Articles

What is kosher? From Moses to Minnesota: A brief history of Jewish dietary law and the state’s courts

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JUDAH DRUCK

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Dec 06, 2021

Minnesota’s own forays into the world of kashrut (kosher law) have resulted in fascinating judicial and legislative discussions regarding the role government should, and constitutionally can, play in upholding Biblical law. This article details these discussions, and how courts and legislators have struggled with the question explored since Moses: What is and is not kosher?

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Food & Drug Law

The delicious ironies of food product configuration protection

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AUSTEN ZUEGE

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Dec 06, 2021

Cases up to the present highlight continued aggressive assertions of trade dress rights by foodstuff manufacturers—coupled with pushback by courts to deny trade dress rights in purely functional product configurations.

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Food & Drug Law
Intellectual Property

This moment and this breath: A public defender writes about loss, survival, and extreme sports

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Shauna Faye Kieffer

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Nov 04, 2021

Everyone has their suffering. It's no secret that people who are drawn to sports that require total focus on that one moment—be it yoga breathing, skiing cliffs, or running until your legs could fall off—are seeking to be present in the moment and not lost in their despair.

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Wellness

Well-being is always a work in progress

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Rachell Henning

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Nov 04, 2021

The practice of law is not easy. In a profession filled with stress and deadlines, it is easy to ignore the fact that our bodies and minds have limitations. Failure to recognize our own humanity can result in consequences both personally and professionally.

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Wellness

Transgender rights under siege in many state legislatures— including Minnesota’s

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Daniel Choma, Tara Kalar, Ellen J. Kennedy, and Caitlin Schweiger

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Nov 04, 2021

Across the U.S., the past year’s state legislative sessions have brought forth an unprecedented amount of legislation addressing transgender rights, most of the bills seemingly in response to recent strides made for transgender people in both state and federal courts.

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Legislation

5 tips for settling disputes through early mediation

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Terri Krivosha and Melissa Muro LaMere

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Nov 04, 2021

Our experience has given us insight into how early mediation can play a powerful role in resolving disputes. Below are five tips for reaching agreement in tough disputes through early mediation.

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Mediation

The lifelong impact of law school mentoring

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Uyen Campbell and Judith Rush

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Nov 04, 2021

Each year, over 470 Minnesota lawyers and judges provide students at the University of St. Thomas School of Law opportunities to answer these and many other important questions. These mentors, and other informal mentors, play a crucial role in helping students define their professional identities and learn vital skills before they become lawyers.

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Law School
Mentoring

Divorce and the Family Farm

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Sonja Trom Eayrs, Jill Frieders, and D. Patrick McCullough

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Oct 01, 2021

Unlike other closely held business interests, farming operations not only serve as commercial ventures but also as the family home, complicating division of the estate. Considering the longstanding ties to the land that come into play, efforts to preserve the family farm take on renewed importance in a divorce.

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Rural Lawyers
Divorce

VLN is stepping up in response to the end of the eviction moratorium. We need your help.

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Muria Kruger

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Oct 01, 2021

Because the eviction moratorium was developed in part to protect our state’s most vulnerable renters, most of those needing help at the end of the moratorium will be low-income and in need of free legal services.

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Pro Bono
Evictions

Semantic Drift – In re: Krogstad and the changing meanings of words

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Kenneth Bayliss

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Oct 01, 2021

The tendency of the meaning of words to change over time is known as “semantic drift.” Semantic drift is the reason that when we first read a Shakespearean play, we needed a glossary.

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Court Opinions

Journey to the center of my mind: Notes on meditation practice and wellness

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Senior Judge Susan R. Miles

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Sep 01, 2021

Let me invite you to journey into my mind, for better or for worse, on a reality-based meditation session, with all its twists and turns, moments of being lost, and, on a good day, an occasional insight.

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Well-Being

Maritime law? In Minnesota? Yes.

