< PreviousF or 19 years, Russ and Leighanne Bradley and their four chil- dren lived in the upper half of a split-level home they co-owned with Leighanne’s mother, who lived below. In August of 2019, the Bradleys re- ceived an eviction notice. “We had no idea what was going on,” Russ says. “She had threatened to sell the property before, but it always seemed like a bluff. When we got that notice, it seemed like she was serious.” The Bradleys had co-purchased their home with Leighanne’s mother back in 2000. The Bradleys were on the deed, with a half-interest in the property. In 2005, Leighanne’s mother wanted to refinance and roll the pay- ments in with another mortgage. For financial reasons, the Bradleys agreed it was best for her to apply alone, so they quit-claimed their interest in the property. The parties continued with a verbal co-ownership agreement, and the Bradleys made monthly mortgage payments. In 2019, the relationship began to deteriorate. The children visited their grandmother, but the adults were no longer speaking. Then Leighanne’s mother found a buyer for the house and served the eviction notice. The Bradleys taped the mortgage payment to her door, but she wouldn’t take it. “We were so scared of what would happen,” says Russ. “We started scrambling find a place to live in two weeks. We talked about trying to make a hotel work. We had no place to go, zero options.” The Bradleys looked into hiring a lawyer but couldn’t afford any of them. Then Russ called Legal Aid. He received a call back from Law Schuel- ke, a staff attorney in the housing unit. Schuelke recognized the case as one that fell outside a typical landlord- tenant case. “At our first meeting, Law said chances were slim we’d have to move out in two weeks,” says Russ. “He thought we had a case for home own- ership. He would help us deal with the eviction, and then turn us over to Chase (Staff Attorney Chase Hamil- ton, in Legal Aid’s Home Ownership unit) to help with the next part.” Schuelke was able to get a stay on the eviction and get it expunged. The Bradleys had been on the property documentation for almost six years before the refinance, and Hamilton thought they had a solid claim as constructive co-owners. He brought a new legal matter on the basis of con- structive trust. The parties entered negotiation through their attorneys. There was clearly no chance of reconciling the relationship, and the parties couldn’t continue living on top of each other. Selling the property was the clear op- tion, and the parties agreed that all net proceeds would go into escrow with Hennepin County District Court. No one would see any money until they worked out how to split it fairly. “Legal Aid was with us every step of the way, explaining everything, and telling us what to expect,” says Russ.” Those guys know so much more than we do. They weren’t about working the system. They were about making it fair. The Bradleys started out facing an eviction, with almost 20 years of co- ownership and nothing to show for it. They ended up with an even split of the equity, which fell in line with the agreement the parties had held all along. That amount was more than twice what the opposing party offered in beginning negotiations. “Legal Aid also made sure the evic- tion was expunged, so we have a clean housing record,” Russ says. “They will fight for justice. It’s a cheesy thing to say, but that’s exactly what it is. They will fight for your rights.” MID-MINNESOTA LEGAL AID PROVIDES FREE CIVIL LEGAL ADVICE AND REPRE- SENTATION TO MINNESOTANS WHO CAN- NOT AFFORD AN ATTORNEY. LEGAL AID SERVES PEOPLE WITH LOW INCOMES IN 20 COUNTIES AND PEOPLE WITH DISABIL- ITIES STATEWIDE. ‘They Will Fight for your Rights’ BY LEYKN SCHMATZ “Those guys know so much more than we do. They weren’t about working the system. They were about making it fair.” ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · MINNESOTA · VOL. 9 NO. 6 20A ll of our legal careers begin with some- one giving us a shot. A firm hires us. We get a clerkship. Or some person actually takes their hard-earned money from their pocket, and hands cash and a problem of importance over to a lawyer who’s never seen the inside of a courtroom. There are shots and there are SHOTS. There are moments and opportunities that have the opportunity to launch or change the trajecto- ry of careers. From the plaintiff’s side at least, those are the types of cases that can impact millions of people, get news coverage, gener- ate significant income, garner respect from your peers, and/or open the door for an en- tirely new area of practice. So how do we cash in on these moments? First, invite them. Develop a substantive knowledge base, and market it. You can mar- ket to the outside world via blog posts, news articles, scholarly articles, CLEs… Maybe someone is giving you your first case, but you control how smart you sound on a subject. If you’re in a firm setting and really want to work with a prominent medical malpractice partner, go read through your State’s practice series on medical malpractice. Ask to look at some complaints and expert reports. Be pro- active. Be smart. Second, understand when they arrive. As a contingency fee lawyer, one could make anal- ogies to fishing all day. Each contingency fee lawyer is pretty much looking for the biggest fish they can land on their boat. And if neces- sary, they call a friend with a bigger boat. For the large majority of cases we take, no matter how hard we work on them they’re not go- ing to move the dial in our own lives. But you must have a sense of the game changers. Con- tingency lawyers often get a SHOT because a