Columns

May 3, 2006

Legal systems need deeper understanding of psychologists

Gregg Herman Forensic psychology frequently plays a critical role in family law actions, most often when parents are embroiled in custody and placement disputes. The court appoints a psychologist; tests are administered; and several weeks later, the expert produces a report, often in painstaking detail. It can be difficult for a client to read, even […]

Apr 26, 2006

Family lies: Fraud in family business

Tracy L. Coenen Trust is inherent in any good business. We continuously place trust in our employees and in those with whom we do business. But that trust which is so necessary to the operation of a business is also the impetus for thieves to profit. It is unfortunate that fraud occurs when and where […]

Apr 26, 2006

Communication gap creates barrier between research, lawyers

Gregg Herman Most Wisconsin counties require parents to attend a parenting class as a condition of getting a divorce. On the one hand, these classes are the legal equivalent of chicken soup — it may not make the patient better, but will certainly do no harm. On the other hand, these classes cost parties money […]

Apr 19, 2006

Disciplines overlap in family law cases

Gregg Herman As divorce lawyers, we are intimately aware of the overlapping relationship between psychology and family law. In certain cases, we feel that we are practicing more psychology than law. At the same time, it is also not uncommon for clients who are in counseling to report discussions with a therapist which dangerously tread […]

Apr 12, 2006

The fight against fraud: Arm yourself with prevention

Tracy L. Coenen If you’ve been living under a rock for the last several years, you might not have heard yet that fraud is big business. Companies are most at risk of fraud from their employees, since the employees have access to information and assets. Each year, the average company loses 6 percent of its […]

Mar 22, 2006

Your number is up: Recovering from identity theft

Tracy L. Coenen Identity theft affects countless consumers and businesses each year, costing millions and maybe even billions of dollars. In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission received over 635,000 consumer fraud and identity theft complaints with reported losses of $547 million. During 2005, the FTC received 685,000 consumer identity theft complaints with reported fraud losses […]

Mar 8, 2006

Surviving a tax audit

Tracy L. Coenen With tax time upon us, it seems fitting to discuss tax audits. Whether you are being audited personally or as a business owner, it can be an intimidating process. There is a right way and a wrong way to handle an audit by a state or federal taxing authority. It is easy […]

Feb 8, 2006

Things I’ve learned about fraud

Tracy L. Coenen For almost 12 years, I’ve been performing a variety of investigations. They have ranged from petty theft and street crimes, to tax fraud and big-time white collar crime. I’ve learned many things from both the perpetrators of crimes as well as their victims. Some of the lessons are humorous, some are educational, […]

Feb 8, 2006

Supreme Court takes up placement issue in Landwehr case

Gregg Herman On Dec. 13, 2005, the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Landwehr v. Landwehr, 2003AP2555, a case presenting the issue of the proper standard of review when determining a motion to modify physical placement. Let’s hope the high court relies heavily upon a recent court of appeals opinion before rendering its decision […]

Feb 1, 2006

Chen was significant Supreme Court decision in 2005

Gregg Herman Welcome back to the 2005 “Year in Review” for the Wisconsin appellate courts in family law. Last week I looked at a number of important decisions from the court of appeals. This week, the spotlight turns to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. While there was only one major and one minor family law decision […]

Jan 25, 2006

Why didn’t our auditors find the fraud?

Tracy L. Coenen Companies and organizations that are hit with employee fraud, including embezzlement, asset misappropriation, and financial statement manipulation are often surprised that the incident occurred. Even more surprising to executives and boards of directors is the fact that their auditors didn’t find the fraud sooner, or didn’t find it at all. After all, […]

Jan 25, 2006

2005 brings more kudos than criticism for court of appeals

Gregg Herman It's time for our annual review of court decisions from the past year — one last opportunity for a kick at the cat where I disagreed with the court and, much less fun, compliments where I think they got it right. This year, there are a lot more compliments than criticisms for the […]

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