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

Gregg Herman A few weeks ago, I decided that the newly elected state legislature could use some advice on family law legislation, whether they wanted it or not. After that, I extended my advice, again without invitation, to the appellate ...

Gregg Herman A few weeks ago, I decided that the newly elected state legislature could use some advice on family law legislation, whether they wanted it or not. After that, I extended my advice, again without invitation, to the appellate ...

Tracy L. Coenen The idea of performing a “fraud examination” sounds interesting to many. They don’t necessarily want to deal with the numbers that a forensic accountant wades through, but they like the idea of someone sleuthing and digging through ...

Gregg Herman In my last article, I offered some unsolicited advice to the incoming Wisconsin Legislature. Surprisingly, the lawmakers have yet to express their gratitude. In any event, to be fair, I thought I should likewise offer some unasked-for advice ...

Gregg Herman In my last article, I offered some unsolicited advice to the incoming Wisconsin Legislature. Surprisingly, the lawmakers have yet to express their gratitude. In any event, to be fair, I thought I should likewise offer some unasked-for advice ...

Gregg Herman The dust had barely settled from the election earlier this month, when talk started about changes to Wisconsin divorce law, including a proposal to return to fault-based divorce. Immediately afterward, my phone started ringing off the hook, and ...

Gregg Herman The dust had barely settled from the election earlier this month, when talk started about changes to Wisconsin divorce law, including a proposal to return to fault-based divorce. Immediately afterward, my phone started ringing off the hook, and ...

Tracy L. Coenen Companies devote significant time and money to the task of making sure that their customers don’t steal from them. But how much time do they spend considering the risk that their own employees are stealing from them? ...

Tracy L. Coenen On average, companies lose 5 percent of revenues to internal fraud, which totals about $652 billion per year in the United States. Employees are running off with money, fixed assets, and business opportunities. They are taking kickbacks ...

Gregg Herman Last week in this column, I discussed the holding of a recent, and somewhat perplexing, Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision in Grumbeck v. Grumbeck, No. 2005AP2512 (Wis. Ct. App. Sept. 13, 2006) (recommended for publication). This week, I ...

Gregg Herman Last week in this column, I discussed the holding of a recent, and somewhat perplexing, Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision in Grumbeck v. Grumbeck, No. 2005AP2512 (Wis. Ct. App. Sept. 13, 2006) (recommended for publication). This week, I ...

Nate Cade I love lawyers, partly because I love being a lawyer. Lawyers have access to everything. In essence, we are the old temple scholars who hold the keys to the temple and are the only ones who can speak ...

Tracy L. Coenen When you think of information in an internal fraud investigation, you most likely think of things like a company’s internal records. These include accounting documents, personnel files, payroll records, accounting system information, and internal memos. While these ...

Gregg Herman In a recent decision, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals addressed the issue of the effect of gifted property on the division of the marital estate. Since the opinion leaves open a number of questions, I will deal with ...

Tracy L. Coenen Lost profits are a typical element of damage claims in legal actions. They seem fairly straightforward, yet opposing experts can come up with vastly different numbers. Often, the calculations are in fact not straightforward, and the process ...

Gregg Herman It appears that this is no longer a free country. Instead, the “Big Brother” court system has the right to throw out agreements between two parents who enter into voluntary stipulations, even where there is no state interest ...

Tracy L. Coenen Testifying is the pinnacle of an expert witness’s work in a case. It may well be the most important part of the expert’s work, as the assistance of a competent financial expert is the key to cases ...

Tracy L. Coenen Frauds committed by employees can have devastating effects on businesses. The company’s finances suffer, employee morale may drop, and the company’s reputation could be affected by negative publicity. Following the investigation of an internal fraud, owners and ...

Tracy L. Coenen We’ve all heard so much in the news about fraud over the last several years. Not a day goes by that we don’t hear about an executive caught with his hand in the cookie jar, a company ...

Tracy L. Coenen The dreaded expense reports. Employees hate preparing them. Companies hate reviewing them. They seem to be painful for everyone involved, yet companies can’t get away from them all together. You’re asking yourself why this might be an ...

Tracy L. Coenen The dreaded expense reports. Employees hate preparing them. Companies hate reviewing them. They seem to be painful for everyone involved, yet companies can’t get away from them all together. You’re asking yourself why this might be an ...

Gregg Herman After the Publication Committee of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected the pleas of three organizations, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and the Wisconsin Family Court Commissioners Association, and ordered its ...

Tracy L. Coenen One of the most comprehensive fraud studies undertaken every two years is done by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). The Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse was originally released in 1996, and ...

Tracy L. Coenen Have you ever wondered how and when your employees are stealing from the company? Did you ever wish that you were a fly on the wall, hearing all of the conversations that led up to a group ...

On June 6, the Wisconsin Supreme Court clarified an important legal issue in placement modification determinations in Landwehr v. Landwehr. The Supreme Court confirmed that, in a placement modification under Sec. 767.325(1)(b), Stats., Sec. 767.24(4)(a)(2), Stats., does not mandate equal ...

Tracy L. Coenen Massive frauds at companies such as Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom brought significant attention to the subject of fraud in public companies. The frauds became real as jobs were eliminated, investors lost millions of dollars, and families lost ...

Gregg Herman A recent high court opinion finally put to rest the debate about equal placement for the children of divorce in Wisconsin. Specifically, on June 11, 2006, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its opinion in Landwehr v. Landwehr, 2006 ...

Tracy L. Coenen After a trial that lasted almost four months, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, both former heads of Enron Corp., have been convicted of multiple federal offenses related to the collapse of the company. The guilty verdicts were ...

Gregg Herman On April 26, 2006, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ordered the decision in Frisch v. Heinrichs, 2006 WI App 64 published, despite written pleas from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the Wisconsin De-partment of Workforce Development and ...

Tracy L. Coenen When we think of on-the-job fraud, we tend to think in extremes. One extreme is the teenage punk with orange hair and a nose ring, and he’s stealing cash out of the register or letting his friends ...