different lawyer, inside or outside their firm, failed to recognize the significance of a poten- tial case. Have your antennae up. Be creative. Take calculated risks. Finally, sacrifice. People should have bal- anced lives. There, I said it. But I maintain there are certain cases that are worth sacrific- ing most of your time for. The rest of your life can benefit from 2 – 5 years of extreme effort. Success in that big case can be the launch- ing pad for your own law firm or could give you the financial comfort to build a more balanced practice into the future. You might also just feel really good about the people you helped and what you accomplished. If you’re already sacrificing and are not having any of those feelings or realizations, then it’s a good time to ask if you’ve positioned yourself to get your shot. JEFF STORMS IS A PARTNER AT NEW- MARK STORMS DWORAK LLC. HE HAS A DIVERSE LITIGATION PRACTICE WITH AN EMPHASIS ON PLAINTIFF’S CIVIL RIGHTS AND SEXUAL ABUSE LIT- IGATION. JEFF IS A PERENNIAL SUPER LAWYER AND HAS TWICE BEEN NAMED AN “ATTOR- NEY OF THE YEAR” BY MINNESOTA LAWYER. On Your Own Don’t Throw Away Your SHOT BY JEFF STORMS From the plaintiff’s side at least, those are the types of cases that can impact millions of people, get news coverage, generate significant income, garner respect from your peers, and/or open the door for an entirely new area of practice. On Monday, a horrific video circulated of the violent killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. In the video, an unidentified Minneapolis police officer is seen crushing Mr. Floyd’s neck, for over five minutes, while several other officers watch, and Mr. Floyd repeatedly states that he can’t breathe. The Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers (MABL) calls on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to expedite the investigation, submit the case to Hennepin County At- torney’s Office, and for Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to immediately charge the police officers involved in the senseless death of Mr. Floyd with homicide. Additionally, MABL demands that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo launch a thorough independent third-party assessment of all aspects of the training, policies, practices, and culture of the Minneapolis Police Department resulting in public recommendations to end the inhuman treatment of its Black and Brown citizens. Following the recommendations, there should be a transparent implementation plan with milestones and performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of the changes in the short and long term. The killing of Mr. Floyd is just the latest example of how the over-aggressive policing of non- violent, minor crimes has resulted in the death of Black and Brown Minnesotans, undermin- ing confidence in the police within communities of color. Often, in the wake of a homicide by police officers, a public smear campaign ensues against the victim, implying that he deserved to be killed. We call on Governor Tim Walz, Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, and our local and state officials to denounce this practice because our justice system holds that, even for the worst aggravated crimes, the penalty should never be torture or murder. Thus, not only must the officers involved in the homicide of Mr. Floyd be brought to justice, but the Min- neapolis Police Department’s policies and practices must be examined and changed to ensure that no more innocent Minnesotans die at the hands of the police. Furthermore, the Mayor and the Police Chief must confront the culture within the Min- neapolis Police Department that allowed Mr. Floyd to be brutalized and killed in front of four other police officers who did nothing to mitigate the situation. It is noteworthy that as the police officer was choking Mr. Floyd to death, his visible hand was in his pocket . This casual posture for someone killing a human being in broad daylight with cell phones recording is horrifying. This callousness shines a glaring spotlight on a culture that tolerates the killing of a Black man without any provocation. The disregard of Black lives within our criminal justice system perpetuates the officers’ expectation that killing Mr. Floyd on tape in broad daylight with witnesses in 2020 has the same consequence as would lynching him and taking proud photos next to the dead body 100 years ago; absolutely nothing. We are encouraged to see that swift, decisive action was taken to fire the officers. We hope, however, that this is only the beginning of a just process that includes the charging and convic- tion of the officers for killing Mr. Floyd and overhaul of the Minneapolis Police Department’s practices. Twin Cities residents are frustrated with the culture of violence and racial discrimi- nation within the Minneapolis Police Department. The County Attorney, the Mayor and the Police Chief must make clear that the lives of all Minnesotans – regardless of their race — are valued equally and will be treated fairly. Amran A. Farah MABL Statement on George Floyd ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · MINNESOTA · VOL. 9 NO. 6 22G iven a major event in my practice, and my life, I was asked to comment on what I learned about keeping myself and others in the office safe from violence. On September 29, 2003 while attending a hearing at the Hennepin County Government Center I was shot in the neck and my client was shot 4 times. She died at HCMC. The shooter was from the op- posing party and my client’s cousin. Unfortunately, since then there have been other significant attacks upon colleagues in