Thursday, April 20, 2006 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Auditorium

Find out what's important to know about recent Minnesota appellate court decisions at this one-day symposium, hosted by the William Mitchell Law Review. Organized to serve Minnesota practicing attorneys, the symposium highlights the appellate courts' most relevant recent decisions. Cases cover a broad range of practice areas.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Law Review will dedicate one of its issues to the topic of "Recent Decisions of the Minnesota Supreme Court." Volume 32, Issue 4 will recap the symposium’s topics.

Program
8:30 a.m.	Introduction by Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Sam Hanson ’65
9 a.m.	Radke v. County of Freeborn, 694 N.W.2d 788 (Minn. 2005)
	William Mitchell adjunct professors Mehmet Konar-Steenberg and Maggie Mahoney ’01
9:45 a.m.	Laska v. Anoka County, 696 N.W.2d 133 (Minn. Ct. App. 2005)
	Cynthia Bartell ’94, partner, and Heather Neubauer ’02, associate, Foley & Mansfield
10:30 a.m.	Break
10:45 a.m.	State v. Shattuck, 704 N.W.2d 131 (Minn. 2005)
	Barbara Tombs, former executive director, Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission (tentative) and Jeffrey Edblad, Isanti County attorney and vice-chair of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission
11:30 a.m.	State v. Carter, 697 N.W.2d 199 (Minn. 2005)
	Theodora Gaitas, assistant public defender, Minnesota State Public Defender’s Office
12:15 p.m.	Lunch (provided)
1 p.m.	Juelich v. Yamazaki Mazak Optonics Corp., 682 N.W.2d 565 (Minn. 2004)
	Alicia Bartsh, third-year student, William Mitchell
1:45 p.m.	Yang v. Voyagaire Houseboats, Inc., 701 N.W.2d 783 (Minn. 2005)
	Paula Duggan Vraa ’91, partner, Larson King, and Steve Sitek, partner, Rider Bennett
2:30 p.m.	Break
2:45 p.m.	Engler v. Illinois Farmers Insurance
	Professor Michael Steenson, William Mitchell College of Law
3:30 p.m.	Citizens Advocating Responsible Development v. Kandiyohi, 2005 WL 44823, (Minn.App., Jan 11, 2005) Thad Lightfoot, partner, The Environmental Law Group

About the speakers

Justice Sam Hanson

Justice Hanson received his L.L.B. from William Mitchell College of Law, with Honors, in 1965. He received his B.A. from St. Olaf College in Economics and History in 1961. He currently serves as an Associate Justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Mehmet Konar-Steenberg

Mehmet K. Konar-Steenberg is an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law and also currently serves as a staff attorney at the Office of the Monitor. Prior to his work at the Office of the Monitor, Mr. Konar-Steenberg litigated maltreatment cases under the Vulnerable Adults Act as an Assistant Attorney General and defended cities and counties against tort claims while in private practice.

Maggie Mahoney

Margaret A. Mahoney is an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law and a staff attorney at the Office of the Monitor, where she evaluates appeals under the terms of a federal civil rights settlement. Ms. Mahoney clerked for the Hon. Sam Hanson at the Minnesota Court of Appeals and is a 2001 graduate of William Mitchell College of Law.

Cynthia Bartell

Ms. Bartell is a Partner at Foley & Mansfield PLLP in Minneapolis. Ms. Bartell is also an appellate attorney, and has worked on appeals that have developed the law in Minnesota in the areas of the sophisticated purchaser defense to product liability claims, the duty owed by helpers in day care facilities, and day care licensing immunity. She received her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law in 1994.

Heather Neubauer

Ms. Neubauer is an Attorney at Foley & Mansfield PLLP in Minneapolis. She focuses her practice on product liability, with an emphasis on asbestos cases. Ms. Neubauer also works in matters of personal injury, general civil litigation, and appeals. Ms. Neubauer received her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law in 2002, magna cum laude.

Jeffrey Edblad

Mr. Edblad is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College and Hamline University School of Law. In 1994 he was elected Isanti County Attorney, and is currently in his third term of office. He is also Vice-Chair of the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, and the President and Chair of the Minnesota Department of Corrections Educational Foundation.

Theodora Gaitas

Theodora Gaitas has been an Assistant State Public Defender in the appellate division of the Minnesota State Public Defender’s Office since 1998. In addition to representing indigent criminal defendants on appeal, Ms. Gaitas manages the office’s pro bono program, matching private attorneys with pending criminal appeals. Before joining the State Public Defender’s Office, Ms. Gaitas practiced as a trial-level public defender in the Philadelphia area for two years and clerked for the Honorable Robert Schumacher of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Alicia Bartsh

Ms. Bartsh is currently a J.D. candidate at the William Mitchell College of Law. She received her B.A. with Honors in Economics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude.

Paula Duggan Vraa

Paula Duggan Vraa is a partner at Larson King, LLP in St. Paul. She represented Lao Xiong before the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Supreme Court. She focuses her practice on appellate law and insurance coverage disputes. She graduated magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law

Stive Sitek

Steve Sitek is a partner in Rider Bennett's Litigation Department focusing in the areas of commercial litigation, construction defects, property disputes and personal injury. He is licensed to practice law in Minnesota and Washington State.

Thad Lightfoot

Mr. Lightfoot is a co-founder and managing officer of The Environmental Law Group in Minneapolis, and an adjunct professor of environmental law at the William Mitchell College of Law. Mr. Lightfoot is a former trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Professor Michael Steenson

Professor Steenson's biography