Ten things that surprise out-of-state counsel about Minnesota.

Service commences the action. Filing does not.

A Minnesota civil action commences against each defendant when the summons is served upon that defendant, when the defendant signs a waiver of service under Rule 4.05, or when the summons is delivered for service to the sheriff in the county where the defendant resides — by hand, U.S. Mail with postage prepaid, commercial courier with proof of delivery, or electronic means the sheriff's office has consented to.

Sheriff delivery is the trap inside the trap: that delivery is ineffectual unless the summons is actually served on the defendant, or first published, within 60 days. And a copy of the complaint must be served with the summons except where service is by publication.

Lawyers arriving from filing-first jurisdictions have blown limitations periods on this alone, believing the clock stopped when they filed.

An unfiled case dies at one year, with prejudice.

Because service rather than filing starts a Minnesota case, a case can be fully litigated — pleadings served, discovery exchanged, motions contemplated — without ever appearing on a court docket. Minnesota closes that window hard.

Any action not filed with the court within one year of commencement against any party is deemed dismissed with prejudice against all parties, unless the parties within that year sign a stipulation to extend the filing period. The dismissal is automatic. There is no motion to bring afterward, and the rule reaches every party in the case, not only the one against whom the year ran.

Motion deadlines run backward from a hearing date you must get first.

You do not file a motion and wait for a hearing. You obtain a hearing date and time from the court administrator or a designated motion calendar deputy, and then promptly notify all opposing counsel and self-represented parties so cross-motions can, so far as possible, be heard on a single date.

Counting back from that date: for a dispositive motion, the moving party pays any required motion filing fee and serves and files the notice of motion and motion, proposed order, any affidavits and exhibits, and the memorandum of law at least 28 days before the hearing. The response — memorandum plus supplementary affidavits and exhibits — is served and filed at least 14 days before. A reply, limited to new legal or factual matters raised in the response, is due at least 7 days before.

Nondispositive motions — discovery, third-party practice, temporary relief, intervention, amendment of pleadings — move the moving party's deadline to 21 days, with the same 14-day response and 7-day reply. The court may modify these limits, but never below the time set by Minn. R. Civ. P. 56.02.

Thirty-five pages, and the reply counts against it.

No memorandum of law submitted with a dispositive or nondispositive motion may exceed 35 pages. Where a reply memorandum is filed, the cumulative total of the original memorandum and the reply may not exceed 35 pages except with the court's permission.

Budget for the reply when you write the opening brief. Lawyers used to per-brief limits routinely spend the whole allowance up front and then need leave to say anything in reply.

Summary judgment briefs have a required internal structure.

A Minnesota summary judgment memorandum must contain a statement by the moving party of the issues that are the grounds for the motion; a statement identifying all documents comprising the record on which the motion is made; a recital by the moving party of the material facts as to which there is no genuine dispute, with a specific citation to the part of the record supporting each fact — deposition page and line, or page and paragraph of an exhibit; and the argument and authorities.

The opposing party must identify any additional documents it relies on and, in like manner, recite any material facts claimed to be in dispute. The undisputed-facts recital is excluded from the page limit. These requirements also apply to a Rule 12 motion if it is factually based.

Pro hac vice requires a Minnesota lawyer who shows up.

An active member of the Minnesota bar must move the applicant's admission in the action, serve that motion on all parties, and support it with an affidavit or declaration disclosing pro hac vice applications within the prior two years plus the Board of Law Examiners' confirmation of good standing.

The Minnesota lawyer must be and remain duly admitted here, must accept service of all papers, and must be present before the court — in chambers, in the courtroom, or by permitted remote means. On a subsequent appearance in the same action, the court has discretion to allow the out-of-state lawyer to proceed without Minnesota counsel present.

Admission is required for any lawyer arguing before the court or signing pleadings or other documents in the action. Courts are to grant these motions liberally, and admission may be revoked for conduct violating applicable rules.

E-filing is mandatory statewide, and paper costs money.

Since July 1, 2016, attorneys — along with government agencies and guardians ad litem, together defined as “Select Users” — must file all documents electronically through the E-Filing System in any case throughout Minnesota, and must serve electronically on other registered users.

A Select User may ask to be excused in a particular case by motion to the chief judge of the judicial district, granted for good cause. Absent that, documents filed conventionally are scanned in at a $25 fee for each 50 pages or part thereof.

Two categories may not be e-filed at all: wills deposited for safekeeping or filed as originals in probate, and all documents in parental notification bypass proceedings.

Some cases require an expert affidavit served with the pleadings.

In an action against a professional alleging negligence or malpractice in rendering a professional service, where expert testimony will be used to establish a prima facie case, the party must serve an affidavit of expert review upon the opponent with the pleadings, and a second, more detailed affidavit within 180 days of the commencement of discovery under Rule 26.04(a).

“Professional” for this purpose means a licensed attorney, or an architect, certified public accountant, engineer, land surveyor, or landscape architect licensed or certified under chapter 326 or 326A. The first affidavit is drafted by the party's attorney and must state that an expert with qualifications supporting a reasonable expectation of admissibility has reviewed the facts and is of the opinion that the defendant deviated from the applicable standard of care and thereby caused injury.

Where the limitations period made pre-suit review impracticable, the affidavit may say so — but the substantive affidavit must then be served within 90 days after service of the summons and complaint. The requirement can be waived or modified for good cause on an application served with commencement of the action.

Medical malpractice runs on a parallel track under a separate statute, with the same 180-day second affidavit and the same 90-day cure for statute-of-limitations cases.

Mail adds three days. After five o'clock adds one. Rule 6.05 no longer exists.

Where a party must act within a prescribed period after service of a notice or other document, 3 days are added when the document was served by U.S. Mail. If service is made by any means other than U.S. Mail and accomplished after 5:00 p.m. Minnesota time, 1 additional day is added.

Both provisions live in Rule 6.01(e). The old Rule 6.05, which practitioners and older forms still cite for the mail extension, was abrogated effective January 1, 2020 — citing it in a deadline calculation is a reliable signal that the calculation was done from memory.

Note also the Minnesota-specific end-of-day rule: for electronic filing the last day ends at 11:59 p.m. local Minnesota time; for filing by other means it ends when the court administrator's office is scheduled to close.

Small no-fault claims go to mandatory binding arbitration.

Minnesota requires mandatory submission to binding arbitration of all cases at issue where the claim at the commencement of arbitration is $10,000 or less against an insured's reparation obligor for no-fault benefits or comprehensive or collision damage coverage.

For counsel handling a Minnesota auto matter from out of state, this determines the forum before any strategy question gets asked. Cases not yet at issue may also be referred by an agreement of reference signed by counsel or the parties, which then takes the place of the pleadings and is filed of record.