court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Nodak, concluding
the lower Coverage B Policy Limits applied to the garage damage,
thereby resulting in a dismissal of the homeowners’ claim against
Nodak.
Lechner v. WSI, 2018 ND 270
The plaintiff appealed from a judgment denying his claim for workers
compensation benefits from WSI. The Supreme Court affirmed,
concluding the Administrative Law Judge’s finding that plaintiff
failed to timely file a claim for WSI benefits was supported by a
preponderance of the evidence.
The Supreme Court stated that by virtue of N.D.C.C. § 65-05-
01, an original claim for WSI benefits must be filed by the injured
employee, or someone on the injured employee’s behalf, within
one year after the injury. The Supreme Court stated the date of the
injury for purposes of the statute is the first date a reasonable lay
person, not learned in medicine, knew or should have known that he
suffered a compensable work-related injury and has either lost wages
or received medical treatment. The statute does not require that a
doctor specifically inform the claimant that his work activities caused
his injuries. Claimant’s injury occurred on December 5, 2013. He
did not file his claim for WSI benefits until May of 2016, some 29
months later. The Court stated the fact that claimant did not receive
a medical diagnosis of concussion from the work injury until well
after the injury did not excuse his failure to submit the claim within
one year of the injury, because the statute does not require a medical
diagnosis. Rather, the clock starts running to file a claim when a
reasonable person knew or should have known that he suffered
a work-related injury and either lost wages or received medical
treatment for that injury. The Supreme Court affirmed the denial of
WSI benefits to the claimant, because the claim was untimely filed
under the statute.
State v. Wallace, 2018 ND 225, 918 N.W.2d 64
William Wallace (no, not that “William Wallace”) appealed from
a Second Amended Criminal Judgment entered after he pleaded
guilty to luring minors by computer or other electronic means. On
appeal, the Supreme Court determined that the district court did
not substantially comply with N.D.R.Crim.P. 11 because the district
court failed to ensure Wallace understood a five-year mandatory
minimum period of probation would be imposed for a conviction of
the offense. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded
to the district court to allow Wallace to withdraw his plea of guilty
and for further and necessary proceedings.
Rule 56
Note: Even though the following is not a summary of a
recent Supreme Court decision, the author believes it
is important to bring to the practicing bar’s attention
amendments to a very important and frequently used North
Dakota Rule of Civil Procedure, namely Rule 56.
Effective March 1, 2019, Rule 56 will be amended in a
number of significant ways. Some of the changes to the
rule provide that the motion for summary judgment and
supporting documents must be filed at least 90 days before
the day set for trial and 45 days before the day set for the
hearing on the motion, unless otherwise ordered by the
Court. The opposing party still has 30 days after service of
the moving party’s brief to serve and file an answer brief
and supporting documents. However, the moving party will
now have 14 days to serve and file a reply brief.
The principal (moving) brief, as well as the answer brief,
may not exceed 38 pages. The reply brief may not exceed
12 pages. Footnotes are counted in the page count. The
typeface must be 12-point or larger with no more than 16
characters per inch. The text must be double spaced, except
quotations may be single spaced and indented. A party may
submit a written motion, not to exceed two pages in length,
for leave to file a brief exceeding the page limits provided
in the amended rule. The application must be filed no later
than seven days prior to the deadline for filing the brief.
Consult the entire amended rule for any other changes,
effective March 1, 2019.
NORTHERN PLAINS WEATHER SERVICES
Dr. Matthew Bunkers of Northern Plains Weather Services is a certified
consulting meteorologist (CCM) and forensic meteorologist with over 25
years of weather analysis and forecasting experience. He can provide reports,
depositions, and testimony in the areas of weather and forecasting, severe
summer and winter storms,
flooding, applied climatology
and meteorology, agriculture
meteorology, and statistics. More
information is provided at http://
npweather.com, and you can
contact Matt at nrnplnsweather@
gmail.com or 605.390.7243.
WINTER 2019 21