News & Resources
General and Commercial Liability
Minnesota Supreme Court Extends Dewitt’s Strict Construction Standard to Exculpatory Clauses
On September 21, 2022, the Minnesota Supreme Court held in a split 5-2 decision in Justice v. Marvel, LLC that an exculpatory...
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Admissibility of an Alford Plea at a Subsequent Civil Trial
An Alford plea is a conditional guilty plea, which allows the defendant to maintain his or her innocence outright, but...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court holds Minn. Stat. § 604.02, subd. 1 does not apply in workplace injury cases to limit a third-party tortfeasor’s liability
Late last year, the Minnesota Supreme Court held in Fish v. Ramler Trucking, Inc. , 935 N.W.2d 738 (2019)...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court finds Medicaid Discounts are an Exception to Collateral-Source Offsets to Jury Awards
Recently, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided Getz v. Peace, --- N.W.2d ---, A18-0121 (Minn. Oct. 16, 2019), and affirmed the...
Read MoreDeal or No Deal? Wisconsin Court of Appeals Throws Out Mediated Settlement Agreement
The facts of Paul R. Ponfil Trust v. Charmoli Holdings, LLC , 2018-AP-1321, 2019 WL 4463459 (Wis. Ct. App. Sept. 18, 2019) ,...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court to Decide Whether Minn. Stat. § 604.02, subd. 1 Applies in Workplace Injury Cases
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Fish v. Ramler Trucking, Inc. , A18-0143, in which the court will...
Read MoreWisconsin Court of Appeals Clarifies Applicability of Economic Loss Doctrine in Cases Involving Damage to “Other Property”
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently addressed the application of an often misapplied exception to the economic loss doctrine in...
Read MoreKEEP YOUR HANDS OFF! - Minnesota’s “Hands-Free” Law Takes Effect August 1, But Does The Law Really Say What Was Intended?
According to the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety, starting on August 1, Minnesota drivers must drop their cell phones when...
Read MoreMinnesota Courts Continue to Grapple with Pre-Appraisal-Award Interest Claims Post-Poehler
Two years ago, in Poehler v. Cincinnati Insurance Company , 899 N.W.2d 135 (2017) , the Minnesota Supreme Court extended...
Read More8th Circuit Denies “Drive-By” ADA Claims
The 8th Circuit recently affirmed a District of Minnesota Order for Summary Judgment, dismissing claims for damages stemming from...
Read MoreMinnesota Court of Appeals Reverses Summary Judgment (In Part) and Remands Tenant’s Trip and Fall Suit for Trial
In a published decision, the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently revived a tenant’s trip and fall suit for trial. Wise v....
Read MoreEighth Circuit endorses secondhand personal service under Minn. R. Civ. P. 4.03(a)
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals was recently asked in a personal injury case to predict whether the Minnesota Supreme Court...
Read MoreMike Skram to Present on May 2 at the Product Liability Seminar for the Association of Equipment Manufactures
OLWK Shareholder was asked to present on litigation issues related to Electronic Data and Machine Telematics at AEM’s Products...
Read MoreThe Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance has been approved: Now what?
OLWK Attorneys Lance Meyer and Dale Thornsjo recently co-authored an article in the Minnesota Defense Lawyers...
Read MoreWisconsin Supreme Court Addresses What it Takes to Properly Plead a Claim of Successor Liability in Wisconsin and How, When Properly Pled, the Fraudulent Transaction Exception to Wisconsin’s Successor Non-Liability Rule is Analyzed
In a split decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court recently held in Springer v. Nohl Electric Products Corp., No. 2015AP829 (May...
Read MoreAs 2017 Comes to a Close, Minnesota’s Appellate Courts Continue to Grapple with the Issue of Foreseeability in Tort Cases
In 2017, the Minnesota Supreme Court has grappled with the issue of foreseeability in a variety of tort cases. In particular, the...
Read MoreApplying Illinois law, Seventh Circuit broadly applies “Damage to Property” Exclusion to Bar Coverage for Damaged Grain Bin
The “Damage to Property” exclusion in the standard commercial general liability policy excludes coverage for “property...
