Blogs

It’s a Goal! Developing Revenue Projections for Your Law Firm

By Mary Warner posted 18 hours ago
This post is courtesy of attorney Jared Correia of Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, one of MSBA's Advantage Partners. ----- Law firms operate between ad hoc dec is ion making and fire-putting-out.  It’s the natural state of the law firm manager. That being said, humans have been improving on the state of nature since there have been humans. So, it’s maybe not the worst thing in the world if this is the year you decide to put together revenue projections for your law firm. If you’ve never done it before, start now.  Don’t wait until January and cram this in, like everything else in your life. The ...

What Is Your Firm’s Net Promoter Score and How Can You Improve It?

By Mary Warner posted 6 days ago
The following post was written by Jared Correia of Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, one of MSBA's Advantage Partners. ---------- Net Loss: Law Firms Have Really Poor Net Promoter Scores Did you know that law firms have a really poor net promoter score? Wait, wait. Let’s backtrack for a second. Do you know what a net promoter score is? Essentially, it’s a KPI (key performance indicator), that attempts to determine how likely your clients are to recommend you . The higher your net promotor score, the more likely your clients are to recommend you. The lower your ...

Referral needed

By Edward Shaw posted 7 days ago
I have a client who has issues with mold exposure, am looking for a referral to co counsel with someone who handles mold cases, any of you know anyone good in that area. Thanks Ed

Carl Arnold custody evaluator

By Edward Shaw posted 11 days ago
Have not used Carl before, if anyone has worked with him as an evaluator and has thoughts please contact me off list. Thanks Ed

How to Strip Formatting When Copying and Pasting from Word

By Mary Warner posted 27 days ago
Most of us who use Microsoft Word have been there. We type up a document, then want to copy and paste it into another platform, like a blog post such as this, and the formatting goes with it. Only, the formatting doesn’t seem to work properly on the new platform and ends up looking wonky. How can you strip the formatting out of a Word document to prevent this from happening? I have been known to manually strip the formatting code in platforms such as WordPress by visiting the HTML screen, but this is teeeeeedious. If you’ve never seen what this looks like, here is the code within the communities’ blogging platform: My preferred method ...

Bankruptcy Bulletin: Eighth Circuit Held Copyright Claims Were Previously Litigated in Bankruptcy Court Proceedings for Sale and Completion of Building

By David Tanabe posted 08-15-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Author: David M. Tanabe , Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. In Cornice & Rose International, LLC v. Four Keys, LLC , 2023 WL 5157578 (8th Cir. Aug. 11, 2023), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) applied the doctrine of res judicata to hold the architect’s copyright claims were precluded because the issues were previously litigated in the bankruptcy proceedings for the sale and completion of the building pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act of 1990 extended copyright protection to “architectural ...

Bankruptcy Bulletin: Eighth Circuit Affirmed Bankruptcy Court’s Factual Finding for Base Rate for Cramdown Under 11 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(5)(B)(ii) Based on Treasury Rate, Not Prime Rate

By David Tanabe posted 08-13-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Author: David M. Tanabe , Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. In Topp v. Farm Credit Services of America (In re Topp) , 2023 WL 4921241 (8th Cir. Aug. 2, 2023), the United States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit (“Eighth Circuit”) affirmed the factual finding for the discount rate for cramdown pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(5)(B)(ii) with a starting point of the treasury rate, not the prime rate. The farmer filed a petition for Chapter 12 bankruptcy relief. The lender filed a $595,000 secured claim arising from five loans of various durations from ten to twenty years, with interest rates ...

