Posts tagged as:

lawsuits

Pocket Service and Pre-Judgment Garnishment

March 8, 2010

Pocket service is lawyer slang for the procedural rule in Minnesota that a lawsuit commences on service of the summons and complaint. This is different from the rule in almost all other states and the federal courts, where a lawsuit begins with filing of the summons and complaint.
When coupled with Minnesota’s rules on pre-judgment garnishment, [...]

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Foreclosure Relief Law Project seeks to stop Minnesota foreclosures

July 31, 2009

Mortgage loan modifications are hard to come by, especially since banks are foreclosing before consumers have a chance to get a modification. In an effort to halt foreclosures in Minnesota so that consumers can get modifications, the Foreclosure Relief Law Project has filed a class action on behalf of homeowners, and asked the Minnesota U.S. [...]

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Kucinich right on arbitration, wrong on courts

July 30, 2009

Dennis Kucinich and his House Domestic Policy Subcommittee just released a report on arbitration abuse in the National Arbitration Forum (PDF). In the report, the subcommittee stated that “[c]onsumer arbitration lacks the safeguards that have been designed into our judicial system by our Constitution, by state and federal statutes, and by centuries of judicial decisions” [...]

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National Arbitration Forum awards may be unenforceable

July 21, 2009

The Minnesota Attorney General’s lawsuit against National Arbitration forum alleges that NAF is “in cahoots” with one of the largest debt collection law firms in the United States, Mann Bracken. Mann Bracken, un-coincidentally, is also one of NAF’s best clients.
Arbitration awards are routinely confirmed by state district courts, as they must be under the Federal [...]

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Nat’l Arbitration Forum sued, agrees to stop handling consumer debt cases

July 20, 2009

The Minnesota Attorney General sued National Arbitration Forum (PDF) last week, accusing NAF of colluding with creditors and debt collectors to screw consumers. At a press conference, AG Lori Swanson said “[t]his is a classic case of the little guy getting stepped on by fine-print contracts.”
Four days later, seeing the writing on the wall, NAF [...]

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Johnson, Rodenburg & Lauinger to pay $311,000 for FDCPA violations

April 21, 2009

A jury in Montana awarded $311,000 last week to a Montana man who was sued by the debt collection law firm of Johnson, Rodenburg & Lauinger. JRL tried to seize his social security disability payments to satisfy a judgment for CACV, a debt buyer. The jury awarded $1,000 in statutory damages, $250,000 for the consumer’s [...]

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We take you to a meeting of the RIAA

January 4, 2008

From joyoftech.com:

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Already at ludicrous speed, the RIAA goes a bit faster

December 31, 2007

Mark Frauenfelder of BoingBoing points out that the RIAA’s ludicrous stance on copying CDs for personal use is actually even more ludicrous in light of what they were saying just months ago:
The record companies, my clients, have said, for some time now, and it’s been on their Website for some time now, that it’s perfectly [...]

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RIAA has achieved ludicrous speed

December 29, 2007

In its efforts to bring about the overthrow of copyright protection by adopting arguments more ridiculous than the Bush Administration’s attempts to exclude Dick Cheney from the executive branch, the RIAA is now arguing that it is illegal for you to transfer music from a CD you purchase to your computer for your own, personal [...]

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Debt collector tells debt buyers not to sue

October 25, 2007

Debt collection attorney Gary Nitzkin in Michigan says “[m]y best advice to debt buyers . . . DON’T DO IT.” Don’t sue, in other words. Why? Pretty much for the reasons I have addressed here, plus a few more:

Debt buyers don’t have the documentation they need to prove their case;
Other collection agencies already failed to [...]

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Definitions: “debt buyer” and “debt buyer lawsuit”

October 23, 2007

A debt buyer is a person or company that owns a consumer debt but is not the original creditor. A debt buyer lawsuit is a lawsuit brought by a debt buyer to collect a consumer debt from a consumer.

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Costs of litigation in Minnesota

October 19, 2007

In Hennepin County, Minnesota, it costs $252 for both parties in a lawsuit (in other words, the plaintiff pays $252 to file a complaint, and the defendant pays $252 to file an answer).
If either party wants a jury, they must pay an additional $75. (Either a judge or jury may decide questions of fact.)
Filing fees [...]

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Juries bad at judging guilt and innocence?

July 2, 2007

The answer is yes, according to Bruce Spencer, professor of statistics at Northwestern University. Spencer purports to arrive at the accuracy of jury verdicts (PDF link) by comparing the jury verdict to a judge’s opinion of the correct answer. Spencer then does a lot of fancy math and flings about some casual assumptions like juries [...]

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CNN: “Court tosses ‘Friends’ lawsuit”

April 20, 2006

Link to article.
The California Supreme Court today decided that profanity and “sexually course and vulgar language” in the workplace is not automatically grounds for a sexual harassment lawsuit if not directed at a particular employee.
From the article:
“The record discloses that most of the sexually coarse and vulgar language at issue did not involve and was [...]

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