Volume 42, Issue 4

“Life in the Vast Lane,” a poster popular in these parts, depicts a North Dakota two-lane highway surrounded by green prairie grasslands and cloudless blue sky. Other than the road itself, the landscape appears unaltered from its indigenous state. The poster captures North Dakotans’ pride in the rural character of the state—encompassing areas of undeveloped…

In 2012, North Dakota surpassed every state except Texas in oil production. It is common knowledge that the oil boom has flooded the state with money and allowed it to maintain impressive budget surpluses while other states in the nation saw distinct budget shortfalls. There are, however, many negative impacts of the oil boom: farmers…

Often bound up in controversy, wetlands are argued and fought over, coveted or loathed, depending on your perspective of what is ‘appropriate’ land use. Any way you look at it, the topic is attracting lots of attention. Farmers are accustomed to being buffeted by forces beyond their control, such as pests, drought, floods, tornados, rainfall…

It is not that I don’t have a fear of sharks, it is that I have a respect for them, so that I know any more than if I were to go into the jungle, I would have a fear of tigers, that I would try to lower the odds. – Peter Benchley (author of…

Imagine your client purchases a parcel of real estate in a rural community. Perhaps it is a dreamy lakeside cabin, a rustic hunting place, or some additional tract of farmland for a growing agricultural operation. Now, imagine your client’s surprise when she sees a neighbor driving a large tractor across a portion of her newly…

Comparative fault ameliorates the harsh effects of the all-or- nothing defense of contributory negligence and provides a mechanism for the apportionment of fault among those whose fault caused loss or damage to an injured plaintiff or plaintiffs. One of the perplexing problems in construing comparative fault statutes is in determining whose fault should be considered…

In Harris v. Quinn, a divided U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment’s free speech and free association clauses prohibited an Illinois labor union from collecting agency fees from non-unionized in-home personal care assistants. To reach this holding, the Court concluded that its landmark case Abood v. Detroit Board of Education was not applicable…

In Griffioen v. Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway. Co., the Eighth Circuit split from two circuit courts when it adopted a new stance on the rule of unanimity, dealing with removal based on a federal question. Specifically, the court strayed from its prior precedent when it held that representation in a removing defendant’s notice—stating…

Have you ever had that strange sensation that you are being watched? You casually glance around to see if anyone is staring at you. You do not see anything unusual, but you cannot shake the feeling. You can feel someone’s eyes on you as the goosebumps begin to spread, but you just cannot locate the…

The “best notice that is practicable under the circumstances” standard in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(2)(B) is often a source of disagreement between parties, or between a party and the court, in class action litigation. Over time, some agreement, or at least some standard practices, regarding communication methods have evolved: mail and print publication…

They are [portrayed as] “monsters” and “beasts” [b]ut sexual predators—and our powerful reaction to them—are doing another form of damage as well. We have come to think of these men as archetypical sex offenders and have shaped our public policy responses as if all sex offenders fit this mold. We are blind to the true…

The Board of Editors of the William Mitchell Law Review Volume 42 was elected in January 2015. We were flattered that our predecessors entrusted us to carry on this noble forty-one-year tradition and we were optimistic at the opportunity to make our mark. As we explored our new workspace, we encountered an old bookcase filled…

Being the oldest person around the law school (either William Mitchell College of Law or the nascent Mitchell Hamline School of Law) is an advantage and a disadvantage. It is an advantage because people, though often bored and searching for an escape, feel like the wedding guest held by the piercing gaze of the Ancient…