Minnesota Lawyer articles from November 2005

Minnesota Lawyer archives from November 2005

MN Court of Appeals Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks does not have the "seven year itch".(Minnesota)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore Seven years ago last week, Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks was appointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals by then-Gov. Arne Carlson. But this civil defense attorney turned appellate jurist does not have the "seven-year...

MN State Bar Assn. program is designed to assist new lawyers seeking to start solo practice.(Minnesota )
November 7, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) has a program in the works designed to assist new lawyers who want to hang out their own shingle. At its September meeting, the MSBA Assembly endorsed the "Quality Mark"...

Minnesota State Bar Association increases its pro bono recruiting effort.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) Legal Assistance to the Disadvantaged (LAD) Committee is ramping up its efforts to increase the number of attorneys performing pro bono work. Under the "Up Your Pro Bono"...

Mille Lacs County judge approves $2M award in strip -search case.(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Mille Lacs County will pay $2 million to settle a class action brought by plaintiffs illegally strip searched at the Mille Lacs County Jail between May 19, 1998, and May 31, 2004. A Mille Lacs County...

MN Supreme Court upholds courthouse shooter's murder conviction.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter The conviction of Susan Rae Berkovitz for the murder of Shelley Joseph-Kordell and the shooting of Minneapolis attorney Richard Hendrickson was upheld by the Supreme Court last week. Berkovitz...

MN Bar Buzz: November 11, 2007.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter And the good sportsmanship award goes to Bar Buzz offers kudos to Dorsey & Whitney partner Roger Magnuson for being willing to poke a little fun at his own law firm. The Dorsey firm recently took...

Commentary: In a time of darkness came one of journalism's finest hours.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Mark A. Cohen Having dedicated the last two columns to giving a view of irresponsible journalism, I thought in the interest of balance I would mention an example of a responsible journalist. A few weeks ago I happened to catch...

Commentary: The lawyer as advisor.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility The Preamble to the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC) identifies four main representational functions performed by attorneys. Most people understand that lawyers act as...

MN's Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers has provided support services to lawyers in trouble for 29 yrs.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Lawyers know how to keep secrets and for 29 years members of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) have been keeping big ones about their addicted or mentally ill colleagues. Since 1976, LCL has been a...

Commentary: Contentious cases consider counsel compensation chore.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Doing good work on behalf of a client is a lawyer's task. Getting paid for the work can often become counsel's chore. Seeking compensation can be a source of contentious litigation. A recent trio of...

MN Legal Briefs: November 7, 2005.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Best & Flanagan has announced the addition of Bart R. McIlonie, John M. Stern, and Adam C. Speer as associates in its commercial real estate lending group, and Sarah E. Ruter as an associate...

July 2005 Minnesota Bar Examination results revealed.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore The July 2005 Minnesota Bar Examination marked the largest number of test takers in the state's history, but the overall passage rate was the lowest in five years for those taking the summer exam. Of the 769...

Gaining trust of client is key in white-collar defense cases.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones It takes a long time to gain the trust and confidence of a client so you'd better start early. That was the advice of Madison, Wis., defense attorney Lester Pines to a continuing legal education (CLE) audience...

St. Louis County District Court jury awards $730,000 to family for loss of son.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore A Hibbing jury recently awarded nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to the family of a 27-year-old emancipated man who died in a car accident in April 2004. The decedent was living with his parents at the...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: November 14, 2005.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Snipe hunt Minneapolis attorney Andrew Luger, who is running for Hennepin County attorney, had some revealing comments at a recent meeting with county attorneys. He said, "We've got a real...

Supreme Court proposes criminal rules address transcript issues.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones The Supreme Court is currently considering amendments to the Rules of Criminal Procedure that stem from the high court's decision two years ago to eliminate mandatory guilty plea and sentencing transcripts in...

MN Supreme Court hears 8-year class action suit.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones It was way back in 1997 when Minnesota farmer Ronald Peterson called Minneapolis lawyer Douglas Nill with a concern about the herbicide he was using. Peterson thought that a herbicide he was using that was marketed...

MN Legal Briefs: November 14, 2005.(Minnesota)(Debra H. Frimerman, Amy Rae Mason and Brittany J. Stephens joins Lindquist & Vennum)(Harleigh E. Brown joins Fredrikson & Byron)(Sarah E. Ruter and Jason C. Tarasek joins Best & Flanagan )
November 14, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Lindquist & Vennum has announced that Debra H. Frimerman, Amy Rae Mason and Brittany J. Stephens have joined the firm as associate attorneys. A member of the corporate and business group, Frimerman...

