Practice Blawg » Nancy Hupp

Joint Physical Custody Bill on Governor’s Desk

Nancy Hupp — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:17:19 +0000

Last week we posted about a a bill, HR 322, that would raise Minnesota’s baseline custody presumption from 25% to 35%. Since our post, the Senate passed HF322. The MSBA Family Law Section opposes this legislation. The House had previously passed a version of the bill that set the presumption at 45.1% and only allowed the presumption to be overcome by proving, to a clear and convincing standard, the type of mistreatment that would trigger child protection proceedings. In the end, the House author asked her colleagues to concur with the Senate version; the House did so and the bill’s fate is now controlled by Gov. Dayton, who has not indicated whether he will sign it or veto it.

The Family Law Section Chair has written a letter asking Governor Dayton to veto the proposed legislation. To contact the Governor and express your views, please use this link.

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Mind Maps Added to practicelaw

Nancy Hupp — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:43:23 +0000

practicelaw is now in the mind-mapping business.

To survive and flourish in tough economic times, lawyers must find ways to practice more efficiently. The first step in handling any client or practice matter is to gather pertinent resources and get a sense of the “forest through the trees.” To this end, practicelaw has added “At-A-Glance” mindmaps (part of our Jump Start series) to its arsenal of forms, checklists, links, and articles. The maps are designed to get an attorney up to speed quickly by collecting resources and showing their interrelationship.

We don’t have expertise in every area of law, but we are very familiar with MSBA practice resources as well as non-MSBA resources, and how they might help an attorney. We started experimenting with this concept several months ago and settled on using mind maps to illustrate the resources available on a couple of topics:

“law 101″ or overview topics of areas of law or issues
“hot topics”
technology topics for lawyers

Last week we posted mind maps which visually depict information and resources available on

We’ve also provided instructions to help you navigate around the maps, follow the links, access information.

The beauty of a mind map is its ability to convey more information, show relationships more easily, and communicate faster than text alone. One of the attorney presenters at the ABA Technology Conference last April showed how he uses mind mapping software as a practice management tool and a litigation aid. Harvard, UCLA, William and Mary are a few of the law schools that have purchased mind mapping software to use with their students. As law schools employ more visual teaching methods, more students graduate and bring to the legal profession a knowledge and appreciation of the ability of visuals to communicate.

In the coming months we will add to our collection. The maps are a great way to save you time in getting up to speed and in finding pertinent resources. Check them out and let us know what you think.

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Survey Says…

Nancy Hupp — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:34:28 +0000

Over 14% of practicelaw users responded to the practicelaw annual survey in December. The survey results are interesting and encouraging.

Respondent Pool

To put the results in perspective, it is helpful to know who responded. Of those responding, 94% are attorneys, equally divided between those who have practiced more than 20 years and those who have practiced less; ten percent have practiced three years or less. Respondents practice in a variety of firm sizes: 55% in solo firms, 30% in 2-5 attorney firms, and 15 % in 6 or more attorney firms. Lastly, respondents were evenly spread in usage habits, one third daily or weekly, one third monthly, and one third less frequently.

Opinions on practicelaw.org

Respondents rated practicelaw better than previous years in all key areas - value, importance, and satisfaction. We are delighted that 96% of respondents think the quality of practicelaw materials is excellent or good. Also, 96% are very satisfied or satisfied with the materials on practicelaw, and 84% find practicelaw a very valuable or valuable resource for their practice.

Over half of the respondents reported using the real estate materials (UCBs, RPFs, ECBs) (61%, 61%, 51% respectively) and probate (57%), while approximately one-third used civil (38%), family (36%), practice checklists (35%), and guardianship/conservatorship (31%) resources. Usage of civil, probate, and criminal materials showed the biggest uptick from last year.

The survey asked what type of materials we should add or expand. Top vote getters were checklists (57%), flowcharts/timelines (47%), and sample policies (38%). These results dovetail nicely with our spring plan for Jump Starts. Jump Starts are a new resource designed to help attorneys get up to speed quickly on various topics – 101 guides, technology, “hot” issues – with resources organized visually by topic.

