Update (October 30, 2012): A great lawyer is one who can see ahead, who can accurately counsel clients about risks and opportunities in the near and even the far-off future. Apparently, this skill set might carry over into sports predictions.
In early June, Mike Flom predicted that the Twins would end the season 64-98 (see below). One better than last year. They ended 2012 66-96. At this rate maybe they’ll reach .500 by 2027?
What do you do when you have a judgment and need to collect? Well, for many creditors and collection agencies, the man to call is John Halpern, a 40-year veteran of commercial collections in the Twin Cities.
Minnesota Litigator sat down for an interview where he gave some of his strategies for stopping debtors from declaring bankruptcy, talked about how to track down uncooperative debtors, what he thinks about creditors rights legislation, and also talked about his involvement in politics and he gives a surprise endorsement for a future political figure in Minnesota.
For our third profile of an interesting Minnesota litigators, we had the chance to sit down with Eric Cooperstein to talk about his ethics defense and advising practice. Cooperstein’s career has taken him from splitting time at Legal Aid and Mansfield & Tanick to the Office of Lawyer’s Professional Responsibility (“OLPR”) to administering a consent decree of one very large class action. Since 2008, Cooperstein has been on his own defending lawyers and prospective lawyers on ethics complaints while also finding time to make CLE presentations nationwide and serve as Treasurer of the Hennepin County Bar Association.
Check out our conversation below. He talked about his unexpected career path into legal ethics, what he thought was the most egregious lawyer behavior he saw while at the OLPR, administering the Pigford v. Glickman settlement, and his tips on how Minnesota lawyers can stay out of trouble. Continue reading
For our second profile of an interesting Minnesota trial lawyer (our first, Elliot Olsen, can be found here), we had the chance to sit down recently with Jim Behrenbrinker to talk about his diverse practice and the big excessive force/wrongful death claim he brought against the City of Minneapolis. Behrenbrinker was formerly at Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi L.L.P., but has been on his own practicing plaintiff’s personal injury, criminal defense, and small business employment defense for the past 10 years. He was also honored by Minnesota Lawyer as an Attorney of the Year in 2010.
Check out our conversation below. He talked about being a federal judicial clerk, his first real courtroom experience representing the indigent, his $2.1 million wrongful death verdict against the City of Minneapolis, his unexpected big referral source, and his advice for young lawyers. Continue reading