LEGAL RESOURCES

Minnesota Trial Court Public Access online is a fantastic resource to check out your, or someone else's, past case and charge history. You'll hear lawyers refer to this as MNCIS (pronounced minsis), it's not a secret but it's not well known to most people, except for you now of course.

The Minnesota State Bar Association is really more of a resource for lawyers, and specifically lawyers who pay the 200 some odd dollars a year to be members. You can search for a lawyer here, but you're on the Irwin Law website already so why would you need to do that?

Honestly, if you're not a lawyer I don't know you'd ever need or want to go the ABA website, but here's a link anyways.

If you, or someone you know, has issues regarding their legal status here in the U.S., the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota is a great resource for information and for finding income based assistance.

Another good resource if you, or someone you know, has issues regarding their legal status here in the U.S. and needs information.

If you've been charged with a crime in Rice County and you want information related to fees and legal processes, this is a good place to start. My experience with the Rice County Attorney's Office and their staff has been only positive.

If you're thinking about starting a business the last thing to do, and also the most fun thing to do, is to come up with that impeccable business name. On the Minnesota Secretary of State website you can search business names to see if yours is available.

If you're starting a business you should also check your proposed business name against the United States Patent and Trademark office (USPTO) Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to ensure you're not going to infringe upon some else's registered trademark. If the name you want is already in use then you should contact a lawyer to discuss your options

There really is no substitute for reading the law, because well, it's the law. Unlike a lot of states, Minnesota's statutes are really easy to access, just follow the link. You have two choices, you can learn the law yourself, or you can hire someone who knows the law to do something for you. If you want to do learn the law, have fun and try not to fall asleep reading.

Public defenders can be some of the best attorneys. If you think your income qualifies you for a public defender, it may be a great way to go.

Here's another little secret: Minnesota has law libraries all over the place where anyone can go to immerse themselves in the wonderful world of legal script. The best library is the one next to the capital building in St. Paul. If you want to learn the law go to the law library and talk to a librarian - you might even run into your personal attorney there learning how to conduct your case.