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

Driving while drunk is wrong. But it is less wrong in Wisconsin than in most other states.

Tagged with: drunken driving

Earlier this month, state Rep. John Spiros, R-Marshfield, released a misleading opinion piece on a bill aimed at overhauling Wisconsin's workers' compensation system.

Tagged with: Worker's compensation

The Court of Appeals has affirmed that it's not only the rules of evidence that do not apply in criminal pretrial proceedings; equally inapplicable is the right of confrontation.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Confrontation Clause drunken driving Jean DiMotto Lisa Neubauer Mark Gundrum Paul Reilly

It was disheartening last week to see three state Supreme Court justices siding with secrecy over openness in an open records dispute between the New Richmond News and that city's police department.

Tagged with: Open Records Rebecca Bradley

Earlier this month, thousands of would-be law students sat down at testing locations across the country to take an exam that would play an incredibly significant role in the caliber of law school they’d be able to get into, and thus later impact the quality of job they’d be able to land after graduation. Of course, we’re speaking about the LSAT, a test that is administered three times each year, but this time around, some of those who decided to take the December exam were in for a nasty surprise: http://bit.ly/1Tjwq2B

Francis Wagner Jr. is suing his ex-wife because she writes mean things in the memo section of his alimony checks. Check it out

Will the breaking up of the state’s Government Accountability Board into two agencies controlled mostly by representatives of the main political parties result in nothing more than gridlock and inaction?

Tagged with: G.A.B. Government Accountability Board

The U.S. Department of Justice recently scored victories in two False Claims Act cases involving providers’ alleged failure to return overpayments as mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Tagged with: Affordable Care Act Medicaid Medicare Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek

A fisherman who survived for 15 months at sea is being sued for $1 million by the family of his dead colleague, who accuse him of eating their relative to survive: http://read.bi/1QshiSm

A Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice was charged Tuesday with ethics violations that could lead to his removal after the state attorney general exposed lewd and offensive emails he swapped with friends and a state prosecutor through a private email account.

Although I have written before about social media and ethics, a recent court order has me thinking yet another admonition is in order.

Tagged with: Nate Cade On Ethics Social media Twitter

In her State of the Judiciary Address, Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Pat Roggensack promised that she will fight for higher judicial salaries when the Legislature begins work on the state’s next budget.

Tagged with: Anthony Cotton On the Defensive Pat Roggensack pay

The Court of Appeals has rejected a disbarred attorney’s pro se bid to overturn his felony conviction for theft.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto Jeffrey Conen Jeffrey Elverman Patricia Curley

The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to publicly censure a Jackson County judge for misconduct and suspend him without pay for 30 days: http://bit.ly/1To9DTC

A Wisconsin judge who sentenced a lawyer to five days in jail on Thursday thought it appropriate to continue the punishment with a condition he deemed a “moving jail.” Judge Philip Kirk of Waupaca County told Appleton lawyer Michael Petersen that during his 12 months of probation he will have to inform every client that he is a crook, cheat, thief and liar: http://post.cr/1lK7Ixs

The attorney for a same-sex couple recently tried unsuccessfully to use an adoption action to challenge the constitutionality of statutes related to artificial insemination and to the presumption of paternity stemming from marriage.

Tagged with: Bench Blog gay marriage Jean DiMotto Mark Gundrum

What would you do to avoid having to take your final exams? Would you fake your own kidnapping? If you’re in the minority who would actually consider doing something as extreme as fabricating your own kidnapping, you’re not alone, because that seems to be exactly what happened at the University of Houston Law Center: http://bit.ly/1MC0PEX

What should you do if a client says to you, “Give me a 10 percent discount . . . or else”?

Tagged with: Ed Poll fees Lawbiz Coaches Corner

It's a situation straight out of a bad romantic comedy: http://bit.ly/1My1TcR

The District 2 Court of Appeals recently outdid itself for conciseness by issuing a five-page decision.

Tagged with: Bench Blog District 2 Court of Appeals Jean DiMotto Lisa Neubauer Paul Reilly

Under Wisconsin law, a 17-year-old is considered an “adult” for the purpose of criminal prosecution.

Tagged with: Anthony Cotton On the Defensive

On the same day that Rebecca Bradley was appointed to the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals released her first appellate opinion that has been recommended for publication.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Child Pornography Jean DiMotto Wisconsin Court of Appeals Wisconsin Supreme Court

With Gov. Scott Walker still best known for his Act 10 law that substantially curbed the collective-bargaining rights of most public employees, few might remember that his actual first priority upon taking office in 2011 was tort reform.

Tagged with: Act 10 punitive damages

WEST BEND, Wis. (AP) — A West Bend couple woke to a frightening surprise over the weekend: http://bit.ly/1Q2bIpk

A federal judge in Akron, Ohio, had an attorney arrested at the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland on Thursday afternoon after the attorney did not show up to a morning hearing: http://bit.ly/1ipYGTY

Seventeen years old is certainly old enough to get into trouble with the law.

Tagged with: Jerry Petrowski juvenile court

Of course Gov. Scott Walker unilaterally appointed his favorite candidate to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, giving her the huge advantage of incumbency in next spring's election.

Tagged with: Patrick Crooks Rebecca Bradley Wisconsin Supreme Court

A recent encounter with opposing counsel in a very terse and contentious case got me thinking about the (over)use of the word “frivolous.”

Tagged with: Nate Cade On Ethics

Forty or 60 years may seem like a generously 
long amount of time to re-record an easement, 
but for many Wisconsin property owners who are unaware of Wisconsin’s re-recording statute time is of the essence.

Tagged with: Easements

A Connecticut jury has rejected a woman's bid to sue her 12-year-old nephew for injuries she says she suffered from his exuberant greeting at his birthday party four years ago: http://bit.ly/1PrB8eR