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Transgender rights under siege in many state legislatures— including Minnesota’s
Daniel Choma, Tara Kalar, Ellen J. Kennedy, and Caitlin Schweiger
Nov 04, 2021
Across the U.S., the past year’s state legislative sessions have brought forth an unprecedented amount of legislation addressing transgender rights, most of the bills seemingly in response to recent strides made for transgender people in both state and federal courts.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Legislation
5 tips for settling disputes through early mediation
Terri Krivosha and Melissa Muro LaMere
Nov 04, 2021
Our experience has given us insight into how early mediation can play a powerful role in resolving disputes. Below are five tips for reaching agreement in tough disputes through early mediation.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Mediation
The lifelong impact of law school mentoring
Uyen Campbell and Judith Rush
Nov 04, 2021
Each year, over 470 Minnesota lawyers and judges provide students at the University of St. Thomas School of Law opportunities to answer these and many other important questions. These mentors, and other informal mentors, play a crucial role in helping students define their professional identities and learn vital skills before they become lawyers.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Law School
  • Mentoring
Divorce and the Family Farm
Sonja Trom Eayrs, Jill Frieders, and D. Patrick McCullough
Oct 01, 2021
Unlike other closely held business interests, farming operations not only serve as commercial ventures but also as the family home, complicating division of the estate. Considering the longstanding ties to the land that come into play, efforts to preserve the family farm take on renewed importance in a divorce.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Rural Lawyers
  • Divorce
VLN is stepping up in response to the end of the eviction moratorium. We need your help.
Muria Kruger
Oct 01, 2021
Because the eviction moratorium was developed in part to protect our state’s most vulnerable renters, most of those needing help at the end of the moratorium will be low-income and in need of free legal services.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Pro Bono
  • Evictions
Semantic Drift – In re: Krogstad and the changing meanings of words
Kenneth Bayliss
Oct 01, 2021
The tendency of the meaning of words to change over time is known as “semantic drift.” Semantic drift is the reason that when we first read a Shakespearean play, we needed a glossary.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Court Opinions
Journey to the center of my mind: Notes on meditation practice and wellness
Senior Judge Susan R. Miles
Sep 01, 2021
Let me invite you to journey into my mind, for better or for worse, on a reality-based meditation session, with all its twists and turns, moments of being lost, and, on a good day, an occasional insight.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Well-Being
Maritime law? In Minnesota? Yes.
By Vince C. Reuter
Sep 01, 2021
Few Minnesota litigators would be surprised to field a call involving an accident on one of our state’s lakes or rivers. In doing so, the attorney undoubtedly begins internally checking the legal boxes: Cause of action? Causation? Damages? Statute of limitations? But one important box may unfortunately get ignored: jurisdiction. This is a mistake.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Maritime Law
Fixing a Hole: The Fritz defense revisited
James Poradek and Luke Grundman
Sep 01, 2021
Minnesota courts have erected a draconian procedural barrier that makes it impossible for many tenants to have their day in court: a “pay to defend” requirement that forces eviction defendants to deposit unpaid back rent with the court as a precondition for trial on the defense that the landlord has violated its legal obligation to maintain the property in habitable condition.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Evictions
Discovery: Reinventing the request for admissions
Eliot T. Tracz
Sep 01, 2021
Nearly every young litigator knows that RFAs are a tool used to narrow the number of disputed issues in a case. While that can certainly be done when bundled with other written discovery, the inherent versatility of RFAs really comes through when they are unbundled and allowed to stand on their own.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Litigation
The ghost of water wars future: The Great Lakes Compact and the coming freshwater crisis
Jeremy P. Greenhouse
Aug 04, 2021
As climate change and population growth place mounting strain on U.S. water supplies, it is not hard to imagine a scenario in which politicians from water-starved states, faced with struggling agricultural irrigation systems and angry, thirsty voters, propose a Mao-inspired water diversion project to “borrow” water from the Great Lakes.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Environment and Natural Resources Law
Immigration roundtable: The Biden administration so far
R. Mark Frey
Aug 04, 2021
Following four years of upheaval under the Trump administration, President Joe Biden took office in January promising stabilization and reform of the U.S. immigration system. Bench & Bar contributor R. Mark Frey—who writes the bimonthly immigration law updates for our Notes & Trends section—recently assembled a panel of his fellow Minnesota immigration attorneys to discuss in writing the legacy of the Trump years and the early moves of the Biden administration. What follows is an edited version of their exchange.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Features
2021 legislative session recap: A long and winding road
Bryan Lake
Aug 04, 2021
The 2021 session was notable for a record-low number of bills passed, but lawmakers still managed to enact numerous new laws of interest to the legal community, including...
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  • CATEGORY
  • Legislative
MSBA President 2021-22: Jennifer Thompson
Amy Lindgren
Jul 01, 2021
When it comes to Jennifer Thompson, it seems that everyone has a story to tell. Now, as the incoming president of the Minnesota State Bar Association, Thompson will undoubtedly generate more stories, even as she maintains the delicate equilibrium between work, home, and service to the legal profession.
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  • CATEGORY
  • President
  • Features
Family law: The covid chronicles
Traci Capistrant
Jul 01, 2021
In my practice area, the pandemic has had multiple stages. Let’s hope we’re almost done with them all. Family law and its practitioners needed to step up to address rapidly changing issues affecting all families during the pandemic.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Family Law
  • COVID-19
  • Features
We live not alone: A legacy of environmental racism
Jessica Intermill
Jul 01, 2021
This is the second installment of a two-part article exploring structural bias and racism within the law in the context of the Line 3 oil pipeline expansion. Part 1, published last month, examines the agency approval process and the role of the public in that process. Part 2 explores the racialized impact of that facially neutral approval in the context of Minnesota’s legal history.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Public Utilities
  • Features
Exchange
Jul 01, 2021
A letter to the editor from Enbridge concerning part 1 of Jessica Intermill’s article on structural bias/racism in the law and the Line 3 pipeline approval.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Features
A Death in the Family: How one firm forged ahead after a partner’s unexpected passing
Morgan Kavanaugh and Christopher Johnston
May 26, 2021
It’s the call no lawyer ever wants to get: A friend and colleague in your law firm has unexpectedly passed away. In January 2020, we got that call. Our friend and senior partner at the firm, Kyle Hegna, died tragically in a snowmobile accident.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Professional Responsibility
  • Practice Management
  • Features
Covid, 'long covid,' and workers compensation
Robb P. Enslin
May 26, 2021
The workers’ compensation system will be dealing with coronavirus-spawned claims for a long time to come
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  • CATEGORY
  • COVID-19
  • Labor and Employment
  • Features
Anatomy of a Misreading
Hannah Martin
May 26, 2021
On March 24, 2021, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued its decision in State v. Khalil, reversing and remanding a third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge that involved a mentally incapacitated or physically helpless complainant. News and social media got the point all wrong.
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  • CATEGORY
  • Court Opinions
  • Features
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