MinnLawyer Blog

In February of 2012, the city of St. Paul withdrew its appeal to the United States Supreme Court  in Magner v. Gallagher just weeks before oral argument. The case was a discrimination case under The Fair Housing Act.   Reportedly, civil rights groups pressured St. Paul  to drop the case out of fear that the disparate impact provisions in the Fair Housing Act would be weakened.

Now, the same issue is back before the high court, which yesterday accepted cert in Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action v. Mt. Holly.  Forbes online describes Mt. Holly as the first impact to reach the Supreme Court since the administration was accused of engineering a settlement that “squelched” the St. Paul case.

Also according to Forbes, Philadelphia lawyer John Culhane said, “The perception is the Supreme Court has taken this case because it feels there is no disparate-impact theory of liability, and is prepared to rule to that effect.” The Third Circuit ruled that plaintiffs had made a prima facie case of disparate impact.

Magner has been on hold in Minnesota federal court while the parties awaited the Supreme Court’s determination on Mount Holly.

An expedited civil litigation track pilot project will start in Dakota County and the city of Duluth July 1.

The goal of the project is to test whether an early involvement by a judge with limited discovery between the two parties will limit continuances. The project also plans to test if setting a trial date within six months of the date the suit commences can reduce the cost and length of civil trials.

A civil justice reform taskforce recommended the changes as part of an overall effort to increase court efficiency and reduce cost in the justice system. The Supreme Court authorized the pilot project in May.

The taskforce says the project could include as many as 450 cases in Dakota County and 150 in Duluth over the next year. The project will focus on contract disputes, consumer credit, personal injury and some other types of civil cases. Judges will determine if a case meets the criteria.

Dwight Opperman, the former CEO of West Publishing Co., died early this morning at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 89.

The family said he had a brief illness.

He started with West Publishing after graduating from the Drake University Law School in 1951. During his tenure the company became one of the largest legal publishers in the world and helped develop WestLaw, the ubiquitous legal research tool used familiar to first year lawyers and the most senior partners. West was sold to Thomson Corp. for $3.4 billion. The company is now known as Thomson Reuters and has a campus in Eagan, Minn.

Dwight’s son Vance is a founding partner of the Minneapolis law firm Lockridge Grindal Nauen. In an email to the firm announcing Opperman’s death, Richard Lockridge described Opperman as “about as down to earth as they come, but also brilliant, tenacious and a great Minnesota and national businessman.”

The Star Tribune says funeral arrangements are pending.

Gov. Mark Dayton

Gov. Mark Dayton made four appointments to the Board on Judicial Standards today.

Jeffrey Bumgarner, of New Ulm, and Gerald Kaplan, of Wayzata, were appointed as public members. Kaplan’s term expires Jan. 2, 2017. Bumgarner’s term expires Jan. 6, 2014.

Court of Appeals Judge Jill Halbrooks was reappointed. Her term expires Jan. 2, 2017. Washington County Judge Ellen Maas was appointed to replace St. Louis County Judge Shaun Floerke. Her term expires Jan. 6, 2014.

The Board on Judicial Standards is an independent state agency that receives and investigates complaints made about judges for misconduct or wrongdoing. The 10 members are public citizens, attorneys and judges and are appointed by the governor.

D. B. Russell or Kay Scarpetta fans should take note:  The Innocence Project is reprising its annual Forensics 411 CLE on Friday, June 14.  It will include the newest developments in investigation techniques, forensic anthropology, crime lab practices, toxicology, fingerprint analysis, and more. The faculty will include Dakota County PD Lauri Traub, of the notorious St. Paul Crime Lab scandal. You do not want to miss this, plus the six CLE credits are a steal at $125.  Go to http://ipmn.org/forensics-411/ to register.

B. Todd Jones

The U.S. Senate confirmation hearing of Minnesota U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is underway this morning.

Jones has served as acting director of the bureau since 2011. This hearing has been delayed many times and it is not without subplots. To start, the bureau has been without a full-time director for six years as several nominees have been blocked by the Senate.

Jones has a long list of supporters including U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, but he also has detractors.

