S. v. Cvijanovich.(Brief article)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Report Plea Agreement; Prior Threats (1) Where a criminal defendant entered into a plea agreement for counts of damage to government property with an understanding that the government would not prosecute the...

Minnesota's judicial selection system gets a hearing.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Efforts to revamp Minnesota's judicial-election system took one small step forward last week when a bill proposing a ballot initiative on the subject was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and sent to the...

Matrimonial lawyers step up, pitch in at Family Court in Minnesota.(American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Michelle Lore With resources and staff dwindling due to continuing cuts to the state's court budget, some family law judicial officers are having a hard time keeping up, especially with issuing written orders in complex cases. ...

Minnesota teacher with PTSD from Red Lake shootings entitled to comp.
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mark A. Cohen In a victory that workers' compensation lawyers say is surprising, a Red Lake High School teacher who suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the 2005 shootings at the school was recently awarded workers'...