MinnLawyer Blog

In other parts of the world, one is frequently reminded of history, even ancient history, but in the United States that is more infrequent. Recently, a couple of lawsuits have brought the area’s history to light.

Last week, Minnesota Lawyer covered the story about a successful lawsuit by a Mound couple who bought what they thought was a hilly lot only to discover it was an Indian burial site.

Also last week, the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Harding County in South Dakota to what turned out to be a bad bargain. After dinosaur fossils were found on property there, the county leased the land to a group of excavators in return for 10 percent of the selling price of fossils found there, including fossils found prior to the date of the lease. Harding County is located in the northwestern corner of South Dakota, on the Montana border, and has a population of about 1,200. The case is Harding County et al. v. Frithiof, et al.

The county later found out that a dinosaur fossil named “Tinker,” a tyrannosaurus rex, had been found on that land in 1998 and sold to the defendant, Tinker’s owner, who in turn attempted to sell it for $8.5 million. Learning that, the county attempted to rescind the lease. No dice, said Judge Richard H. Battey of the South Dakota District Court, and the appellate court affirmed.

The court said that the owner did not breach a fiduciary duty to disclose that Tinker had been found on the land. The parties were dealing at arm’s length, the county knew remains had been found in similar situations and the owner could reasonably expect the county to make its own investigations and protect its own interests by inquiring into prior discoveries that were basic to the transaction. The court also upheld the dismissal of claims based on fraud, mistake of fact, trespass and conversion. It also did not allow the county to rescind the lease based on its own failure to hold a public hearing before entering into the transaction.

The county learned it is better to tinker with contracts before signing them, rather than after.