BGS Lawyers Assist in Planning New Construction at Unity Hospital

May 7, 2014  |  Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.

BGS Real Estate Attorney Kristi Riley and Labor Attorney Scott Lepak have been working with their client, North Suburban Hospital District, to coordinate the construction and development of the new Transitional Care Unit at Unity Hospital in Fridley. The project is expected to be completed late November/early December 2014 and will be a great benefit to the surrounding community and patients at Unity Hospital.

Read More

How will the New Laws for Civil Litigation in Personal Injury Affect My Case?

April 28, 2014  |  John T. Buchman

In July of 2013, Minnesota passed significant changes to the rules that govern civil litigation, which would include personal injury claims.  Minnesota adopted similar rules for federal courts and also instituted a “rocket-docket” as a trial program to see if a system could be developed that would cut down the time and expense to try civil cases.  The pilot program is set up in Dakota and St. Louis Counties.  These new rules have been in place for over nine months now and the transition has been easier than many feared.  This is often the case with major changes, new rules created anxiety and concern among lawyers.  However, I think most of us have seen that this sky did not fall.  As cases get closer to jury trials, we will again experience the second major effect of the new rules. Under the old rules, when your BGS attorneys filed a lawsuit, we also served “discovery” which is written requests for information.  The defendant usually did the same with their Answer.  This required significant work on behalf of our clients to help us answer the requests of defense.  Now, however, the parties cannot request discovery initially but must wait until the attorneys meet and complete some required tasks.  However, we do need our clients to…

Read More

Seatbelts Save Lives

April 23, 2014  |  Jon P. Erickson

My family was recently reminded of the importance of Buckling Up. Above is a photo of my wife’s nephew Aaron’s car. He, his fiancé and their 3 and 1 year old daughters were involved in a single car rollover accident on the icy roads last week. The children were properly belted in their car seats, and the two adults were wearing their seat belts. They all walked away from the accident with little to no injuries. Once again we have a reminder why we all need to “buckle up” when in our cars and strive to make sure our children are also “buckled up!”

Read More