I often tell my clients “if your attorney isn’t busy, he’s probably not a good attorney.”
Admittedly, I’ve been a bit quiet when it comes to my NWCT blog. However, it’s not like I haven’t been doing – or saying, or writing – anything.
Here’s a quick summary – with links – of my various writings and presentations thus far in 2015:
I promised Mike Schoemer a few months ago that I would write something about the Adrian Peterson saga. I was going to do a step-by-step analysis of his original punishment (i.e., being placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, which is NFL-speak for paid leave), his subsequent suspension, the NFL Players Association’s appeal and the court ultimately overturning his suspension. Now that he’s back in uniform, that all seems like ancient history, so I’ll leave it at my recent interview with KARE 11’s Lou Raguse regarding Peterson’s leverage – or more accurately, lack of leverage, in his contract fight with the Purple. Evidently my representing a handful of Vikings alumni is enough to get my ugly mug on television (well, at least once).
As anyone who knows me well knows, I am a bit involved in Minnesota’s craft beer industry, and by “bit involved” I mean eyeballs deep in it. In April I attending the Craft Brewers Conference in Portland, Oregon. I was fortunate enough to be asked to participate in an “Ask the Experts” panel in Portland sponsored by the Baker Tilly Virchow Krause accounting firm. Upon my return, I stopped by the NewsTalk 1130 studios on May 1 to talk about my experience at CBC on the Minnesota Beercast. Listen in for some great soundbites from an attorney/lobbyist for Kansas beer wholesalers.
In addition to my presentation at CBC, I also recently participated in a program called “Cases of Beer” with my colleagues and my good friend, Dan Schwarz, CEO of Lift Bridge Brewing in Stillwater and President of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. The program, sponsored by Minnesota CLE, focused on trademark disputes related to the craft beer industry (spoiler alert: there’s quite a few of them). I also discussed the topic on the March 27 Minnesota Beercast and an earlier blog post.
While we’re on the topic of beer, check out the February cover story in New Business Minnesota which focused on my work with Insight Brewing to help them launch what was recently voted by CityPages as the best new brewery in Minnesota.
There is perhaps no liquor law issue more hotly contested than whether the Sunday off-sale liquor sales ban should remain in place, and the Minnesota Senate took the first vote on this year’s repeal amendment on April 16, and the measure failed by the smallest margin in state history. The Minnesota House later voted down a version of a repeal amendment. I offered up my thoughts on the votes in a post on my personal blogsite. Despite the Sunday sales ban living – at least until next year – the 2015 Omnibus Liquor Bill brought about some key changes, which I wrote on for an article published on the Lommen Abdo website.
Speaking of law changes, Minnesota’s limited liability company statutes underwent a major overhaul last year at the Capitol, and those changes take effect on August 1 of this year. Another recent article touches on the key provisions of the Minnesota Revised Limited Liability Company Act. If you are an LLC owner, be sure to familiarize yourself with what changes lie ahead for LLCs in Minnesota.
Lastly, I continue to offer up sixty seconds of sage real estate law advice each week on Minnesota Home Talk, heard Saturdays at 7 am on 1500 ESPN. You can access the archived Legal Minute segments – which range from mineral rights to Minnesota’s new residential sprinkler mandate to real estate issues involving medical marijuana – on my website.
I think that covers it all. All that and I still found time to turn 40 on May 13, but as you can see from my activity thus far in 2015, I have no plans to slow down.
Cheers!