The former head of the FBI in Minneapolis sent the Senate Judiciary Committee a letter last winter criticizing Jones’ leadership as U.S. Attorney. Retired FBI agent Don Oswald described Jones as “uncooperative, not a team player and too political.”

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican member on the Judiciary Committee, says he has not received all the information he requested from Jones about cases he was involved in as U.S. Attorney for Minnesota and operations he oversaw as acting director of the ATF.

To watch a webcast of the hearing, head here.

In a very unusual move, the defendants in Dickhoff v. Greene et al. have asked the Supreme Court to rehear their case.  On May 31, the court held 3-2 that Minnesota recognizes a “loss of chance” theory of recovery in medical malpractice cases.  The defense felt blindsided because, they say, the issue was not raised below—not in any written or oral presentation the plaintiffs made to three courts.  In the petition, attorney William Hart argued: “To encourage confidence in the integrity of the judicial decision-making process, to restore the defendants’ due process rights, and to uphold fundamental tenets of fair and orderly appellate procedures, the court should offer rehearing.”  For more information on the decision, see “High court recognizes ‘loss of chance’ in the June 10 edition of Minnesota Lawyer or here.  The complete petition for rehearing can be viewed here.

Update:  Kay Nord Hunt, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said she had just been served and hadn’t read the petition yet.  Check back here for comments from Hunt or other attorneys.

Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan

U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan is retiring in January.

In a letter to Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, Boylan said his last day on the bench will be Jan. 8, 2014.

He told Davis that “this is the appropriate time for me to move on to the next phase of my career.”

Boylan was appointed Nov. 1, 1996 after almost 10 years as a district court judge in Minnesota. Prior to serving as a trial court judge, he worked in private practice for a decade with the law firm of Hulstrand, Anderson, and Larson, in Willmar.

As a federal magistrate Judge Boylan served as an alternative dispute resolution neutral. He has helped to settle and mediate hundreds of cases.

Some of the notable examples:

Brady v. National Football League The 2011 lockout of the NFL players and settlement of related antitrust lawsuits.

Ramsey County Workhouse Tuberculosis Class Action A $10 million settlement between county and more than 100 inmates who were exposed to the disease in 2008.

Metro Gang Strike Force A $3 million Settlement in 2010 for approximately 100 people who were victimized by the disbanded gang task force.

Duy Ngo v. City of Minneapolis A $4.5 million settlement in 2007, the largest police misconduct settlement in city’s history. Ngo was a Minneapolis police officer and was shot by a fellow officer.

Boylan is a past president of the Minnesota Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and a past president of the Minnesota District Judges Association. He is the former chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Dakota County Judge Kathryn Messerich ruled yesterday that drugs tested in the notorious St. Paul crime lab may be retested, and not suppressed as evidence in three pending prosecutions, County Attorney James Backstrom announced today in a news release.

The release stated that Messerich determined that there was insufficient evidence of wide-spread contamination at the Saint Paul Police Department Crime Lab to warrant suppression of retests on the seized controlled substances in these cases which were done at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Forensic Laboratory (BCA Lab).  Retesting on the remaining substances in these cases by the BCA Lab confirmed the existence of the same controlled substances previously identified through chemical analysis performed at the Crime Lab.

“The court ruled that the defendants in these cases can raise this issue again as they proceed through the criminal process.  In essence, Judge Messerich ruled that these contamination arguments go to the weight of the evidence and not its admissibility,” Backstrom said in the release.

Judge David W. Peterson has retired, leaving a vacancy to be chambered at Redwood Falls in Redwood County in the Fifth Judicial District. The Commission on Judicial Selection is accepting applications until close of business Monday, June 24. Applications may be requested by writing to Lee E. Sheehy, Chair of the Commission on Judicial Selection, at 130 State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55155, or by contacting Andrew Olson, Appointments Coordinator, via e-mail at andrew.c.olson@state.mn.us. A cover letter and resume should also be submitted with the application.

The commission is searching for fair, experienced, and civic-minded individuals to serve on the bench and offer their talents and services to Minnesota’s judicial system. The following qualities will be considered for judicial office: integrity, maturity, health (if job related), judicial temperament, legal knowledge, ability, experience, and community service.