Anoka County District Court Awards $73,938.75 in Sanctions Against Defendant for Discovery Misconduct
February 25, 2013 | Joan M. QuadeOn December 11, 2012, an Anoka County District Judge awarded my clients Ed Fields and Sons, Inc., $73,938.75 in sanctions during litigation I commenced against the Defendant, 1st Regents Bank, for discovery misconduct. (December 11, 2012 Order, James E. Fields, et al. v. Anthony Emmerich, et al., Court File No. 02-CV-11-5482) The litigation involved a multimillion dollar transaction and included causes of action such as fraud and conspiracy claims. I had sent discovery requests to 1st Regents asking for all emails related to the transaction at issue. The Bank responded that they had no emails. I pursued the issue with a Rule 115 letter and conference and the Bank continued to take the position that no such emails existed and therefore none would be produced. During a deposition, I noted that the Bank president was, as many of us do, using his Blackberry or iPhone to communicate throughout the day. I approached his lawyers after the deposition and again requested that 1st Regents Bank find potential emails related to the litigation. The Bank once again took the position that no such emails existed. This did not seem believable considering that this was a multimillion dollar transaction at issue and the Bank president clearly used technology. There were other defendants named in the suit…
Read MoreBGS Attorney, Scott Lepak, Reflects on the Boy Scouts Program
February 21, 2013 | Scott M. LepakChuck Seykora and I attended the annual Three Rivers District Boy Scout Breakfast February 21, 2013. I have been attending this breakfast event for years and am continually amazed at the energy and enthusiasm that our community has for scouting. It is no surprise that many of our community leaders have a background in scouting. This organization serves more than 72,000 boys and girls ages 6 through 20 over the course of a year and supports nearly 21,000 volunteers. The stars of this breakfast were, as always, the Boy Scouts themselves. Anyone that has ever worried about the future of our country should attend a Boy Scout event. We are in good hands for the future. My favorite part of the breakfast is when the current and former Scouts in attendance recite the Scout Promise. Listening to individuals in their seventies and eighties easily recite the Scout Promise is proof that Scouting stays with people all their lives. One thing I learned is that our local scouting organization now has a Lions Cub program for kindergartners. In attending these events, I fondly recalled my time in scouting. I was a Cub Scout and made it to the Webelos level. Webelos means We’ll Be Loyal Scouts. The township where I grew up did not…
Read MoreWill I Get, or Have to Pay, Alimony?
February 20, 2013 | Elizabeth A. SchadingIn Minnesota, alimony is known as “spousal support” or “spousal maintenance.” There are few hard and fast rules where spousal support is concerned. It won’t be a factor at all in some divorce cases, and it’s difficult to predict for sure whether it will be a factor in yours, or what kinds of numbers you might be looking at. There are, however, some common scenarios that trigger spousal support considerations. The first is a large disparity in income between you and your spouse. If one spouse makes $100,000.00 per year and the other makes nothing, then spousal support is almost certain. The second “trigger” would be a long marriage period. Again, there’s no hard and fast rule, but the dissolution of a 30 year marriage is more likely to result in the payment of spousal support than the dissolution of a marriage of 5 years. The courts take many factors into account before awarding spousal support. Spousal support also may or may not last forever. There are temporary awards, meant to get one spouse “back on their feet” before moving into independence, and there are permanent awards which are awarded for life, typically when such a move into independence seems unlikely. The age and skills of the spouse who might be awarded spousal…
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