Amicus Curiae
The Amicus Curiae blog is a resource for everyone interested in recent happenings in law. We will share trending legal topics and thought-provoking pieces in all different areas of law. Some articles also provide advice to students or practicing attorneys.
If you are interested in writing a piece—new or in response to a current one—contact us at john.edell@mitchellhamline.edu or daniel.buteyn@mitchellhamline.edu.
Posted: August 19, 2019
Written by Raleigh Levine, James E. Kelley Chair in Tort Law at Mitchell Hamline. Professor Levine teaches Mitchell Hamline’s Election Law class, which focuses on the constitutional and statutory regulation of the American electoral process. After decades in which a majority of the United States Supreme Court’s Justices repeatedly concluded that some partisan gerrymandering might …
Twenty-first Amendment Gives Way to Dormant Commerce Clause in Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas
Posted: August 5, 2019
By Caleb Gerbitz, Head Managing Editor for the Mitchell Hamline Law Review Introduction One hundred years after prohibition began on January 16, 1919, its undoing still strains principles of federalism and constitutional interpretation. In Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Ass’n v. Thomas,[1] the authority of states to regulate alcohol under section 2 of the Twenty-first …
Amicus Curiae Podcast – Gateway to Legal Education with Dean Mark Gordon and Professor Barbara Colombo
Posted: May 17, 2019
Learn more about Mitchell Hamline School of Law’s Gateways to Legal Education initiative with Dean Gordon and Professor Colombo. Introduction (0:00 – 1:48) How was the program initiated? (1:49 – 7:29) Why the choice to do health care as the first course? (7:30 – 11:20) Was this an original model? (11:21 – 14:11) How is …
Shoulder Injuries from Vaccines? – Separating Fact From Fiction
Posted: February 17, 2019
Written by Kathleen M Loucks, Attorney at Lommen Abdo, P.A. SIRVA “Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration” is compensated through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (“VICP”) which is administered through the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.[1] Through the VICP, persons who have been injured by vaccines covered under the program can …
Shoulder Injuries from Vaccines? – Separating Fact From Fiction
Minnesota Supreme Court: Primary Assumption Of Risk Has Limited Reach
Posted: January 30, 2019
Written by Mike Steenson, Bell Distinguished Professor of Law at Mitchell Hamline. In two unanimous opinions issued on January 25, 2019, the Minnesota Supreme Court retained the primary assumption of risk doctrine but narrowly confined its application, re-emphasized that the issue of whether intoxication is a proximate cause of an injury is generally a …
Minnesota Supreme Court: Primary Assumption Of Risk Has Limited Reach
That’s Why They Call It Practicing Law
Posted: January 9, 2019
Written by David Kempston, Attorney at The Law Office of Thomas D. Mottaz and Author of That’s Why They Call It Practicing Law I wrote a book for lawyers and those who want to be lawyers, called That’s Why They Call It Practicing Law. The book is short, practical and humorous. The focus is on improving the …
The Minnesota Supreme Court Reverses Decision in Student Crash: Favors Allowing the Trier of Fact to Resolve Foreseeability Issues
Posted: December 5, 2018
Article Written by Mike Steenson, Bell Distinguished Professor of Law at Mitchell Hamline. Fenrich v. The Blake School [1] is the third installment in a series of decisions by the Minnesota Supreme Court involving the foreseeability issue in a “close case.” Combined with Montemayor v. Sebright Products, Inc.,[2] and Senogles v. Carlson,[3] the trilogy effectively …
Mike Steenson: An Essay on Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Posted: November 21, 2018
Article Overview Written by Mike Steenson, Bell Distinguished Professor of Law at Mitchell Hamline. The Supreme Court’s opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop [1] is not by any means the culmination of the collision of religious beliefs and anti-discrimination laws, but really just the beginning. The Court’s seemingly narrow resolution of the case based on the Colorado Civil Rights …
Mike Steenson: An Essay on Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Practice Niche: Beer, Wine, and Spirits
Posted: October 3, 2018
Written by Elliot R. Ginsburg, Garner & Ginsburg, P.A. I was in a small town in Washington defending a deposition. My client was having a tough time and long story short, there was a fair amount of yelling – more out of frustration than anger, but it was still a relatively unpleasant experience. As …
Becoming an Adult: It’s More Than Just a Number
Posted: July 5, 2018
Written by Bradford Colbert, Professor at Mitchell Hamline, and Alexandra Baker Kroeger, Certified Student Attorney. Adulthood is a social construct. For that matter, so is childhood. But like all social constructs, they have real consequences. They determine who is legally responsible for their actions and who is not, what roles people are allowed to assume …