Every week the Minnesota Court of Appeals publishes a set of opinions. Some are precedential, some are not. The information published identifies the district where the initial decision was made, the salient facts presented to the court of appeals, the law applicable to the case, and the appellate court's decision.
The most disturbing trend I have seen is one metro judicial district having a district court decision reversed on nearly a weekly basis. As I understand it, typically about 7% of all appeals result in a change from the district court's decision. This particular metro area court must be blowing that percentage out of the water.
More problematic than just the sheer percentage of decisions overturned is the set of fundamental errors those district judges are making. Things that should be fairly simple like whether an intervening party has standing in a dispute and analyzing all the elements of the law to arrive at a decision.
Where your case is venued is very important. You usually have options; rarely are you limited to one district court. If you're looking in the Hugo, Duluth, or White Bear Lake area at which court you need to be in, call me to hear my opinion on where you should file. It could save you a lot of problems in your litigation.
