Trepanier MacGillis Battina P.A. 8000 Flour Exchange Building 310 Fourth Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55415 612.455.0500
Trepanier MacGillis Battina P.A. 8000 Flour Exchange Building 310 Fourth Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55415 612.455.0500

Minnesota Arbitration Law – Recent Decisions Clarify Role of District Court

Arbitration is intended to avoid traditional courtroom experiences. At times, however, courts become involved if parties must be compelled into the arbitration process.  At other times, courts become involved to confirm an arbitration award after the arbitration process has concluded.  A pair of recent decisions from U.S. District Court of Minnesota help to clarify the […]

Minnesota Supreme Court Holds a Non-Compete Agreement Cannot Mandate an Injunction

In St. Jude Med., Inc. v. Carter, 913 N.W.2d 678 (Minn. June 27, 2018), the Minnesota Supreme Court was asked to decide whether an injunction was mandatory in a non-compete dispute when the terms of the non-compete agreement stated that the employer was entitled to an injunction if the employee breached the agreement. The Court […]

Clarifying an Employment Agreement

Ambiguities in contracts breed litigation. Recently, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota issued a ruling in Riddle v. Geckobyte.com, Inc. concerning the ambiguity and vagueness of the parties’ employment contract. The decision demonstrates how unclear contracts keep parties in court and out of business. Background of the Dispute Plaintiff Jeffrey Riddle […]

The Legal Difference Between a Minnesota Employee and Independent Contractor

Imagine your employment requires you to bill your employer on a per-job basis but your employer supplies all the necessary equipment to complete requested projects. Or imagine that your company manages a property and regularly use one individual for maintenance work on that property, paid by the hour, who also works on other properties not […]

Understanding A Lawsuit In Minnesota

At some point you or someone you know may become a party to a lawsuit. Lawsuits typically follow a common path. Although the rules and procedures that apply to each case may differ slightly depending on the type of case and jurisdiction, the most common and basic structure of a lawsuit involves initial pleadings, discovery, […]

Obama Issues Executive Order Requiring Federal Contractors to Grant Paid Sick Leave

On September 7, 2015, in honor of the Labor Day holiday, President Obama issued Executive Order 13706 requiring federal contractors to offer their employees up to 7 days of paid sick leave annually, including paid leave for family care. The White House justified the need for the directive in a press release emphasizing that the […]

Minneapolis Voters Repeal the 70-30 Food-to-Alcohol Ratio Law

Minneapolis voters have scrapped the 70-30 food-to-alcohol ratio law that affected bars and restaurants located in Minneapolis’ residential neighborhoods. By a vote of over 80%, Minneapolis city residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of scrapping the archaic law on the city’s November 4, 2014 ballot. Going back as far as the 1800s, restaurants in Minneapolis’ residential […]

Minneapolis City Council Repeals the 60-40 Food-to-Alcohol Ratio Law

A much anticipated and welcomed change recently took place affecting Minneapolis bars and restaurants in commercial areas. Since 1983, restaurants in commercial areas outside of downtown Minneapolis were required to follow a city ordinance that required the restaurants to maintain a 60-40 food-to-alcohol ratio. On Friday, September 19, 2014, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously eliminated […]