The United States Supreme Court is generally asked to hear approximately 7,000 to 8,000 cases each year but only grants review and hears approximately 80 of these cases. And many of the cases the Court reviews involve appeals in criminal cases and other high profile constitutional issues. Given the small number of cases heard and...

During the first two years of the Biden administration, when Democrats held majorities in both houses of Congresses, much of the activity in Washington focused on traditional lawmaking. But with the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives in January 2023, a flurry of new rulemaking activity signals a focus on regulatory action by...

Constructing a new hog barn (or expanding an existing barn) in Minnesota requires pork producers to navigate a maze of requirements across several layers of government.  The facility may require a feedlot permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency or the county where the facility is located.  Many feedlot projects also require a zoning permit...

What is a document retention policy? A document retention policy is a plan outlining (1) what sorts of documents the operation will keep, (2) how they will be stored, and (3) how and when they will be destroyed. Why is a document retention policy important? Documents can be key evidence in a lawsuit, and are...

On April 26, 2018, a jury in North Carolina awarded a judgment against Murphy-Brown LLC (an affiliate of Smithfield Foods) for more than $50 million in a nuisance lawsuit arising from the operation of a hog confinement facility. This judgment was later reduced by the judge to $3.25 million. But only a couple of months...

Co-authored by Dean Zimmerli Benjamin Franklin once stated that “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Planning is an integral part of every farming operation. Farmers must regularly engage in advance planning to determine the crops they will plant or livestock they will raise, ensure access to the necessary inputs, and determine...

Thomas Jefferson famously advised, “[n]ever spend your money before you have it.”  But as Mr. Jefferson (who was substantially indebted throughout much of his life) himself discovered, this advice is far easier for most people to give than to heed.  Recent studies indicate that approximately 8 out of every 10 Americans are indebted in some...