MinnLawyer Blog

Minneapolis lawyer disbarred

Patrick Thornton — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:01:47 +0000

Minneapolis defense attorney Barry V. Voss was disbarred today by the Supreme Court.

Back in November 2011 he was accused by the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility of mismanagement of client funds, misuse of his trust account, neglecting client matters and failure to pay taxes. The OLPR also accused him of failure to cooperate with the investigation. He said he tried to keep up with the OLPR requests, but each time he did the office asked for more information.

He has practice law for 35 years and has been disciplined three times previously.

Senate votes to not confirm Perez

Patrick Thornton — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:51:33 +0000

George Perez’s days as Tax Court Judge appear to be done.

The Minnesota Senate voted unanimously to not confirm his appointment to the bench this morning.

On May 10, the Board on Judicial Standards censured Perez and recommended a nine month suspension for the judge. The BJS accused him of falsifying records, delaying decisions and other misdeeds. Over the weekend, Gov. Mark Dayton released a statement asking the senate to not reappoint him.

Perez was appointed to the tax court in 1997 by Gov. Arne Carlson, and he has been reappointed by the three governors since then. His confirmation in the senate had been on hold pending the results of the BJS investigation.

Dayton asks Senate to remove Tax Court Judge George Perez

Barbara L. Jones — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:43:03 +0000

Editor’s note: This story was first published in Politics in Minnesota, Minnesota Lawyer’s sister publication.

by Mike Mullen

Judge Perez

Published: May 19th, 2013

Gov. Mark Dayton is asking the Senate to remove Tax Court Judge George Perez before its adjournment.

With two days left to take up a variety of major bills, including a significant overhaul of the state tax code, Gov. Mark Dayton is trying to put one more item on the Senate’s plate. This morning, Dayton submitted a letter to Senate Taxes Committee Chair Rod Skoe, DFL-Clearbrook, calling on Skoe to begin Senate proceedings to remove Chief Tax Court Judge George Perez. Perez, an appointee of Gov. Arne Carlson who has served on the tax court since 1997, was the subject of a disciplinary ruling from a three-judge panel earlier this month.

Following a lengthy investigation into Perez’s conduct, a three-judge panel found that Perez had engaged in a pattern of delaying his judicial rulings long beyond allowed deadlines, as well as falsifying the dates on a number of his cases in an attempt to keep himself in compliance with deadline statutes.

Perez, who became the court’s chief judge in 2001 and served in that role until the allegations surfaced, has been reappointed to his position four times, most recently by Dayton in 2011. Later that year, the state Board of Judicial Standards brought initial allegations of misconduct against Perez, alleging that he had missed mandatory three month deadlines in a series of cases dating back to 2002. The board also accused Perez of having repeatedly adjusted the filing dates on cases to make it appear that he had ruled swiftly, when, in fact, Perez had taken as much as 18 months to decide cases before him.

In its harshly worded ruling, the three-judge panel highlighted individual cases where Perez had lapsed on his duties. In one instance from 2002, a taxpayer whose case was before Perez was informed that the judge had come down with an illness. The defendant was led to believe that the ruling would be delayed a matter of days while Perez recovered.

“Judge Perez,” wrote the three-judge panel, “did not issue his decision in the next couple of days, or in the next couple of weeks, or even in the next year. He did not issue a decision until January 14, 2004, more than 14 months after the decision was due.”

In light of Perez’s conduct, the panel recommended that he be suspended without pay for nine months, and removed from his position as chief judge. Attorney Frederick Finch, who represented Perez in the proceedings, told the Star Tribune last week that Perez planned to appeal the ruling to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which has received the panel’s recommendations and now has jurisdiction on the case.

Dayton is now prepared to go one step further than the panel’s recommendation, pushing for the immediate removal of Perez from the court. In his letter to Skoe, which was also sent to Senate leadership, Dayton wrote, “Had I known about the Board’s findings, I would not have reappointed him to the Tax Court.” Dayton’s message requests that Skoe make a motion on the Senate floor to call for a confirmation vote of Perez, and that the Senate then vote to reject the motion, writing that the Senate should take up the issue before its adjournment deadline of midnight on Monday.