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By Vince C. Reuter

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Sep 01, 2021

Few Minnesota litigators would be surprised to field a call involving an accident on one of our state’s lakes or rivers. In doing so, the attorney undoubtedly begins internally checking the legal boxes: Cause of action? Causation? Damages? Statute of limitations? But one important box may unfortunately get ignored: jurisdiction. This is a mistake.

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Maritime Law

Fixing a Hole: The Fritz defense revisited

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James Poradek and Luke Grundman

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Sep 01, 2021

Minnesota courts have erected a draconian procedural barrier that makes it impossible for many tenants to have their day in court: a “pay to defend” requirement that forces eviction defendants to deposit unpaid back rent with the court as a precondition for trial on the defense that the landlord has violated its legal obligation to maintain the property in habitable condition.

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Evictions

Discovery: Reinventing the request for admissions

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Eliot T. Tracz

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Sep 01, 2021

Nearly every young litigator knows that RFAs are a tool used to narrow the number of disputed issues in a case. While that can certainly be done when bundled with other written discovery, the inherent versatility of RFAs really comes through when they are unbundled and allowed to stand on their own.

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Litigation

The ghost of water wars future: The Great Lakes Compact and the coming freshwater crisis

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Jeremy P. Greenhouse

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Aug 04, 2021

As climate change and population growth place mounting strain on U.S. water supplies, it is not hard to imagine a scenario in which politicians from water-starved states, faced with struggling agricultural irrigation systems and angry, thirsty voters, propose a Mao-inspired water diversion project to “borrow” water from the Great Lakes.

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Environment and Natural Resources Law

Immigration roundtable: The Biden administration so far

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R. Mark Frey

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Aug 04, 2021

Following four years of upheaval under the Trump administration, President Joe Biden took office in January promising stabilization and reform of the U.S. immigration system. Bench & Bar contributor R. Mark Frey—who writes the bimonthly immigration law updates for our Notes & Trends section—recently assembled a panel of his fellow Minnesota immigration attorneys to discuss in writing the legacy of the Trump years and the early moves of the Biden administration. What follows is an edited version of their exchange.

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Features

2021 legislative session recap: A long and winding road

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Bryan Lake

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Aug 04, 2021

The 2021 session was notable for a record-low number of bills passed, but lawmakers still managed to enact numerous new laws of interest to the legal community, including...

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Legislative

MSBA President 2021-22: Jennifer Thompson

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Amy Lindgren

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Jul 01, 2021

When it comes to Jennifer Thompson, it seems that everyone has a story to tell. Now, as the incoming president of the Minnesota State Bar Association, Thompson will undoubtedly generate more stories, even as she maintains the delicate equilibrium between work, home, and service to the legal profession.

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President
Features

Family law: The covid chronicles

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Traci Capistrant

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Jul 01, 2021

In my practice area, the pandemic has had multiple stages. Let’s hope we’re almost done with them all. Family law and its practitioners needed to step up to address rapidly changing issues affecting all families during the pandemic.

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Family Law
COVID-19
Features

We live not alone: A legacy of environmental racism

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Jessica Intermill

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Jul 01, 2021

This is the second installment of a two-part article exploring structural bias and racism within the law in the context of the Line 3 oil pipeline expansion. Part 1, published last month, examines the agency approval process and the role of the public in that process. Part 2 explores the racialized impact of that facially neutral approval in the context of Minnesota’s legal history.

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Public Utilities
Features

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What is kosher? From Moses to Minnesota: A brief history of Jewish dietary law and the state’s courts (?)

JUDAH DRUCK (?)

Dec 06, 2021

The delicious ironies of food product configuration protection (?)

AUSTEN ZUEGE (?)

Dec 06, 2021

This moment and this breath: A public defender writes about loss, survival, and extreme sports (?)

Shauna Faye Kieffer (?)

Nov 04, 2021

Well-being is always a work in progress (?)

Rachell Henning (?)

Nov 04, 2021

Transgender rights under siege in many state legislatures— including Minnesota’s (?)

Daniel Choma, Tara Kalar, Ellen J. Kennedy, and Caitlin Schweiger (?)

