Update (February 23, 2012):  Are an alleged sexual harasser’s (indeed, an alleged rapist’s) repeated (and deleted) visits to pornographic websites on the business’ computer relevant to claims against the alleged perpetrator and his employer in civil litigation (for sexual harassment)?  Many would think so, and, this past week, so did U.S. Mag. Judge Janie S. Mayeron (D. Minn.) (see attached order on the parties’ e-discove… Continue reading →

…ts sought to be unsealed go to the heart of this lawsuit and it is inconvenient and unwarranted to have to treat them as secret, now years after the grand jury proceedings. The issue to be decided by U.S. District Court Judge Janie S. Mayeron, in the first instance, at least, plumbs depths of criminal procedure deeper than this Minnesota civil litigator has ever swam so I make no prediction as to outcome. This is just another chapter in the Heims… Continue reading →

…actice case that Michael Afremov has been fighting against the New Hampshire law firm of Sulloway & Hollis and individual lawyers of that firm, now pending before U.S. District Court Patrick J. Schiltz and U.S. Mag. Judge Janie S. Mayeron. The allegations, in a nutshell, are that Afremov’s lawyers conjured up a fraudulent income tax return for Afremov as part of a defense in Afremov’s litigation with former business partners at AG… Continue reading →

The latest development of the protracted Michael Afremov professional malpractice case — largely a win for Afremov on cross-motions to compel discovery before U.S. Mag. Judge Janie S. Mayeron (D. Minn.).  (Hearing on a motion for partial summary judgment is set for April 27 in this case before U.S. District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.).) … Continue reading →

Update (March 17, 2011): U.S. Mag. Judge Janie Mayeron (D. Minn.) grants Afremov’s motion to amend the complaint.  Her order is here.  It seems that every order in this case sheds a little more light on the murky picture.  Then, on further review, the picture may be as murky as ever?  (LaFond is alleged to have fabricated the tax fraud scheme and then is alleged to have tasked two of his fellow lawyers with finding evidence to support the … Continue reading →

When do employers have to pay for the intentional wrong doing of employees?  When should employers be subject to punitive damages for alleged wrong-doing of an employee?  (A related recent post, by the way, is here.) Thanks to ML Guest Poster/Contributor Employment Attorney T.J. Conley for the following commentary: A decision last week by U.S. Magistrate Judge Janie Mayeron offers an excellent analysis of the appropriate standards used in evalua… Continue reading →

The linked order from U.S. Mag. Judge Janie S. Mayeron (D. Minn.) may be useful for Minnesota litigators to get a feel for how litigants and the Court approach requests for large amounts of electronically stored information (ESI).   In this large-scale litigation against the National Arbitration Forum, plaintiffs and defendants Accretive/Agora are to devise a list of “search terms.”  They are given 15 days for that.  If they cannot a… Continue reading →