MinnLawyer Blog

The Star Tribune reports that Attorney General Lori Swanson has fired Amy Lawler, the young assistant AG who has been under suspension since she went public with accusations against her boss of mismanagement, union-busting and ethical improprieties. The action reportedly came after University of St. Thomas School of Law Dean Thomas Mengler, whom the AG [...]

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If this blog had a “Profiles in Courage” award, I would without hesitation bestow it upon Rep. Steve Simon, DFL- St. Louis Park. Simon’s name has unfairly been dragged through the mud as of late as a direct result of his having the temerity to break ranks with his party and be the lone DFLer [...]

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I have been following the coverage today on the the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office by Minnesota Public Radio and Eric Black at MinnPost. I haven’t posted anything primarily because the coverage has been fairly extensive and I don’t have much to add at the moment. It’s worth noting that MPR has a posted a PDF [...]

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After an interesting week at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, I think the parties would best be served by taking a time out, reassessing their positions and trying to find some common ground to work on together. While you can certainly disagree with the methodology, Attorney General Lori Swanson took an important step in confirming [...]

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Minnesota Lawyer’s website just posted the results of today’s “informal survey” of attorneys at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. (Click here for article). Staff attorneys were asked whether the writers of a recent letter critical of Lori Swanson spoke for them. The majority of those present and willing to participate said no. (The vote was [...]

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An interesting twist on the labor dispute at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. According to another e-mail to staff posted on this site, Lori Swanson has announced that Miles Lord (former judge, AG, U.S. Attorney) and former Judge Jonathan Lebedoff will conduct an “informal advisory” on the staff’s stance on unionization. The unionization issue — [...]

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In an e-mail sent to her entire staff this morning, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson offered a response to a letter sent by three of her assistant AGs late last week calling upon her to recognize a union in the office. (As Minnesota Lawyer reported yesterday, the letter represents the first time current staff members [...]

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There was an interesting interview on Minnesota Public Radio this morning with Attorney General Lori Swanson on her first eight months in office. The interview, conducted by Kerri Miller on the Midmorning show, made for very interesting listening. Overall, I thought Miller did a good job in asking some difficult questions about Swanson’s stance on [...]

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A few weeks ago, I posited in a post (“A double standard?“) whether their was any significance to the fact that the general media had intensely scrutinized issues involving Republican U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose’s Office, but had virtually ignored issues at DFL Attorney General Lori Swanson’s Office. I provocatively threw it out for comment whether [...]

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The simmering drama at the state attorney general’s office reached a climax of sorts yesterday with the abrupt <a href=”http://www.twincities.com/searchresults/ci_5792862resignation of former attorney general Mike Hatch, but by no means did the saga reach its conclusion. In fact, Hatch’s departure probably raised more questions than it answered: – Where will Hatch land? Given his reputation [...]

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