Minnesota Lawyer
Fredrikson & Byron P.A.
Mark Vyvyan has had some unusual cases. One was a strange case in federal court over whether collectible coins are legal tender, a big deal in the coin world, Vyvyan said. Some of the coins, for sale on Etsy, look like the caps of Coke bottles. Vyvyan’s client, the plaintiff, prevailed because the defendant failed to have the coins properly authorized when they were delivered to the plaintiff. This failure violated both the parties’ contract and the federal Hobby Protection Act. The coins were later properly authorized, but the jury awarded the plaintiff the damages it suffered in the meantime, roughly $1,400.
And, as Vyvyan wrote on the Fredrikson blog, one contractor recently lost money when the homeowner used the old strategy of writing “final payment” on a check that was actually not a full payment. In Detailed by Design, LLC v. Langer, No. A21-0879, 2022 WL 93371 (Minn. Ct. App. Jan. 10, 2022), “an unhappy homeowner sent a letter to the contractor that detailed a number of deductions and calculated a “final payment.” In addition, the homeowner wrote the words “final payment” on the memo line of their check. The Minnesota Court of Appeals found an “accord and satisfaction” had been created under Minnesota law, barring the contractor’s claim.
Vyvyan, like all litigators, likes winning his cases. His victories include a summary judgment in a claim against his client brought by a townhome association for $2 million and a defense verdict in a claim against his client for breach of a purchase agreement. And in a case sure to win many lawyers’ hearts, he prevailed in a suit seeking to evict a golf course and collected $2 million in damages, as well as attorney fees.
