Newborn Screening Lawsuit Against Minnesota Department of Health Settled
A settlement was reached with the State of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health over the illegal and improper use of blood samples obtained under the Newborn Screening Program by the Minnesota Department of Health. The settlement is a victory for privacy advocates. Attorneys Scott Kelly and Dan Bellig of Farrish Johnson Law Office and Robert Bennett and Robert Vaccaro, civil rights lawyers with Gaskins Bennett Birrell & Schupp of Minneapolis, represented 21 families against the Minnesota Department of Health. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) secretly established a bio-bank of blood samples and test results from blood left... Read More
Will Contest Case Succeeds at Appeal
Attorney Scott Kelly, representing the defendant, prevailed at the Court of Appeals in a will contest matter. In this appeal from a district court order in probate proceedings, the plaintiff challenged the district court’s adoption of the county taxing authority’s estimated market value as the fair market value of certain real property. The Court of Appeals agreed with the district court that the district court’s finding of fair market value had meaningful and adequate evidentiary support and was not clearly erroneous. This was the second appeal arising from a dispute over the administration of the estate and Scott worked closely... Read More
Scott Kelly Presents Stray Voltage Update at NRECA Seminar
Attorney Scott Kelly presented his Stray Voltage Update at the 2013 National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Legal Seminar on June 7 in National Harbor, MD, just outside Washington, D.C. NRECA is the national service organization for more than 900 not-for-profit rural electric cooperatives and public power districts providing retail electric service to more than 42 million consumers in 47 states and whose retail sales account for approximately 12 percent of total electricity sales in the United States. The NRECA Legal Seminar provided updates on key legal, regulatory, legislative and governance issues by industry experts. Scott’s Stray Voltage seminar focused... Read More
Protecting Data Privacy Rights!
Farrish Johnson Law Office continues having an impact in the area of data privacy as several attorneys are currently working on a class-action lawsuit involving the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and one of its former managers for the illegal downloading of driver’s license information. A group of individuals are suing the DNR, the state of Minnesota, and former Dept. of Natural Resources Employee John Hunt for the illegal use of the Driver and Vehicle Services database (DVS). The DVS database contains individual photographs, addresses and driving records and is protected under state and federal law from illegitimate use. According... Read More
Newborn Screening
Farrish Johnson attorneys Scott Kelly and Daniel Bellig successfully represented several plaintiffs in a case that challenged the Minnesota Health Department’s practice of storing blood samples taken from newborns indefinitely. Under the program, blood samples are taken from newborn babies in the hospital and sent to the Health Department, in order to be tested for health disorders. The screening, however, only uses a portion of the sample. The Health Department has been keeping the remaining indefinitely, unless requested to have the sample destroyed. Farrish Johnson attorneys argued that the practice was in violation of the state’s Genetic Privacy Act and... Read More
Farrish Johnson welcomes Joseph Gangi
Joseph Gangi joined Farrish Johnson Law Office in March 2013, as an associate attorney in litigation. Joseph is a Mankato civil litigation, business litigation, and appeals attorney.
Will Partridge selected for trial lawyer honorary society
Farrish Johnson Law office congratulates Mankato civil litigation attorney William S. Partridge on being selected as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. The LCA is a trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. Fellows are selected based upon excellence and accomplishment in litigation, both at the trial and appellate levels, and superior ethical reputation. The LCA is aggressively diverse in its composition. Established as a trial and appellate lawyer honorary society reflecting the American Bar in the twenty-first century, the LCA represents the best in law among its membership. The... Read More
Dave Salsbery’s 2011 Presentations on Current Estate Planning Issues
In 2011, Dave Salsbery performed presentations on Minnesota estate planning issues. As a Mankato estate planning attorney, Mr. Salsbery has been successful in helping clients succesfully plan their estates and has helped families take care of matters after a loved one’s death. Archived presentation schedule: February 2011: VINE Faith in Action May 2011: Hilltop United Methodist Church July 2011: VINE Faith in Action October 2011: Belgrade Avenue United Methodist Church