LEGAL CENTS: The dos and don’ts of cost-effective mediation
Brookfield attorney Dawn Drellos-Thompson realized a few years ago that her small business owner or minimum-wage earning clients could not afford most mediators.
Editorial: Judges in name only
Wisconsin law endorses blind justice. It also makes room for unlicensed justice, minimally educated justice and I-might-be-in-over-my-head justice.
THE DARK SIDE: I do not discriminate against potential clients
When I started practicing law, I didn’t care who anybody was, what they believed or what they had done.
Rules of confidentiality evolve with e-communications explosion
In August, the American Bar Association issued two formal opinions on the same day, both dealing with electronic lawyer-client communications in a workplace setting.
THE DARK SIDE: Judicial substitution reduces sentence disparity
Even if you believe that all burglars should receive 10 years in prison, that's not how sentencing in Wisconsin works.
Who will be the next US Supreme Court justice?
If President Barack Obama is able to do again what few other presidents have – appoint a justice to the U.S. Supreme Court – chances are he will turn to a candidate who will have an even easier time winning confirmation than the president’s first two picks: D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland.
BLAWG LOG: Fallone on the original intent of the recall power; Slavin on typography for lawyers
Some opponents of the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker have claimed that the recall provisions of the Wisconsin State Constitution are intended solely to permit the recall of elected officials when they have engaged in criminal or grossly unethical conduct.
Going solo means learning to cut corners on costs
The way Randall Ryder sees it, many lawyers who go solo get it backward. They figure out how much it will cost to set up all their systems, hire an assistant and to subscribe to Westlaw, then try to make ends meet.
BEV BUTULA: Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln houses the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The website provides the “text of the celebrated Nebraska edition of the Lewis and Clark journals, edited by Gary E. Moulton.
10 keys to great client service
Research based on 240 in-depth interviews with corporate counsel conducted by the BTI Consulting Group concluded that 53 percent of clients are willing to replace their primary law firm with a competitor who delivers better value, superior client service, and greater flexibility or a more innovative approach.
BLAWG LOG: Borsuk on Ellen Gilligan: Optimism amid big problems; Geske on reflections from a semester abroad
A wave of new leaders is one of the reasons to believe a new initiative to improve Milwaukee’s overall level of educational success can bring progress, one of the most influential of those new leaders said Tuesday at Eckstein Hall.
Only punitives will deter insurers’ unfair practices
The Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments Oct. 6 in the case of Rhodes, et al. v. AIG Domestic Claims Inc., et al., SJC-1091. The primary issue for the court was: “Upon finding a willful violation of Chapter 93, did the trial court commit legal error in failing to double the underlying judgment when calculating punitive damages?”
Legal News
- Outside the RNC, small Milwaukee businesses and their regulars tried to salvage a sluggish week
- Biden called to resign immediately after the president announces he won’t seek reelection
- Biden drops out of 2024 presidential race, endorses Harris
- Local PA cops allegedly thought Trump’s would-be assassin was Secret Service
- Biden-Lead Secret Service admits agency denied past requests by Trump’s campaign for tighter security
- Class action filed against Walgreens
- Former Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant pleads guilty to smuggling contraband
- Two dead, one injured after Ozaukee County water rescue
- RNC Final Day: Trump accepts GOP Nomination
- Wisconsin officials intervene in Planned Parenthood action
- 7th Circuit adopts modifications to Rules 31, 34, 40, 47 and 60
- MPD issues statement on outside agency officer assignments
Case Digests
- Ineffective Assistance of Counsel; Double Jeopardy; Sentencing
- Ineffective Assistance of Counsel; Sexual Assault-Prosecutorial Misconduct
- Contract-Negligence
- Criminal Law; Juvenile Law; Discovery
- Family Law; Child Support; Property Division First paragraph(s)
- Ineffective Assistance of Counsel- Exclusion of Evidence of Witness Bias
- Postconviction Relief-Sentencing-Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
- 14th Amendment – Due Process
- Criminal-Sentencing Guidelines – Enhancement
- Bankruptcy-Tax
- Civil Rights – 14th Amendment-Jury Instructions
- Contract; Foreclosure and Property