IP Law for Non-IP Attorneys

By Thomas James posted 08-06-2023
The course materials for the CLE course I taught is now available as a short book on Amazon.com. The link is: Amazon.com: IP Law for Non-IP Attorneys: 9781946397096: James, Tom: Books

Bankruptcy Bulletin: Judge Tanabe’s Procedural Guidance on Stipulations, Dismissals, and Student Loan Discharge

By Andrew Page posted 08-03-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Editor: Andrew Page , Maslon LLP In Stewart v. U.S. Department of Education (In re Stewart), No. 22-AP-04053, 2023 WL 4276909 (Bankr. D. Minn. June 29, 2023), Judge Kesha Tanabe used two adversary parties’ procedural blunder as an opportunity to issue written guidance on settlements, undue hardship, and voluntary dismissal. Maureen Leah Stewart (“Stewart” or the “Debtor”) and the U.S. Department of Education jointly filed a document captioned “Stipulation for Discharge of Plaintiff’s United States Department of Education Loans and to Dismiss Adversary Proceeding with Prejudice” (the “Stipulation”) ...

Fast Forward - Prepare Now to Make Money Later

By Mary Warner posted 07-25-2023
This post comes courtesy Jared Correia, attorney from Red Cave Consulting, one of MSBA's Advantage Partners. -------- Fast Forward: Prepare Now to Make Money Later Lawyers are often so head-down on substantive work that they spend very little time considering their ‘ sales cycle ’, which every business has. Whereas software companies consider metrics like ‘ cost of acquisition ’, law firms merely send out cadres of attorneys to network, with the fervent hope that that activity generates business at some undetermined point in the future. I remember having a conversation with a lawyer who told me that his marketing goal was ...

News from the Fediverse

By Mary Warner posted 07-17-2023
I feel a bit like the gopher in Disney’s The Lion King providing a report to the hornbill Zazu, “Sir! News from the underground!” Daily we’re receiving a barrage of news about generative AI in the legal field. But there’s another tech arena that is also currently experiencing rapid development: the Fediverse. Compared to generative AI, the Fediverse is the underground, and it’s changing so fast that I’ve had to rethink this article several times while writing it. I spend a lot of time on Mastodon, perhaps one of the most well-known platforms within the current Fediverse, which had over 10 million registered users as of March 2023. 1 Approximately 294,000 ...

Bankruptcy Bulletin: Major Cleanup of Local Bankruptcy Rules Effective July 17, 2023

By Alexander Beeby posted 07-11-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Editor: Alexander J. Beeby , Sapientia Law Group, PLLC A significant cleanup of the 1000 and 9000 series of Local Rules and Local Forms for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota goes into effect on July 17, 2023. According to the Public Notice , the amendments are intended to conform the Local Rules and Local Forms with the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (“Federal Bankruptcy Rules”) and current practice. These changes are planned to be the first phase of a complete review of all Local Rules in this district. This article is intended to provide an overview or highlight of key ...

Trauma-Informed Practices for Attorneys CLE

By Thomas James posted 07-10-2023
Katie Olson (Mitchell-Hamline's Zero Abuse Project and Trauma-Informed Legal Advocacy program director) and Jennifer Bovitz (MLM attorney and former OLPR directory) will be presenting a 2-hour program on Trauma-Informed Practices on Wednesday, July 12 at 11:00 a.m., with a video replay on August 1 at 2:00 p.m. Approved by the Minnesota BCLE for 2.0 CLE credits, including 1.0 Ethics and 1.0 Elimination of Bias. Cost: $75. Registration information: July 12 live webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3016890206172/WN_7GzW53FKT8-9aX7AvKkDyA August 1 video replay: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2816890206683/WN_UB_9VznIQAyEHLXwd2B-kw

Bankruptcy Bulletin: SCOTUS Held United States Secretary of Education Lacked Statutory Authority to Cancel $430 Billion in Federal Student Loan Debt

By David Tanabe posted 07-09-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Editor: Chen Di Xu Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Juris Doctor Candidate, 2024 Judicial Extern to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kesha Tanabe In Biden v. Nebraska , 2023 WL 4277210 (U.S. June 30, 2023), the United States Supreme Court held that the United States Secretary of Education (“Secretary”) lacked authority under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (“HEROES Act”) to depart from the existing provisions of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (“Education Act”) and establish a student loan forgiveness program that would eliminate the federal student ...

