News & Resources
Motor Vehicle and Trucking
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...
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Mike Skram to Speak at 2020 Motor Vehicle Accident Seminar with MINNCLE
OWLK Shareholder Michael M. Skram is presenting online at the Minnesota CLE’s 2020 Motor Vehicle Accident Desk book Seminar...
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 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 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 MoreMike Skram to present at Minnesota CLE’s “2019 Motor Vehicle Accident Cases in Minnesota” Seminar on June 5, 2019
OLWK Attorney Mike Skram was asked to contribute to the 2019 Deskbook Seminar for Minnesota CLE’s “ Motor Vehicle...
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 MoreMens Rea of Unidentified Driver Irrelevant for “Hit-and-Run Motor Vehicle” Coverage under UM Policy
In Minnesota, mandatory “uninsured motorist coverage” includes coverage for bodily injury caused by “hit-and-run motor...
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 MoreMinnesota Court of Appeals Clarifies Application of Effective Date of January 2015 No-Fault Act Maximum Weekly Benefits Amendments
In an unpublished case decided April 17, 2017, the Minnesota Court of Appeals clarified that individuals entitled to no-fault...
Read MorePre-Treatment Assignments of No-Fault Benefits Prohibited by Auto Policy’s Anti-Assignment Clause
It has become more and more common for medical, diagnostic, and chiropractic providers to require patients to assign their...
Read MoreIn Dram Shop Cases, Notice of Claim Provided to Liquor Seller’s Insurer Is Insufficient Notice to Seller, Barring Claim
In Buskey et al. v. American Legion Post #270 , an unpublished decision, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed its stance that...
Read MoreOut-of-State Insurers Responsible for Paying Minnesota No-Fault Benefits
For years, insurers who chose not to do business in Minnesota did not need to conform their polices to Minnesota's No-Fault Act,...
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 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 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 MoreMinnesota Supreme Court allows insureds to double dip and recover medical expenses under the No-Fault Act after recovering the same expenses in a prior negligence actions.
The Minnesota Supreme Court held this week in State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Lennartson that the Minnesota No-Fault Act does...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court Expands Availability of Excess Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Coverage under Section 65B.49, subd. 3a(5) of the Minnesota No-Fault Act.
Following a school bus accident in February 2008 and a settlement with the insurers for the at-fault vehicle and school bus, an...
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court holds that heads of households do not need to replace services to recover replacement service loss benefits under the Minnesota No-Fault Act.
On June 17, 2015, the Minnesota Supreme Court held in Schroeder v. W. Nat. Mut. Ins. Co., A13-2289, 2015 WL 3739535 , that an...
Read MoreMinnesota Court of Appeals Determines Buses Operated by the Metropolitan Council are “motor vehicles” under the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act.
In a 3-0 decision this week in State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Metropolitan Council , the Minnesota Court of Appeals...
Read MoreIn No Fault context, MN Court of Appeals holds that maybe there is a free lunch
On July 7, 2014, the Minnesota Court of Appeals in Schroeder v. Western National Mutual Insurance Company, held that no-fault...
Read MoreCourt of Appeals Rules UIM Payments Made Before a Verdict Constitute a Collateral Source Subtracted From the Jury Verdict
In the recent case of Russell v. Haji-Ali, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held in a published opinion that receipt of UIM payments...
Read MoreO’Meara, Leer, Wagner & Kohl, P.A. Obtains Summary Judgment Dismissal of Alleged “Cow” Related Accident
In June of 2008, Plaintiff allegedly was involved in a motor vehicle accident with a cow in a rural area of Minnesota. Plaintiff...
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