By: James P. Ryan
More frequently now, we see clients in our personal injury practices whose cases are complicated by extreme financial distress. The injuries themselves are stressful, but layering on a failed business or loss of a job due to the current state of economic affairs makes things much more difficult. Financial distress is corrosive - it interferes with an individual's physical health, damages familial relationships, and complicates the resolution of claims.
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By: Paul H. Grinde
Whoever performs engineering or land surveying services with respect to real estate, or contributes to the improvement of real estate by performing labor, or furnishing skill, material or machinery, whether under contract with the owner of such real estate or as a subcontractor, shall have a lien upon the improvement, and upon the land on which it is situated. Minn. Stat. Sec. 514.01
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By: Paul H. Grinde and DeAnna J. Schleusner
I wanted to take this opportunity to make you aware that the Minnesota legislature has again changed some of the laws applicable to the residential construction industry. As you know, new homes and improvements to homes come with statutory warranties under Minnesota Statute Section 327A. The legislature has revised the law and now it is required that the warranties "be set forth as written warranty instruments and must be included as part of the construction contract and conveyed to the owner." Minn. Stat. 327A.08(c). The warranties apply even if the written warranty is not provided to the owner. However, a failure to provide the warranty in writing may be grounds for a license sanction. The new law requires that the written warranties be included with contracts entered into on or after August 1, 2009.
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By: DeAnna J. Schleusner
Many people and businesses are feeling the effect of members of the uniformed services being called to active duty. As members of the National Guard and the Reserves are called upon to leave their normal lives to serve their country, businesses are also called upon to uphold their legal duties to those servicemembers. Most of these legal duties are found in two federal laws - The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA) and The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).
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