Greg Abbott Wins Appeal

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝAs lead counsel for appellant, Greg Abbott won reversal of summary judgment in Kraemer v. Larson, A03-984 (Minn. App. 2004). The appellant, while living together with his then-fiancˆ©, built with his own labor and resources a house for the couple to live together. After the relationship ended, the ex-fiancˆ© claimed sole interest in the house and land. The boyfriend sued, claiming a substantial equitable interest in the house and land based on the value of his labor and contributions. The trial court granted the ex-fiancˆ©'s motion for summary judgment, based on a misreading of the Minnesota anti-palimony statute, Minn. Stat. ¬ß 513.075-76. The Court of Appeals reversed, and remanded the case for trial, because the boyfriend's equitable interests were based on his actual contributions to the value of the house and land, and did not arise solely from his status as an intimate co-habitant.

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Greg Abbott Wins Arbitration Verdict

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝAs lead counsel for the plaintiff, Greg Abbott commenced and won an arbitration proceeding on behalf of a former employee of a local mass media corporation. The identities of the parties are confidential, based on the terms of the arbitration (conducted in January 2004). The former employee had been hired to sell advertising for a media show, and was given a contract for a specified term. In addition, the employee was given some responsibility for content as a producer of the show. (The employee's participation in production decisions was an important part of the ability to sell advertising, as the prospective advertisers wanted someone they could trust contributing the content of the show). After three months, when the prospective advertisers had made large financial commitments to advertise on the show, the corporation terminated the employee even though there was more than a year left to run on the contract. Mr. Abbott pursued a breach of contract claim on behalf of the employee, and won a verdict declaring that the corporation had wrongfully breached the contract and awarding damages in an amount more than twice as large as the corporation's final settlement offer.

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Tribal Casino's Use of Sovereign Immunity

Challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝAs Counsel of Record on behalf of Petitioner Sylvia Cohen, Greg Abbott filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on June 9, 1997, challenging the use of tribal sovereign immunity by Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, Minnesota. The case, Sylvia Cohen v. Little Six, Inc., No. 96-1962, has received national attention for its potential impact on the Indian gaming industry. See Gaming Industry Litigation Reporter, July 1997, at 1, 7.

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝThe full text of the petition (excluding the appendix) can be viewed here. After deciding related issues in the Kiowa Tribes case, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the Petition for Writ of Certiorari on June 1, 1998.

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Greg Abbott Helps Obtain Defense Verdict

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝGreg Abbott was co-counsel with Clinton Collins, Jr., for defendant Insight News, Inc., in a libel case tried in Minneapolis November 25th to 27th, 1996. The plaintiff was represented by Marshall Tanick, the pre-eminent libel lawyer in state of Minnesota. The jury awarded the plaintiff only $3,000 in damages after Mr. Tanick had sought $170,000 in his closing argument.

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝInsight News is a weekly paper for the African-American community in the Twin Cities area. In August 1994 Insight News published a free-lance commentary article which attacked negative stereotypes associated with African-American women. The article used earthy and occasionally shocking language to describe the stereotypes which the author felt unfairly stigmatized black women.

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝWhile the article itself did not describe or relate to an actual person, Insight News published a photograph to illustrate the article. Insight News obtained the photograph from its photo archives, and published the photograph without a "cut line" (a "cut line" is text which lets the reader know where the photograph was taken, or how the photograph relates to the article). The person in that photograph was identifiable as a 30-year old African-American woman living in Minneapolis, who had been photographed without her permission, in public, at a Juneteenth celebration several years earlier.

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝThe plaintiff claimed she was defamed by the earthy and shocking descriptions of the stereotypes, because the use of her picture might lead a reader to conclude that the words were about her. In pre-trial proceedings, Judge Ann Alton granted partial summary judgment for the plaintiff, concluding that use of the picture with the article was defamatory "per se." As a consequence of this ruling, at trial the jury was allowed only to consider the question of damages resulting from the alleged defamation.

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝMr. Collins and Mr. Abbott argued that no damages had occurred from the use of plaintiff's picture. No one other than the plaintiff, her mother, and her daughter, had testified that they recognized the picture in the paper when it was published. Under cross-examination the plaintiff admitted that no one outside her family had mentioned the picture to her, and admitted that her life and her daily routine had not changed as a result of the use of her picture.

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¬Ý¬Ý ¬ÝThe jury deliberated about three hours before returning its verdict. The jury refused to award punitive damages, and refused to award damages for infliction of emotional distress.

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