You may submit reports of verdicts and settlements for publication in a future issue of Minnesota Lawyer. All information provided in Verdict & Settlement Report submissions is subject to verification prior to publication. Please read the terms below the form near the bottom of the page before submitting it. Questions about Verdict & Settlement Reports should be directed to Jeff Sjerven at [email protected] or 612-584-1575.
Minnesota Lawyer publishes “Verdict & Settlement Reports” to assist lawyers in judging the value of cases and to provide members of the bar with an additional practical resource unavailable elsewhere.
The information contained in these reports is generally provided by one of the lawyers in the case, although occasional reports may be based on court records and news reports. When the report is submitted by an attorney, the lawyer drafts the information under “Description of the case.” Minnesota Lawyer then edits that material for style, grammar, length, and, where appropriate, content.
To be published, a report must:
- Include the name of the case, the court name and docket number. If requested, Minnesota Lawyer may, in appropriate cases, withhold this information from the published version – but the information must be provided to us initially so we can be sure that such a case did exist.
- Include the date of the verdict or settlement, the name of the judge, the amount of the verdict or settlement, and, if it is a defense verdict, the plaintiff’s last pretrial demand. This information cannot be withheld from publication.
- Include the names of the lawyers for all of the parties. As a rule, Minnesota Lawyer withholds the name(s) of the lawyer(s) for the “losing” party (the party that did not submit the report).
- Provide a description of the case that contains facts of the case, interesting arguments made, novel legal approaches, etc.
- List contact information of the lawyer submitting the report.
- If parties agreed to a confidential settlement, Minnesota Lawyer may, in appropriate cases, withhold the names of the parties from the published version — but the information must be provided to us initially so we can be sure that such a case did exist. If the parties’ names are to be withheld as part of a confidential settlement, we will need to have the dollar amount of the settlement for publication.
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