MN 8th Circuit finds restrictions on solicitations of politicians unconstitutional.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones A portion of the state's campaign finance laws was declared unconstitutional by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month. The court found that several other provisions of the statutes passed muster,...

Commentary: Corroboration compels concurrent court convictions.
November 14, 2005... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Informants play an important role in the law enforcement process. They often provide compelling evidence of wrongdoing that leads to criminal convictions. But their status as observers and often participants in...

Hennepin County prosecutors seek a major pay hike.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones Prosecutors in the Hennepin County Attorney's office are seeking salaries more on par with their counterparts in other metro-area counties and the Minnesota Attorney General's Office. Salaries of Hennepin...

MN Supreme Court upholds dismissal of Stringer family's wrongful-death suit.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Mark A. Cohen The Minnesota Supreme Court last week upheld the dismissal of a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Korey Stringer's family against two employees of the Minnesota Vikings. Stringer, a well-known Vikings player, died...

Implied-consent provision ruled unconstitutional - again by the MN 1st Judicial District Court.(Minnesota)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones A 1st Judicial District Court judge earlier this month ruled unconstitutional a portion of the state's implied-consent law allowing to be used in a criminal trial evidence of a driver's license revocation that has...

MN Law students help save Nigerian school's legal program.(Minnesota, University of Abuja )
November 21, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter William Mitchell College of Law's chapter of the Minnesota Justice Foundation MJF successfully spearheaded an effort to collect, catalogue and pack more than 8,000 legal texts to re-establish a law...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: November 21, 2005.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter A hired gun from - of all places - Texas is handling state's appeal in judicial-election case The state of Minnesota filed its petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in the...

MN Lawyers in the News: November 21, 2005.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Messerli & Kramer has announced the following attorneys have joined the firm as associates: Katheryn A. Gettman, corporate securities; Robert J. Fenlon, general business; and Mercedes A. Gustafson,...

Strategies and considerations in starting a law firm.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore Editor's note: The following is the first in a two-part series on starting a law firm. As almost anyone who's done it can tell you, starting up a law practice is not an easy undertaking - whether new to the...

Law office technology for the start-up firm.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore "One of the most difficult things about starting your own practice is that you are also now the chief technician," said Minneapolis attorney Todd C. Scott at recent continuing legal education seminar designed for...

Commentary: Turkey tussles typical Thanksgiving topic.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Every attorney has had a turkey or two for a client or a case. The wishbone that gets broken on Thanksgiving Day heralds a hidden desire: to do away with these undesirables. Now is an appropriate time to...

Commentary: 'Selling Away': A primer for investors and their attorneys.
November 21, 2005... Byline: James J. Eccleston Brokerage firm clients sometimes lose money in investments that have been "sold away" from their brokerage firm. That is, while the brokerage firm adviser indeed has sold the investment to the client, the...

Strategies and considerations in starting a law firm.
November 28, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore Editor's Note: The following is the second in a two-part series on starting a law firm. Having gained experience working for two Minneapolis law firms, Robert P. Webber was ready to strike out on his own and start...

Expert offers his tips for standout legal writing.
November 28, 2005... Byline: Michelle Lore The importance of clear, concise legal writing cannot be overstated - just ask the judges who are forced to read the documents submitted by lawyers. McLean, Va., attorney Ross M. Guberman recently provided attendees...

Snow-and-ice cases get a chilly reception, but can lead to cold cash.
November 28, 2005... Byline: Barbara L. Jones When the winter weather outside gets frightful, it's debatable whether the resulting wave of slip-and-fall cases is delightful. Most plaintiffs' attorneys would agree that slip and falls are not very easy cases...

Minnesota Bar Buzz: November 28, 2005.(smoke detectors introduced)(methods of law firms marketing)
November 28, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Local attorney's smoke alarm is smoking! Duracell has teamed up with the company selling a revolutionary new smoke alarm invented by an innovative Minneapolis attorney. Minneapolis attorney...

Commentary: Circuit court curtails couple of controversial class cases.
November 28, 2005... Byline: Marshall H. Tanick Class-action litigation has been a well-accepted genre, notwithstanding its frequent controversies. Earlier this year, federal legislation imposed restraints on these cases in the Class Action Fairness Act of...

'Blakely' applies to dispositional departures.
November 28, 2005... Byline: Mark A. Cohen The Minnesota Supreme Court last week ruled that a jury must decide the underlying facts warranting an upward dispositional departure from the state's sentencing guidelines. The decision, State v. Allen, is...

MN Lawyers in the News: November 28, 2005.
November 28, 2005... Byline: Minnesota Lawyer Staff Reporter Merchant & Gould has announced that Tong Wu has joined the firm as an associate. Wu practices general intellectual property law with an emphasis on patent prosecution and client counseling. He...