Read MoreMinnesota Court of Appeals Rules Immunity Under Recreational Use Statute is Only for Landowners Opening Lands to Community at Large
In an opinion issued this morning, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled the immunities afforded to landowners under the...
Read MoreMinnesota Court of Appeals provides guidance on Minnesota’s Construction Defect Statute of Limitations and MCIOA Six Year Repose Period
Minnesota's Court of Appeals provides guidance on the interpretation of Minnesota's Statute of Limitations for construction defect...
Read MoreIowa Joins Growing Number of States to Weigh In on Asbestos-Related Litigation
On March 23, 2017, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed into law Iowa Senate File 376 (2017), which stands to significantly impact...
Read MoreMN Court of Appeals Holds that Failure to Sue Tortfeasor Precludes UIM Claim
In Ronning v. State Farm , A16-0538, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in a published decision that insureds who fail to sue...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court finds relief from a Rule 5.04(a) dismissal for failure to file within one year is available under Rule 60.02 so long as the four Finden factors are met.
In Gams v. Houghton and Cole v. Wutzke , the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed as modified and remanded two cases for the...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court rules Web-based “Pay-Day” lender’s emails and Google AdWords targeting Minnesota residents was sufficient for Minnesota Courts to exercise personal jurisdiction
In Rilley v. MoneyMutual, LLC, A14-1307 (Aug. 24, 2016), the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Minnesota courts could exercise...
Read MoreAttorneys O’Meara, Thornsjo and Leer Named 2016 SuperLawyers; McSherry Named Rising Star
O'Meara, Leer, Wagner and Kohl is proud to announce that three of the Firm's shareholders –Shamus P. O'Meara, Timothy J. Leer...
Read MoreMinnesota Court of Appeals rules human resources complaint process is a “dispute resolution process” for purposes of tolling the Minnesota Human Rights Act’s one-year statute of limitations under Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3.
In Peterson v. City of Minneapolis , — N.W.2d — (Minn. Ct. App. May 2, 2016), A15-1711, the Minnesota Court of Appeals found...
Read MoreMinnesota Court of Appeals extends Swanson v. Brewster collateral-source ruling to cases in which a subrogation interest is asserted, confirming that negotiated discounts are always collateral sources subject to offset under Minn. Stat. § 548.251.
Six years ago, the Minnesota Supreme Court held in Swanson v. Brewster , 784 N.W.2d 264 (Minn. 2010) , that negotiated-discount...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court affirms the statute of limitations for UM claims, both primary and excess, is 6 years from the date of the accident.
In Hegseth v. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co. , A14-1139, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that the statute of limitations for excess...
Read MoreMinnesota Court of Appeals holds that out-of-state insurers not licensed to write motor-vehicle insurance in Minnesota are not obligated to provide no-fault benefits to insureds injured in Minnesota.
In Founders Ins. Co. v. Yates , the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently held that an out-of-state insurer that is not licensed...
Read MoreCourt of Appeals warns contractors — comply with the notice procedures in the construction contract or risk waiver.
In Contractors Edge, Inc. v. City of Mankato , the Minnesota Court of Appeals held in an unpublished decision that a contractor...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court upholds exclusion of evidence of Alford plea from subsequent civil trial.
The Minnesota Supreme Court held this week in Doe v. Liebsch that evidence of an Alford plea was properly excluded under Minn....
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court Issues Long-Awaited Staab II Decision
In a 5-2 decision this week in Staab v. Diocese of St. Cloud , the Minnesota Supreme Court held that a party severally liable...
Read MoreCOVERING ALL THE BASES: LEGAL NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF BASEBALL
On July 15—after almost thirty years—Major League Baseball's All-Star Game returns to the City of Minneapolis, where the best...
Read MoreMN Court of Appeals Allows Housing Court to Award Damages
The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently upheld the right of a Minnesota Housing Court to award monetary damages to an evicted...
Read MoreSubcontractor Exposure: 2013 Amendments to the Minnesota Anti-Indemnification Statute
Shamus O'Meara comments on important issues involving subcontractor liability and insurance coverage in his article,...
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