Wisconsin Law Journal – WI Legal News & Resources Wisconsin Legal News & Resources

A plaintiff’s expert had a sufficiently reliable scientific basis to render the opinion that benzene in paints was a substantial cause of a form of leukemia that claimed a painter’s life, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing judgment.

Tagged with: 7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Defense lawyers are touting the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this week on Title VII supervisor liability as a significant win for employers, providing a welcome clarification to the law while dealing a blow to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Tagged with: EEOC Title VII U.S. Supreme Court

A lawyer could not enforce an attorney lien against a former client who negotiated a whistleblower settlement on his own, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in affirming judgment.

Tagged with: 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals whistleblower

It’s fair to assume Warren Hillman never intended that the proceeds of his federal employee life insurance policy would go to his ex-wife when he died unexpectedly in 2008.

Tagged with: ERISA Gregg Herman Loeb & Herman Sonia Sotomayor U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a divorced Virginia woman could not be forced to surrender the proceeds of a federal employee life insurance policy that she received as her ex-husband’s named beneficiary.

Tagged with: Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor U.S. Supreme Court

A deeply divided U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a procedural default in state court did not bar a Texas death row inmate from seeking relief in federal court based on the assertion that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at sentencing.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Clarence Thomas Ineffective assistance John Roberts Samuel Alito Stephen Breyer U.S. Supreme Court

Wage-and-hour lawsuits filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act have hit an all-time high, according to a new study of federal court caseloads.

Tagged with: Fair Labor Standards Act

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that a Michigan murder defendant’s due process rights were not violated when a change in state law following his 1994 conviction prevented him from reasserting a diminished-capacity defense when he later won a new trial.

Tagged with: due process U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified that proof of malicious intent is not required to prevent the bankruptcy discharge of a debt that arose from a trustee’s self-dealing.

Tagged with: 7th Circuit Bankruptcy Bankruptcy Code Stephen Breyer U.S. Supreme Court

A health and fitness club could not enforce an exculpatory waiver that a member signed when he joined the club, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing a dismissal.

Tagged with: Court of Appeals exculpatory evidence

An IRA that a debtor inherited from her mother was not exempt from creditors’ claims in her bankruptcy case, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing judgment.

Tagged with: 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Bankruptcy Bankruptcy Code IRA

A debtor who was unable to find a job after a decade-long search met the Bankruptcy Code’s standard for discharge of her student loan debt, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in reversing judgment.

Tagged with: 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unemployment

A law firm failed to provide the notice necessary to ensure coverage of a legal malpractice claim under its professional liability policy, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in affirming a summary judgment.

Tagged with: 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals malpractice

Employers can preserve “institutional knowledge” by providing accommodations to aging workers who might otherwise leave the workforce prematurely due to disabilities or chronic health problems, according to two new briefs issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Tagged with: Department of Labor

An Illinois police officer claimed he lost his job because he complained that his department had a bad habit of looking the other way when politically connected drivers were caught committing traffic violations.

Tagged with: 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals First Amendment

Judges must follow the ethics rules governing social relationships and contacts when engaged in electronic social networking, an American Bar Association committee has made clear in a new ethics opinion.

Tagged with: ABA Code of Judicial Conduct Ethics

A couple of Wisconsin personal injury lawyers had the chutzpah to use the last names of rival attorneys for keyword advertising on the Internet.

Tagged with: Cannon & Dunphy Charles Kahn Dean Dietrich Habush Habush & Rottier Paul Lundsten Ruder Ware SEO State Bar

A couple of enterprising Wisconsin lawyers set it up so that a link to their firm’s website would appear whenever a prospective client entered their competitors’ last names in Internet search engines.

Tagged with: Cannon & Dunphy Daniel Rottier Habush Habush & Rottier Milwaukee County Circuit Court Patrick Dunphy Robert Habush

More than 50 product liability suits consolidated in Kentucky federal court claim that Skechers toning shoes cause leg, ankle and foot injuries.

You’d think that a lawyer who gets caught soliciting sex from a stranger in a public park should, at the very least, have to worry about having his license suspended.

Bank of America will pay $7,500 to settle the first action to enforce the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s new rule prohibiting home lenders from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Tagged with: sex discrimination

Police may have violated a woman’s civil rights when they shot her twice with a Taser for allegedly interfering with the arrest of her son, the 7th Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.

Tagged with: 7th Circuit Qualified immunity

A federal appeals court decided Wednesday that a confidential informant could wear a wig and fake mustache when he testified against an alleged member of a Mexican drug cartel.

Tagged with: Confrontation Clause U.S. Supreme Court

A nursing home could not demand arbitration of a wrongful death claim when the service designated in its admissions contract had exited the consumer-arbitration business, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled in affirming judgment.

Tagged with: Court of Appeals

Monster-brand energy drinks are marketed as being conventional carbonated beverages despite containing “dangerously high” amounts of caffeine, according to a new consumer class action filed in California federal court.

Tagged with: FDA

An Illinois law prohibiting individuals from carrying loaded guns outside the home violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms, the 7th Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.

Tagged with: 7th Circuit conceal-carry concealed carry guns

While a stagnant economy means a tough job market for many lawyers, legal staffing experts predict that attorneys with specialized skills will continue to find themselves in high demand in 2013.

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether federal law deregulating the trucking industry preempts state consumer protection and tort claims alleging the wrongful disposal of a towed vehicle.

Tagged with: Torts U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether a broad arbitration clause can implicitly authorize class arbitration.

Tagged with: class-action lawsuit U.S. Supreme Court

A manufacturer that supplied turbines to the U.S. Navy may be immune from a former seaman’s asbestos claims, the 7th Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.

Tagged with: 7th Circuit