“I believe that Judge Perez’s reported misconduct violates the integrity of our state’s judicial system, and that his continued service is not in the best interest of Minnesota citizens,” Dayton wrote. “Please reject the confirmation so that I may appoint a new Tax Court Judge to better serve the interest of Minnesotans.”

Complete URL: http://politicsinminnesota.com/2013/05/dayton-asks-senate-to-remove-tax-court-judge-george-perez/

Senators’ committee will advise on new U.S. attorney

Barbara L. Jones — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:31:40 +0000

An advisory committee has been formed to assist Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken recommend a new U.S. attorney to President Barack Obama, the senators announced in a press release today.

Jones

The current U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones has been nominated to serve as the permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and his confirmation hearing is expected to be held soon, the release states.

Judge Timothy O’Malley of the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings and the former head of Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will chair the committee, which will also include Annamarie Daley, a Minneapolis attorney in private practice; former U.S. Attorney Thomas Heffelfinger; Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall; Donald Lewis, Dean of Hamline Law School; retired St. Louis County Judge Carol Person; and Chief Thomas Smith of the St. Paul Police Department.

The committee will review letters of interest, conduct interviews, and offer guidance to Klobuchar and Franken. In the press release, Klobuchar stated that the candidate should be a seasoned, respected attorney who is fair-minded, able to work productively with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, and who is committed to seeing that justice is done under the law and for the people of Minnesota.

Those wishing to be considered for the position of U.S. Attorney should submit letters of interest by June 3, 2013 to: Judge Timothy O’Malley, U.S. Attorney Advisory Committee, c/o Caroline Holland, Office of Senator Amy Klobuchar, 1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250, Minneapolis, MN 55415. Letters may also be e-mailed to caroline_holland@judiciary-dem.senate.gov.

Panel recommends censure, suspension for Perez

Barbara L. Jones — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:35:00 +0000

Judge Perez

A hearing panel for the Board of Judicial Standards has recommended that Tax Court Judge George Perez be censured and suspended without pay for nine months for infractions of Minn. Stat. 271.20, requiring that cases be decided within three months of submission. The panel also recommended that he be barred from ever serving again as chief judge, that he limit his participation in bar association activities and that he regularly report the status of his outstanding decisions to the chief judge of the tax court.

Doug Kelley, one of the attorneys for the Board on Judicial Standards, told Minnesota Lawyer that the matter will go to the Supreme Court because the hearing panel is only authorized to issue reprimands, and anything in excess must be approved by the court.

UPDATE:

It is quite clear that the panel got it right on the allegations that Perez shirked cases, made misrepresentations to the board and misused vacation and sick time, said Perez’ attorney, Fred Finch. Perez did not contest that some of the opinions went past the three-month deadline, he added. “We seriously disagree about the sanctions, and they provide no basis for the recommendation about never serving as chief judge and not going to professional conferences. That might not even be constitutional,” Finch said.

The sanctions are too severe and are in excess of what other courts have done and what the Minnesota Supreme Court has done with similar cases, Finch said.

Michael Ridgway appointed to bankruptcy bench

Patrick Thornton — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:31:47 +0000

Michael E. Ridgway was appointed judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the state of Minnesota.

He joins Chief Judge Gregory Kishel and judges Robert Kressel, Dennis O’Brien, and Kathleen Sanberg presiding in the bankruptcy court.

Prior to the appointment, Ridgway served as a trial attorney with the U.S. Trustee’s Program in Minneapolis. Before that, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota, where he handled both civil and criminal matters, including bankruptcy, asset forfeiture and prosecutions of white collar fraud cases.

He also worked in private practice for 17 years and was an elected country prosecutor.

He graduated from Yankton College in South Dakota and the University of Notre Dame Law school in 1981.

OLPR accuses Minneapolis attorney of bullying opposing counsel

Patrick Thornton — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:53:24 +0000

Not these fish

The Minnesota Supreme Court suspended a Minneapolis attorney for shouting at and harassing opposing counsel.

Peter James Nickitas’ claims he is not guilty, but if the allegations are true, he is guilty of being a big fan of the movie The Godfather.

According to the petition for discipline filed by the Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, Nickitas’ problems with Michelle Hurley started at a hearing over a traffic accident in 2009. At the hearing he told the arbitrator and others present that Hurley “could not read and needed glasses” when she concluded her presentation.

