Volume 8 — North Western Reporter, Third Series

An award of "reasonable attorney fees" under Minn. Stat. § 117.031(a) (2022) is determined by the lodestar method and thus is not limited to the amount owed pursuant to an attorney fee agreement. Affirmed.

1. For a state employer to be held vicariously liable for an employee's intentional tort under the Minnesota State Tort Claims Act, Minnesota Statutes section 3.736 (2022), the tort must: (1) be related to the duties of the employee; and (2) occur within work-related limits of time and place—consistent with the common law standard under which the employer, if a private person, would be vicariously liability. 2. The district court erred when dismissing a complaint against the Minnesota Department of Corrections for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted because the facts alleged in the complaint—including a state employee's perpetration of a sexual assault and sexual harassment—could allow a jury to find that the state employee was acting within the scope of office or employment under circumstances where the Department would be liable under the common law for vicarious liability. Affirmed.

A reviewing judge's denial of a "preliminary application" under 2023 Minn. Laws ch. 52, art. 4, § 24, subd. 5, at 865-66, determining that there is not a "reasonable probability" that the applicant is entitled to relief from a conviction of aiding and abetting felony murder, is an appealable order as from a denial of postconviction relief under Minn. R. Crim. P. 28.02, subd. 2(1), and Minn. Stat. § 590.06 (2022). Appeal to proceed.

The authority for the state to appeal from a district court's award of jail credit arises by necessary implication from its express authority to appeal "from any sentence imposed or stayed" in a felony case pursuant to Minnesota Rule of Criminal Procedure 28.04, subdivision 1(2). Motion denied.

1. The transfer of an interest in a family farm by intestate succession breached the consent-to-transfer clause in the contract for deed. 2. The breach of the consent-to-transfer provision was a material breach of the contract for deed. Reversed.

The 15-year limitation period for commencing a mortgage-foreclosure action or proceeding "shall not be extended . . . by reason of any disability of any party interested in the mortgage." Minn. Stat. § 541.03, subd. 1 (2022). This prohibition supersedes the disability-related tolling provisions of section 541.15 of the Minnesota Statutes. Minn. Stat. § 541.15 (2022). Reversed and remanded.

When a district court's order accurately informs a defendant of their legal obligations under the then-existing version of Minn. Stat. § 624.713, and the legislature later modifies those obligations by amending section 624.713, the state does not violate a defendant's due-process rights by charging the defendant for a violation of the amended statute. Affirmed.

The pendency of an appeal from a district court order involuntarily terminating a parent's parental rights to one or more children does not preclude that order from giving rise to a presumption of palpable unfitness under Minnesota Statutes section 260C.301, subdivision 1(b)(4) (2022). To meet the burden of production necessary to rebut the presumption of palpable unfitness arising from an involuntary termination of parental rights under Minnesota Statute section 260C.301, subdivision (1)(b)(4) (2022), a parent must produce evidence related to the statutory reasons identified by the district court as a basis for the involuntary termination to support a finding that the parent is suitable to be entrusted with the care of the children. Affirmed.

Unless otherwise provided for in a fire-insurance policy, total-loss coverage under Minnesota Statutes section 65A.08 (2022) applies only to total loss of a building, not loss of an insured-lessee's tenant improvements to leased premises in a building. Affirmed.