Respondents also asked for civil practice forms materials, which we posted in December 2011; family law and business law materials, which are in the works and will be available in 2012. We also hope to add additional probate forms later in 2012.

Use of Word Processing, Online Legal Research, Social Media, Mobile Devices

Many respondents made the jump to Microsoft Word 2010 last year. Now 35% report using the updated software compared to 15% last year. For legal research, 43% use Westlaw (down slightly from the past two years of 51% and 47% respectively) and 61% use Fastcase (up from 47% and 58% in previous years. Facebook use is about the same at 45% (from 44% and 40% in previous years) but LinkedIn use is increased (57% up from 46% and 49% in previous years).

When asked about use of mobile devices, on a daily basis 58% of respondents expect to use a mobile device to check work email, 27% to access social media, and 9% to read blogs, 6% to access practice resources, and 5% conduct legal research.

Last but not least… Thanks

We are very grateful that so many took the time to complete the survey. Your responses and comments are invaluable when we budget and plan content for the upcoming years. Thanks!

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What’s New at practicelaw.org

Nancy Hupp — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:54:50 +0000

practicelaw.org staff continue to add new resources and update old resources. To wit:

The County Contacts list for medical assistance was updated in January, thanks to Greg Lulic at the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The list was originally posted in June 2009 and updated in 2010. Users can quickly navigate to the county in question, find the name and contact information for the person(s) in charge of clearance certificates. Of course, lists such as these are moving targets, but we do our best to get them updated periodically. If you see something needing correction, let us know.

New and Updated UCBs and ECBs were posted in January

New Form 50.3.1 – Certificate of Translation (Minn. Stat. 507.46)
New Form 50.3.2 – Affidavit Regarding Farm Disposal of Solid Waste (Minn. Stat. 17.135)
Amended Form 40.5.1 – Receipt and Waiver of Mechanic’s Lien Rights
Amended Form 40.6.1 – Notice of Lis Pendens
Amended Form 40.6.2 Notice of Lis Pendens Foreclosure of Mechanic’s Lien

New Federal Tax Committee Updates were posted each month thanks to the MSBA’s Probate & Trust Law Section.

Coming soon – We are working on a set of organizational business forms which will be posted in phases starting in March. Staff have also been working on additional Jump Start At-A-Glance resources, primarily mind maps which visually depict an overview of an issue or area of law. Last Friday we posted on the solo small list serv to solicit member donations of checklists as they have proven to be a popular resource. Lastly we are in the process of reviewing practicelaw’s family law resources.

If you have suggestions, comments, donations please let us know.

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Comments Solicited on Mandatory E-filing in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties

Nancy Hupp — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:51:24 +0000

The Minnesota Supreme Court has asked for comments on a proposed mandatory e-filing and e-service (collectively E-file) pilot project in the Second (Ramsey) and Fourth (Hennepin) Judicial Districts. The request for comments is a result of a report filed last week by the Minnesota Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court’s Order and the Advisory Committee’s Report can be found here.

Because of the statewide implications of the pilot project, the Advisory Committee does not want to have E-file rules stated only in a pilot project order. Instead the Advisory Committee has proposed changes to the Rules of Civil Procedure, General Rules of Practice for the District Courts, and the Rules of Public Access to Records of the Judicial Branch. The effective date for any changes to rules would be at least 90 days after the Court’s order of adoption. If adopted, the rules will implement a pilot project mandating electronic filing and electronic service by attorneys and government agencies in certain categories of civil actions filed in the Second and Fourth Judicial Districts. Pro se parties may continue to paper file.

The Advisory Committee intends to have e-filing and e-service rules mirror the existing paper filing provisions. The rules are intended to work for both the pilot project as well as for any expansion of the project or for any statewide adoption of e-filing. The Court’s Order details the process for providing comments on the proposed rules.

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