Nov 04, 2021

5 tips for settling disputes through early mediation (?)

Terri Krivosha and Melissa Muro LaMere (?)

Nov 04, 2021

The lifelong impact of law school mentoring (?)

Uyen Campbell and Judith Rush (?)

Nov 04, 2021

Divorce and the Family Farm (?)

Sonja Trom Eayrs, Jill Frieders, and D. Patrick McCullough (?)

Oct 01, 2021

VLN is stepping up in response to the end of the eviction moratorium. We need your help. (?)

Muria Kruger (?)

Oct 01, 2021

Semantic Drift – In re: Krogstad and the changing meanings of words (?)

Kenneth Bayliss (?)

Oct 01, 2021

Journey to the center of my mind: Notes on meditation practice and wellness (?)

Senior Judge Susan R. Miles (?)

Sep 01, 2021

Maritime law? In Minnesota? Yes. (?)

By Vince C. Reuter (?)

Sep 01, 2021

Fixing a Hole: The Fritz defense revisited (?)

James Poradek and Luke Grundman (?)

Sep 01, 2021

Discovery: Reinventing the request for admissions (?)

Eliot T. Tracz (?)

Sep 01, 2021

The ghost of water wars future: The Great Lakes Compact and the coming freshwater crisis (?)

Jeremy P. Greenhouse (?)

Aug 04, 2021

Immigration roundtable: The Biden administration so far (?)

R. Mark Frey (?)

Aug 04, 2021

2021 legislative session recap: A long and winding road (?)

Bryan Lake (?)

Aug 04, 2021

MSBA President 2021-22: Jennifer Thompson (?)

Amy Lindgren (?)

Jul 01, 2021

Family law: The covid chronicles (?)

Traci Capistrant (?)

Jul 01, 2021

We live not alone: A legacy of environmental racism (?)

Jessica Intermill (?)

Jul 01, 2021

What is kosher? From Moses to Minnesota: A brief history of Jewish dietary law and the state’s courts

(?)

JUDAH DRUCK

(?)

The delicious ironies of food product configuration protection

(?)

AUSTEN ZUEGE

(?)

This moment and this breath: A public defender writes about loss, survival, and extreme sports

(?)

Shauna Faye Kieffer

(?)

Well-being is always a work in progress

(?)

Rachell Henning

(?)

Transgender rights under siege in many state legislatures— including Minnesota’s

(?)

Daniel Choma, Tara Kalar, Ellen J. Kennedy, and Caitlin Schweiger

(?)

5 tips for settling disputes through early mediation

(?)

Terri Krivosha and Melissa Muro LaMere

(?)

The lifelong impact of law school mentoring

(?)

Uyen Campbell and Judith Rush

(?)

Divorce and the Family Farm

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Sonja Trom Eayrs, Jill Frieders, and D. Patrick McCullough

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VLN is stepping up in response to the end of the eviction moratorium. We need your help.

(?)

Muria Kruger

(?)

Semantic Drift – In re: Krogstad and the changing meanings of words

(?)

Kenneth Bayliss

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Journey to the center of my mind: Notes on meditation practice and wellness

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Senior Judge Susan R. Miles

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Maritime law? In Minnesota? Yes.

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By Vince C. Reuter

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Fixing a Hole: The Fritz defense revisited

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James Poradek and Luke Grundman

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Discovery: Reinventing the request for admissions

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Eliot T. Tracz

(?)

The ghost of water wars future: The Great Lakes Compact and the coming freshwater crisis

(?)

Jeremy P. Greenhouse

(?)

Immigration roundtable: The Biden administration so far

(?)

R. Mark Frey

(?)

2021 legislative session recap: A long and winding road

(?)

Bryan Lake

(?)

MSBA President 2021-22: Jennifer Thompson

(?)

Amy Lindgren

(?)

Family law: The covid chronicles

(?)

Traci Capistrant

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We live not alone: A legacy of environmental racism

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Jessica Intermill

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