Minnesota • June 2010: An enraged party to a custody dispute walked into the office of Fridley attorney Terri Melcher, who had been rep- resenting the attacker’s former spouse. Melcher was stabbed over a dozen times in her head, upper body and throat, requiring 137 stitches. • December 2011: Three people, including Cook County Attorney Timothy Scannell, were shot in the Cook County Courthouse in Grand Marais by a defendant who had recently been convicted of third-degree criminal sexual assault. • July 2015: Ramsey County Public Defender Susan Scarborough was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury after a teenage cli- ent she was representing beat her to the point of unconsciousness in a conference room where the two were meeting. • April 2016: Paralegal Chase Passaeur was shot and killed in his St. Paul office by an enraged client who thought the paralegal was his attorney. After my shooting I heard many stories from other attorneys about incidences of potentially serious acts of violence against them, their staff, or their colleagues. Most of the stories involved opposing party or very negative extended family relationships. I’ve heard sto- ries of direct or subtle physical treats and damage to property (knif- ing of car tires or breaking into opposing party’s car for example). Some things I learned from these past events. We are dealing with people. And not all people are rational or logical; even if they don’t have a recognized mental illness. Too many people perceive their rights, their powers and their immunity from the law as absolute. Keeping Oneself and Firm Members Safe from Violence BY RICK HENDRICKSON ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · MINNESOTA · VOL. 9 NO. 6 26Many others simply don’t think – they just act in the mo- ment. They are driven by emotions; negative emotions! They just react; they lash out. They feel they are entitled to revenge. They feel physical violence is their only option. This should be a permanent concern during one’s entire career. What rational steps can Bar members take to ad- dress this perpetual issue? Don’t get paranoid and over- react. But do take a few reasonable steps in your daily routine to minimize harm from some of those potential attackers. This is especially true for attorneys practicing family law, probate litigation and possibly criminal law. (I don’t’ practice in that area so can’t really appreciate the po- tential risks to those practitioners. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they have faced similar situations.) A FEW SIMPLE REMINDERS: 1. Listen to your gut! If something “just doesn’t feel right” don’t ignore it. Stop, analyze the situation, review the past history and immediate behavior of that person. What do others in the know say about that person? 2. Be aware of your surroundings. Once you figure out “something just ain’t right” stay alert. Maybe begin a diary of events (date, time, description). Nothing monumental, but a good real time his- tory. (Cops may want that info in the future.) 3. Do some quick research. Does the person you are concerned about have some history that in- dicates dangerous behavior? Sources can include your client, maybe friends of your client and past criminal or civil court records. 4. Take reasonable safety precautions. Consider safety in the office, car, or home. Maybe fam- ily. Consider “safety in numbers”. Should office doors be locked. Maybe security lights and cam- eras. Don’t overdo it. Just be reasonable. 5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Critically impor- tant to let office mates and staff know of your concerns. Important because staff are often the front line. Maybe your family should be put on notice. Consider contacting building security and or the police for advice. Of course, contact police for any immediate problem. Also, feel free to post concerns to the Bar’s Listserv. Many smart people are there and might be able to help. If you are concerned that a client is trying to push you to “cross the line” maybe obtain an advisory opinion from the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. That could give you extra support when you decline to cross that line. And of course, if you are feeling stressed out by what’s going on call Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, (651) 646-5590. They may be able to help defuse the situation. Todd C. Scott, VP of Risk Management, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Com- pany recently wrote an extensive article for the ABA on violence. I highly recommend you read the article. April 4, 2019 ABA article by “Identifying Violent Clients” RICK HAS PRACTICED LAW FOR OVER 38 YEARS. FOR MOST OF THOSE YEARS HE HAS BEEN A SOLO PRACTITIONER. HE HAS A GENERAL CIVIL PRACTICE WITH A FOCUS IN THE AREAS OF PROBATE, COM- MERCIAL, REAL ESTATE, ESTATE PLANNING, PER- SONAL INJURY AND ADR. HIS LITIGATION INCLUDES PROBATE & TRUST MATTERS, BUSINESS DISPUTES, CONTRACTS, PERSONAL INJURY, REAL ESTATE AND EMPLOYMENT. RICK CAN BE REACHED AT TELEPHONE – (763) 315-0787 OR BY EMAIL AT: RICK@RICKHENDRICKSON.COM 651-646-5590 . 