As 2021 comes to a close, employers throughout the country are responding to what commentators have called the “Great Resignation.” Many workers are experiencing exhaustion, work-related stress, and burnout, and are responding by simply leaving their jobs. As reported, four million Americans quit in July 2021 alone, and that number continues to rise.
Read More »Author Archives: Bridgetower Media Newswires
FLAWED FORENSICS: Judges, juries, prosecutors walk fine line in child abuse cases
Before child abuse allegations capsized his life in 2016, Alfonzo Clayborne had his first high-paying job and a new apartment in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, that he and his new family were turning into a home. He had bought himself and his girlfriend each a car.
Read More »YEAR IN REVIEW: Looking back at happened in 2021 with family law
It’s time for my annual year in review – a look back at those new cases and statutes in family law which improve this area of law and those which, well, not so much.
Read More »Exciting advances in IP theft investigations can protect you, your clients
Intellectual property theft and misuse of proprietary data makes headlines nearly every day – brazenly stolen by an unknown (and sometimes known) miscreant. But what happens when you’re the one in charge of securing data or finding it has been stolen in the first place?
Read More »There should be no ties in litigation
There is a saying in sports that a tie is like kissing your sister. For an appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, a tie would be like kissing your sister after having paid her a lot of money.
Read More »Political theater is not law
A friend of mine, who was a federal prosecutor, told me once that the problem with special prosecutors being appointed to investigate potential crimes was that they have an incentive to find a reason to issue charges.
Read More »The Supreme Court has overturned precedent dozens of times in the past 60 years, including when it struck down legal segregation
It is a central principle of law: Courts are supposed to follow earlier decisions – precedent – to resolve current disputes. But it's inevitable that sometimes, the precedent has to go, and a court has to overrule another court, or even its own decision from an earlier case.
Read More »Fee recovery is key to transparency
Many states, including Wisconsin, have public records laws. But that doesn’t mean requesters always get the records they seek, or even that the laws are followed.
Read More »Biden Administration limits non-compete agreements
On July 9, President Joe Biden issued an executive order entitled Promoting Competition in the American Economy to combat high prices due to “lack of competition” and low wages resulting from “barriers to competition.” To achieve its broad goal of promoting competition, the EO directs federal agencies to implement 72 initiatives aimed at promoting competition to benefit American workers and ...
Read More »Foley & Lardner appoints Andrew Wronski managing partner of Milwaukee office
Foley & Lardner announced on Monday that Andrew Wronski has been named managing partner of the firm’s Milwaukee office. Wronski succeeds Linda Benfield, who had held the position since 2011 and was elevated to the firm’s Management Committee earlier this year. As managing partner, Wronski will work with nearly 300 lawyers and legal professionals in Milwaukee. His priorities will include ...
Read More »Being a little married
There is a saying that you cannot be a little bit pregnant. Well, apparently, you can be a little married.
Read More »Wisconsin Supreme Court slows down ‘quiet revolution’
About four years ago I wrote a blog post titled “The Quiet Revolution in Wisconsin Administrative Law.” My purpose then was to point out an “unprecedented makeover in longstanding principles of state-level administrative law” that “shift(ed) power away from agencies and toward The Wisconsin Capitol in Madison, Wis.courts, the legislature, and the governor.” Last week the Wisconsin Supreme Court finally ...
Read More »Why “red teaming” is crucial to selling a business
The military spends a lot of time planning, updating plans, scrapping plans and re-planning. If you’ve ever served, you can attest to the amount of time and effort required to nail down every variable that is considered and planned for to achieve an objective. In many ways, your company is like the military. You spend time and effort creating business ...
Read More »SKY NO LONGER THE LIMIT: Considerations in rooftop leasing
What used to be forgotten, unused space is now becoming one of the most innovative areas in real estate development.
Read More »Human trafficking prosecutions (CHART)
Politics Aside: Incentives Benefit Milwaukee
It’s no secret that in recent years, the political divide between the left and the right has been growing. In today’s highly politicized environment, legislation and policy is often bogged down by political theater or diluted (or inflated) to get just enough votes for approval. The result can make for bad policy in some cases, and no policy in others.
Read More »Being proud of your benefits
Pride month is as great a time as any for an employer to revisit its benefit programs and policies to ensure that the benefits being offered not only comply with the dynamic legal landscape, but also align with the employer’s intention on LGBTQIA+ inclusivity and equality.
Read More »The job of a Supreme Court justice
Maybe it’s because I seem to be asked more and more frequently when I plan to retire (Answer: not for a while!)
Read More »Airline supervisors exempt from Federal Arbitration Act
The Federal Arbitration Act, or the FAA, enforces voluntary arbitration agreements involving federal law, including some employment-related disputes. Section 1 of the Act exempts certain classes of workers from the arbitration requirement, however, including seamen, railroad workers, and workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.
Read More »DEAL OR NO DEAL? M&A litigation in light of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant obstacles to M&A transactions.
Read More »Courts greater embrace of technology proves pandemic hasn’t been all bad
My dear late mother used to say: It takes an awfully ill wind not to blow some good. The ill wind which is the subject of the column is the pandemic. The “some good” is the additional use of technologies by the courts.
Read More »On-demand continuing legal education should always be an option
One of the few advantages the pandemic has had for the legal system has been a temporary rule by the Wisconsin Supreme Court allowing all 30 bi-annual CLE credits to be taken using on-demand programs.
Read More »The commercial docket pilot program: Wisconsin’s ‘business court’
Court specialization has become more and more accepted throughout the country. Wisconsin took a significant step in 2017 to join a growing number of states that, in connection with the judicial administration of litigation, have established a specialized business court to better achieve efficient judicial process and more consistent outcomes in commercial cases, as well as to provide support to ...
Read More »Federal prison population throughout the years (CHART)
How the Main Street Loan Program failed Main Street
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the American air-rifle shooter Matt Emmons, the reigning world champion in the 50 meter three-position event, held a seemingly insurmountable lead.
Read More »LET’S STAY TOGETHER: Keeping a marriage intact in the time of COVID-19
At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, the prevailing “wisdom” was that divorce filings would substantially increase. Actually, the opposite occurred.
Read More »Letter to the editor: Keep public notices in the hands of local businesses, not government
The Wisconsin Legislature is currently considering a bill that would give local governments the option to stop publishing a summary of their actions in your newspaper. Senate Bill 55 would allow local municipalities to post meeting minutes on their websites instead.
Read More »Herman: Proud of our courts
Although most of my columns on family law criticize courts (it’s more entertaining than praising them), I am going to start my new project by praising our legal system. Although, for the most part, during the interim between the election and inauguration most politicians have looked disingenuous (and that’s a mild term), the courts almost uniformly have not.
Read More »NEW OPTIONS: New CDC and Wisconsin guidance allows reductions of quarantine
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued revised guidance with options for reducing the length of quarantine for people who are asymptomatic but have also had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Read More »Concentration denied for most COVID-19 business-interruption lawsuits
Since COVID-19 struck, state and local governments have attempted to mitigate its spread by, among other things, suspending or restricting business operations.
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