The much-anticipated Department of Justice guidance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act finally arrived late in 2012, but the guidance fails to address many outstanding questions and these issues are unlikely to be addressed any time soon. On Nov. 8, 2011, in a presentation to the American Conference Institute’s National Conference on the Foreign Corrupt …

Construction contractors seeking indemnification from, and the transfer of liability to, others would do well to sharpen the language of their written agreements. Over the years, general contractors in the construction industry have been developing and testing indemnification language in their subcontract agreements with the intent of transferring liability for the general contractor’s own negligence …

Law firms with access to protected health information likely will find themselves classified as “business associates” under new HIPAA rules and therefore subject to new privacy, security, and breach-notification requirements governing their handling  of such information. On January 25, 2013, final rules implementing changes to HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules were published in the Federal …

Twenty years after its enactment, the Family and Medical Leave Act remains vital and has been relied on by significant numbers of employees.  Minnesota has a number of other provisions mandating leave for employees in certain circumstances, but both employers and employees must take care to know and comply with the requirements to avoid difficulty. …

Justice Harry Blackmun’s long struggle to reconcile his concern for the individual, his respect for legislative and judicial process, and his awareness of the fallibility of individuals and institutions formed a jurisprudence that continues to instruct. This year, the country will commemorate the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade: the landmark decision written by one …

In the wake of the recent holiday parties some attorneys may have cause to reflect with concern on conversations they may have had with acquaintances who raised law-related questions.  Was an attorney-client relationship formed, and if so, what are the implications? Many of us vaguely remember encountering variations of this rhetorical question in the hypotheticals we discussed in …

Changing technology offers artists and listeners alike new opportunities to connect but the very pace of such change challenges artists, songwriters, and recording companies to find new ways to safeguard and derive income from their intellectual property.   Music has power and is everywhere.  It accompanies us on the drive to work, in the elevator, …

The rise of social media presents new challenges and opportunities for litigators in discovery.  While courts struggle with the application of existing rules and statutes to the new media, attorneys’ concerns about framing the request and preventing spoliation are timeless. What better way to disprove a plaintiff’s claim for emotional distress than to dig up …

To resolve confusion over the “name of the debtor” required on a financing statement  to perfect a security interest in personal property, Minnesota adopted changes to UCC Article 9 in 2011 that will become effective July 1, 2013.  In anticipation of these changes and in the spirit of the season, readers are encouraged to make …

Recent rulings by the federal & state courts in Minnesota have generally expanded, and occasionally constricted, the constitutional right in criminal and civil cases. Trial by jury, a fundamental and nearly unique feature of the American judicial system, may seem like an anachronism.  Fewer than 10 percent of all criminal cases and no more than …