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

A former president of a county bar association in Pennsylvania has been convicted of using forged documents to pose as an estate lawyer for a decade even though she didn't have a law license.

A majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court justices expanded the contours of the community-caretaker exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement even while embarrassing themselves through the way they reached their decision.

Tagged with: Bench Blog community caretaker function Fourth Amendment Jean DiMotto

In Wisconsin, criminal jury instruction 140 defines reasonable doubt for the jury. Strangely, however, after defining reasonable doubt, the instruction concludes by telling jurors that “you are not to search for doubt. You are to search for the truth.”

Tagged with: Critic's Corner juries Michael D. Cicchini

While the attention will be on the presidential competitions, there will be an equally important contest on the April 5 ballot. Voting for a place on the state Supreme Court will determine whether Wisconsin's historic commitment to judicial independence and integrity will be renewed.

Tagged with: JoAnne Kloppenburg Rebecca Bradley Wisconsin Supreme Court

Wisconsin lawmakers this year are once again gave serious consideration to eliminating the state’s collateral-source rule, a doctrine that has been around in Wisconsin for nearly a century and whose roots extend into common law.

Tagged with: Closing Arguments Paul Curtis Robert Jaskulski

My job, like any Wisconsin trial lawyer, is to make sure safety rules are followed. That means if you are injured or a loved one is injured because of someone else's carelessness, shortcuts, or cover-up of a problem, we're here to help you.

Tagged with: immunity Russ Golla

In a case involving suspected heroin abuse, the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided a warrantless blood draw was justified primarily because heroin tends to dissipate rapidly in a person's bloodstream.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Daniel Bissett heroin Jean DiMotto State v. Parisi

As Senate Republicans stand in an unbroken line of opposition to even the thought of considering a nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is standing right there with them.

Tagged with: Antonin Scalia Ron Johnson

A very large Milwaukee-based firm, Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan, has died.

Tagged with: Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan Nate Cade On Ethics

The Court of Appeals has ruled that a Wisconsin resident cannot obtain long-arm jurisdiction over the Sydney Morning Herald without offending the Due Process Clause.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Jean DiMotto Richard Sankovitz Roderick Salfinger

I practice workers' compensation law. I represent injured workers.

Tagged with: Charles Domer workers' comp

Recent years have seen a great proliferation of mandatory arbitration clauses, the so-called arbitration agreements that preclude potential plaintiffs from bringing class-action claims.

Tagged with: 7th Circuit Federal Arbitration Act Habush Habush & Rottier

Imagine the horror of being wrongly imprisoned for a heinous crime you didn't commit. In Wisconsin, that has happened to an estimated 40 people in the past 25 years.

Tagged with: Open Records wrongful conviction

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that a parking garage that lies beneath an apartment building and has locked entrances is not protected curtilage under the Fourth Amendment.

Tagged with: Ann Walsh Bradley Bench Blog Donald Hassin Fourth Amendment Jean DiMotto Lisa Neubauer Pat Roggensack Paul Reilly Wisconsin Supreme Court

Foreclosing plaintiffs should be compelled to bring abandoned properties to sale because judicial economy requires it and because failure to do so causes municipalities and taxpayers to suffer adverse, unfair and unjust consequences.

Tagged with: foreclosures

Our nation’s law schools are facing serious troubles, including widespread allegations of false advertising. One California school, for example, is about to stand trial over accusations that it lured students with bogus graduate-employment statistics. Among other law schools facing similar ...

Tagged with: Critic's Corner Michael D. Cicchini

"Star Wars" might be big at the box office, but drone wars are cropping up all over the country, including Wisconsin.

Tagged with: drones

Sixty-five was selected as the targeted retirement age because, at the time, only a small percentage of the population lived beyond it, and thus the cost of insurance was manageable.

Tagged with: Ed Poll Lawbiz Coaches Corner retirement

An attorney’s recent representation of a defendant charged with child sexual assault was so ineffective that the defendant’s constitutional right to counsel was violated and his convictions reversed.

Tagged with: Bench Blog Ellen Brostrom Jean DiMotto Joan Kessler

Over the past month, the name Steven Avery has dominated headlines throughout the state and nation.

Tagged with: Steven Avery

The essential thing to remember about social media is that it lets you seek or enjoy the companionship of others using means that also let you consume information and that are shared by the news media.

Tagged with: Social media Twitter

Wisconsin lawmakers are insisting that they didn’t intend to allow corporate political donations to remain secret under the recent overhaul of the state’s campaign finance laws.

Tagged with: Frank Easterbrook G.A.B.

A dress code imposed by a Kansas Senate committee chairman that prohibits women testifying on bills from wearing low-cut necklines and miniskirts is drawing bipartisan ridicule from female legislators: http://bit.ly/1TbpCGt

Hooray, New Year’s resolution season is upon us!

"Should police automatically have the right to search the vehicle of someone arrested on suspicion of OWI? Or should they have to show that they have some reason, particular to the driver who was arrested, to believe that OWI-related evidence will be found in the vehicle?"

Tagged with: drunken driving Fourth Amendment

One of the great privileges of being a judge is to be able to speak with jurors after a trial, to thank them and to ask them questions about what they had just witnessed.

Tagged with: Jury

The Court of Appeals has once again extended the application of Daubert standards in Wisconsin, this time to a social worker’s testimony in a case involving the sexual assault of a child.

Tagged with: Bench Blog David Reddy Jean DiMotto Paul Reilly

Transparency is the core value of a democratic society. In a democratic self-government, voters have the power to select and reject those who will wield the power of government.

Tagged with: Ed Fallone Open Records open records law

For 25 years, the maximum penalty amounts for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act have remained frozen. A thaw is about to set in — and quick.

Tagged with: OSHA Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek

Free speech is under attack — including at our nation’s colleges.

Tagged with: Critic's Corner free speech Michael D. Cicchini