866-525-6466 . help@mnlcl.org 24-Hour Helpline: 888-243-5744 AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com 27the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Best & Flanagan is pleased to announce that Kim Ruckdaschel- Haley has joined as a Partner in the firm’s Litigation and Private Wealth Planning practice groups. Ruckdaschel-Haley is an experienced litigator, regularly representing insti- tutions and individuals in complex commercial litigation and arbitration matters, including financial fraud, guardian/conservator/trust litigation, securities, contract, fiduciary duty, corporate governance, and other business disputes. Governor Tim Walz announced the appointment of Martin Fallon as a District Court Judge in Minnesota’s First Judicial District . Mr. Fallon will replace the Honorable Kevin Eide. He will be chambered in Carver County. Mr. Fallon is a partner at Mason LLP, where he represents a wide range of businesses in complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts and arbitration hearings. DeWitt LLP law firm announced the inclusion of four of its attorneys in the 2020/21 Intellectual Property (IP) Stars list of highly recommended IP practitioners, as released by Manag- Messerli Kramer is pleased to welcome Thomas Hainje back to their Banking & Fi- nance group in Minne- apolis, MN. Most re- cently, Hainje was an attorney at Win- throp & Weinstine in Minneapolis where he focused his practice on banking, finance, real estate transac- tions and litigation, creditor’s reme- dies, and bankruptcy. Prior to that, Hainje spent three years in Messerli Kramer’s Banking & Finance group. Hainje received his Juris Doctorate from Hamline University School of Law and is licensed to practice in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Governor Tim Walz appointed Judge Gordon Moore to serve as the next associate justice of the Minne- sota Supreme Court. Moore will fill the vacancy created upon the retire- ment of Justice David Lillehaug, who has served on the Supreme Court since 2013. Moore has more than 30 years of legal experience. He is cur- rently serving as a judge in the Fifth Judicial District, in Nobles County. Before that, he was the Nobles County Attorney. Judge Leonardo Castro has been elected to serve as the next chief judge of the Second Judicial District by his fellow judges in the District. On July 1, 2020, he will assume responsibility from Chief Judge John H. Guthmann, who will have served two consecutive two-year terms as chief judge. Judge Castro was also elected in a special election to serve as assistant chief judge from May 13, 2020, through June 30, 2020. Minnesota Supreme Court Associ- ate Justice Paul Thissen filed his Af- fidavit of Candidacy to retain a seat on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Justice Thissen is the only Minnesota Supreme Court Justice up for election in November 2020. Justice Paul This- sen was appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2018. Meagher + Geer an- nounces that litigator, Aaron Simon has joined the firm. Simon focuses his litigation practice on profession- al liability, insurance coverage, and complex general liability matters. Si- mon brings extensive first-chair jury trial experience to the firm. He has significant experience handling all facets of civil litigation in both state court and federal court, as well as ap- peals in Minnesota State Courts and AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENTS PRESS RELEASES EVENTS PROMOTIONS ACTIVITES HONORS RECOGNITIONS TALK TOWN of the SUBMIT PRESS RELEASES FOR NEXT MONTH’S TALK OF THE TOWN AT WWW.ATTORNEYATLAWMAGAZINE.COM/SUBMIT-NEWS/ Dave Seawell, Publisher | Minnesota Edition | (763) 742-2805 | DSeawell@AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com Thomas Hainje Aaron Simon Kim Ruckdaschel-Haley ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · MINNESOTA · VOL. 9 NO. 6 28ing Intellectual Property IP Stars. The IP Stars are private practice IP profes- sionals who have been highly recom- mended by their peers and clients. DeWitt and its attorneys David Biek, Joseph Miotke, Charles Sara and Christopher Scherer are listed as top patent and trademark practitioners in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Meagher + Geer an- nounces that David Bridges, an associate in the firm’s Minneapolis office, has been re- elected for a second term to the Board of Directors of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI). David is an as- sociate in our Catastrophic Loss Prac- tice Group, focusing on complex civil litigation, including fires, explosions, structural failures, fire protection sys- tem failures, product failures and oth- er catastrophic losses and construc- tion-related incidents across the Unit- ed States. Governor Tim Walz announced the appointment of Judge Theodora Gaï- tas to the Minnesota Court of Ap- peals. Judge Gaïtas will fill the vacan- cy occurring upon the retirement of the Honorable John Rodenberg. This seat is designated as an at-large seat. Judge Gaïtas currently serves as a judge in the Fourth Judicial District chambered in Minneapolis, where she presides over criminal matters and co-chairs the district’s Domestic Vio- lence Steering Committee. Governor Tim Walz announced the appointment of Ms. Laura Thomas as a District Court Judge in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District . Ms. Thomas will fill the vacancy occurring upon the retirement of the Honorable Ivy S. Bernhardson. She will be chambered in Minneapolis in Hennepin County. Ms. Thomas currently serves as a Clinical Professor of Law and Direc- tor of Law Clinics at the University of Minnesota Law School. AWARDS ANNOUNCEMENTS PRESS RELEASES EVENTS PROMOTIONS ACTIVITES HONORS RECOGNITIONS David Bridges TALK TOWNof the VIEW View the latest news from lawyers, law firms and associations at attorneyatlawmagazine.com/ talk-of-the-town/ SUBSCRIBE Want to stay-up-to date? Subscribe to the weekly newsletter at attorneyatlawmagazine.com/ subscribe/ SUBMIT Want to share your news? Submit your press release at attorneyatlawmagazine.com/ submit-news/ ATTORNEYATLAWMAGAZINE.COMNext >