Madgett LawMinneapolis · Minnesota

Partnerships · Co-Counsel

Arrangement 01

Co-counsel, meaning we do some of the work.

The engagement most out-of-state lawyers actually need is not local counsel. It is a Minnesota lawyer who takes a defined share of the case and is accountable for it.

Discuss a Matter

How the engagement is built

We start by reading the file — the operative pleadings, the contract or policy the case turns on, the scheduling order, and whatever discovery has already moved. Then we tell you what we think, including the parts you may not want to hear. A co-counsel who agrees with everything is worth exactly as much as a local counsel who reads nothing.

From there we divide the work explicitly, in writing, before anyone bills anything. Not "we'll handle local requirements" — an actual list of who owns which pleading, which motion, which witness, and which deadline. Ambiguity about division of labor is how co-counsel arrangements fail, and it always fails on the deadline nobody thought was theirs.

What we take on

Pleadings and motion practice

Complaints, answers, Rule 12 motions, summary judgment, and the Minnesota-specific summary judgment recital requirements that catch out-of-state briefs. We draft, or we edit hard — say which you want.

Discovery

Written discovery, document review and production, meet-and-confer, and motions to compel. Minnesota discovery motions are nondispositive and run on the 21-day track, which changes how much runway you actually have.

Experts

Identifying and retaining Minnesota experts, and — critically — the pleading-stage expert affidavits that Minnesota requires in professional negligence and medical malpractice cases before the case is at issue.

Witnesses and depositions

Taking and defending depositions in Minnesota, coordinating subpoenas, and handling the third-party discovery that is far cheaper to do from here than from your city.

Hearings and trial

Arguing motions, second chair or first chair at trial, and everything in between. If you want to try the case yourself, we prepare the courtroom, the clerk relationships, and the local mechanics so you can.

Appeals

Minnesota Court of Appeals and Eighth Circuit work, including preserving the record on the way there — which is the part that has to happen while the case is still in the trial court.

Pro hac vice, handled properly

Minnesota admits visiting lawyers under Rule 5 of the General Rules of Practice. A lawyer who is and remains duly admitted in Minnesota must move the applicant's admission in the action, and that Minnesota lawyer accepts service of all papers and must be present before the court — in chambers, in the courtroom, or by permitted remote means. The motion is served on all parties and comes with an affidavit or declaration disclosing pro hac vice applications in the prior two years, plus the Board of Law Examiners' confirmation of good standing. Courts are directed to grant these motions liberally, and admission can be revoked for conduct violating the applicable rules.

One nuance worth planning around: the presence requirement is firm for the initial appearance, but on a subsequent appearance in the same action the court has discretion to let the out-of-state lawyer proceed without Minnesota counsel present. That discretion is far easier to obtain when the Minnesota lawyer has demonstrably been participating.

Note also that pro hac vice admission is required for any lawyer arguing before the courtor signing pleadings or other documents in the action. Signing a brief from out of state without admission is not a technicality here.

Fees

Division of a fee between lawyers who are not in the same firm is permitted in Minnesota only if the division is in proportion to the services performed by each lawyer or each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for the representation; the client agrees to the arrangement, including the share each lawyer will receive, confirmed in writing; and the total fee is reasonable.

We prefer the proportional-work basis, because it is the honest description of what we intend to do. Hourly and flat-fee structures are equally available where they fit the matter better. Whichever it is, it is agreed and papered before work starts, and the client agreement says exactly what each firm is responsible for.

Conflicts

We run a conflict check before any substantive discussion of your matter. Send the caption, the parties, and the affiliated entities — that is enough. If we are conflicted, you will hear so quickly, and we will point you toward firms that are not.

Every matter turns on its own facts, and no result in any prior case predicts or guarantees a result in another. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship.

Other arrangements

Not every matter needs a full co-counsel engagement. Sometimes it needs one hearing covered, or a referral to the right firm.

Appearance & Coverage CounselReferral RelationshipsMinnesota Primer