When the hearing concluded he told her a good place to get glasses.

A few months later at a second hearing the petition says Nickitas repeatedly threatened and insulted Hurley. When the hearing concluded Hurley left to exit the courtroom, it was then Nickitas allegedly channeled his inner Virgil Sollozzo and yelled at her that he hoped she “sleeps with the fishes.”

Shaken and scared Hurley says she continued to walk toward the courthouse exit to leave. It was then she said Nickitas caught up to her, went “nose-to-nose” with her and started screaming at her. The complaint alleges he had to be pulled away by an associate and as court security approached.

(No word on whether he then attempted to make her an offer she could not refuse, or accused her of not being a war-time Consigliari.)

Hurley refused to be alone with Nickitas after that at future hearings.

Nickitas has been disciplined four times since he was admitted to practice law in Minnesota in 1990. That includes an incident in 2003 when Nickitas was issued an admonition for “directing a sexist epithet” to a person in a case.

He denies the allegations and says he has witnesses to counter Hurley’s story. He was suspended for 30 days and also must complete two years of supervised probation.

Dayton appoints Opat to the bench in 3rd District

Patrick Thornton — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:07:22 +0000

Matthew Opat

Matthew Opat was appointed District Court Judge in the 3^rd District Friday.

He replaces Robert Benson who retired earlier this year. The judgeship will be chambered at Preston in Fillmore County.

Opat maintains his own private law practice in Chatfield, Matthew J. Opat, P.A., practicing in areas of real estate, probate, general business, civil, and criminal law. He also serves as the prosecutor for the City of Chatfield in petty misdemeanor, misdemeanor, and gross misdemeanor violations.

Previously, Opat served as the Fillmore County Attorney, where his duties included oversight of the County Attorney’s Office and providing legal advice to the County Board and staff. He received his B.A. from the University of Iowa and his J.D. from the Hamline University School of Law.

Opat lives with his family in Chatfield.

The 3^rd Judicial District consists of Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Winona counties.

MSBA bills are headed for the governor’s desk

Barbara L. Jones — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:57:44 +0000

Bryan Lake reports for the MSBA that several of the bar association’s bills have passed and are headed for the governor.

The Senate unanimously passed HF19 on Wednesday under the guidance of its chief author, lawyer-legislator Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson). The bill was drafted by the MSBA’s Probate and Trust Law Section and would allow a person to act as an agent on a bank account without acquiring a property interest in the account. Senator Newman also attached to HF19 the language of another one of his bills, SF28, a proposal from the Tax Law Section that creates a “postmark rule” for MN Tax Court filings. The two bills were authored in the House by Rep. Barb Yarusso (D-Shoreview) and lawyer-legislator Rep. Melissa Hortman (D-Brooklyn Park). The House concurred with the Senate amendment and the bill is now headed to Governor Dayton’s desk for his signature or veto.

Bills already signed include Ch. 24 (the Uniform Community Property Rights at Death Act); Ch. 23 (modifying the statutory short form power of attorney); Ch.21 (providing that claims for contribution or indemnity cannot be brought more than 14 years after substantial completion of construction); Ch. 17 (clarifying the definition of a foreclosure consultant); and Ch. 16 (modifying false claims provisions to bring the Minnesota statute into federal conformity). For a complete list of new laws, click here.

Lake also reports that neither the House or Senate tax bills include a tax on legal services.

Benton County Attorney Robert Raupp appointed in 7th

Patrick Thornton — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:29:34 +0000

Robert J. Raupp

Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Robert Raupp District Court Judge in the 7th District.

Raupp will be replacing Judge James W. Hoolihan, who has retired. The judgeship will be chambered at Foley in Benton County.

Raupp is the Benton County Attorney, where he represents the state in felony prosecutions and provides legal advice to the county board of commissioners. Previously, he worked in the Benton County Attorney’s Office, and, prior to that, was an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Minneapolis.

He earned his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh and his J.D. from the Hamline University School of Law.

Raupp is the current chair of the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force Board of Directors and president of the Benton County Law Library Board. He lives in Sauk Rapids with his family.

Minnesota’s 7th Judicial District consists of Becker, Benton, Clay, Douglas, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Otter Tail, Stearns, Todd, and Wadena counties.