Bankruptcy Bulletin: Eighth Circuit Holds Creditor Waived Right to Challenge Receiver’s Final Accounting

By David Tanabe posted 07-08-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Author: Gemma (Yoon Jeung) Jo University of Minnesota Law School Juris Doctor Candidate, 2024 Judicial Extern to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kesha Tanabe In United States v. Kelley , 70 F.4th 482 (8th Cir. 2023), the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s order granting a receiver’s motion to wind up a receivership, including approval of its fees, a final accounting, and record-retention policies. The Eighth Circuit held that a creditor had waived its ability to object to the receiver’s motion under a prior settlement agreement. It further held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by approving the ...

Minnesota Court Opinions - How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe

By Mary Warner posted 06-30-2023
Fastcase, the legal research platform that is free to Bar Associations members, offers Minnesota Court Opinions, which are summaries of Minnesota cases. Subscribers to Minnesota Court Opinions can choose from a variety of categories, such as State of Minnesota Criminal Cases, State of Minnesota Civil Cases, Federal Criminal or Civil Digests, a Tax Cases Digest, and more, with each digest delivered to your email address. To Subscribe To subscribe to Minnesota Court Opinions, take the following steps: Log in to Fastcase. You'll find a link to Fastcase from MSBA's home page (circled in green in the image below). You'll be asked to log in to Fastcase ...

Bankruptcy Bulletin: BAP Held It Lacked Article III Jurisdiction to Impose Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy Case Dismissed While Pending Decision in the Appeal

By David Tanabe posted 06-29-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Author: Nicole Handlen University of Minnesota Law School Juris Doctor Candidate, 2025 Judicial Extern to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kesha Tanabe In Davies v. Daugherty (In re Davies) , 2023 WL 3876685 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. June 8, 2023), the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Eighth Circuit (“BAP”) dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Timothy Michael Davies (the “Debtor”) filed a voluntary petition to commence a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. The Debtor had filed multiple bankruptcy petitions in the preceding year. As a result, the Debtor was not entitled to the benefit of ...

Bankruptcy Bulletin: Supreme Court Holds the Bankruptcy Code Abrogates Sovereign Immunity of All Governments Including Federally Recognized Indian Tribes Under 11 U.S.C. § 101(27) and § 106(a)

By David Tanabe posted 06-28-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Author: Chen Di Xu Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Juris Doctor Candidate, 2024 Judicial Extern to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kesha Tanabe In Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin, 2023 WL 4002952 (U.S. June 15, 2023), the United States Supreme Court held that the Bankruptcy Code (“Code”) unambiguously abrogates the sovereign immunity of all governments, including federally recognized Indian tribes. The Supreme Court reaffirms that Congress does not need to use any particular words to make its abrogation intent clear in addition to the First Circuit’s conclusion that ...

Bankruptcy Bulletin: BAP Holds Post-petition, Pre-conversion Market Appreciation and an Increase in Equity Resulting from Payments Toward the Mortgage Lien Inure to the Estate’s Benefit upon Conversion from a Chapter 13 to Chapter 7

By David Tanabe posted 06-27-2023
BANKRUPTCY BULLETIN Contributing Editor: Patrick Patino , Patino King LLC In Goetz v. Weber (In re Goetz) , 651 B.R. 292 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2023), the United States Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Eighth Circuit (“BAP”) affirmed the bankruptcy court’s ruling, stating that the post-petition, pre-conversion equity increase of the property belonged to the bankruptcy estate and not to the debtor. Machele L. Goetz (the “Debtor”) had filed for bankruptcy relief under Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code, valuing her residence at $130,000.00 and claiming a $15,000.00 homestead exemption. Freedom Mortgage held a mortgage lien of $107,460.54 ...

How to Navigate the New PracticeLaw

By Mary Warner posted 06-13-2023
With the upgrade to a new look and functionality of MSBA's online communities, PracticeLaw was also updated and it may be a little confusing to navigate at first. Here is a guide to navigating the new PracticeLaw. First up, a photo of what the new PracticeLaw looks like. As before, the folders of documents appear on the left (shown by the green arrow below), while the documents themselves appear on the right. The documents are automatically arranged alphabetically by title. Titles that start with a punctuation mark or number will appear first, as seen below. The full page scrolls, and each section (folders and documents) ...