The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a case earlier this year that has got to leave some people wondering if it pays to do the right thing. In Busch Properties, Inc. v. Nat’l Union Fire Insurance Co., Busch […]
The Supreme Court decided the case of Montanile v. Bd. Of Trustees of the Nation’ Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan, 135 S. Ct. 1700, 191 L.Ed.2d 675 (2016) earlier this year. In Montanile, the victim was severely injured by a […]
The old children’s rhyme taught us that words couldn’t physically hurt us. However, the one rule lawyers should know is that a choice of words does matter. The recent case of Ertl v. Ertl, 871 N.W.2d 410 (Minn. Ct. App. […]
Will the Consumer Financial Protection Board Reject Mandatory Arbitration Clauses in Consumer Credit Transactions?
Early in 2015, the Consumer Finance Protection Board submitted a report to Congress in response to their request, “to study ‘the use of agreements providing for arbitration of any future dispute . . . in connection with the offering or […]
One of the things universal health care was designed to address was the use of the Emergency Room for routine medical care by uninsured individuals. It was hoped that if a person could call a clinic and make an appointment […]
Is a Non-Court Based Alternative the Answer for Medical Malpractice Claims Reform?
As mentioned in this blog earlier, 2015 saw at least six states renew efforts for medical tort reform. We anticipated we would see the efforts continue in other states and we were right. One of the more creative proposed reforms […]
Every day, parties and businesses enter into contractual relationships with high hopes and expectations for the future. Even with the best of intentions, many business and personal relationships do not work out as planned, and when that happens, the parties […]
In the last post, we examined several Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which allow a party to recover attorneys’ fees for certain discovery abuses by an opponent. But what if the other party engages in conduct that is not specifically […]
Refusing to respond to discovery request. Failing to produce responsive documents. Answering questions on behalf of a witness at a deposition. Failing to participate in a pretrial scheduling conference. As every litigator knows, these tactics are all too common in […]
Every litigator is aware of, or should be aware of, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 (“Rule 11”), a rule which has long been the subject of commentary and criticism. Rule 11 requires an attorney who presents a pleading, written […]