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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Tracy L. Coenen Fraud is an industry unto itself, causing annual losses to United States companies totaling at least $660 billion. While it’s easy to focus on the big losses incurred by the likes of Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom, no ...

Tracy L. Coenen During the summer of 2004, a major shakeup was occurring at the Milwaukee-area home building firm of Bielinski Brothers, Inc. Their chief financial officer, Robert Brownell, was fired along with several trusted employees, amid allegations that a ...

Tracy L. Coenen You are being audited. These are some of the most dreaded words an individual or business will ever hear from a state or federal tax auditor. They invoke fear, panic, and sometimes anger. Most of all, they ...

Tracy L. Coenen Traditional accountants and auditors have long been referred to as “bean counters.” Some may take offense at the phrase, but if they’re being honest, they admit that it is a simplistic but accurate representation of the work ...

Gregg Herman On Nov. 9, 2005, the Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill by a 57-38 vote that would substantially change Wisconsin’s removal law, greatly restricting a parent’s ability to move with a minor child. The proposed legislation, AB 400, now ...

Tracy L. Coenen Would you recognize the clues that your client has been ripped off by one of its employees? Or would management conduct business as usual, blindly trusting their employees? Companies make the mistake of not actively searching for ...

Gregg Herman Under Wisconsin divorce law, the value of property is normally determined as of the date of the divorce. As a result, there is little incentive to increase the value of the marital estate that a party will have ...

You snooze, you lose. Gregg Herman This was the effect of Wisconsin's child custody and placement statute, until a recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision, Guelig v. Guelig, No. 2005AP346 FT (Aug. 31, 2005) (recommended for publication) considered the ramifications ...

You snooze, you lose. Gregg Herman This was the effect of Wisconsin's child custody and placement statute, until a recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision, Guelig v. Guelig, No. 2005AP346 FT (Aug. 31, 2005) (recommended for publication) considered the ramifications ...

Gregg Herman Can placement of minor children be decided by default? Even though the Legislature said "yes," the Wisconsin Court of Appeals said "no" in a recent case. Specifically, the issue involves the failure of a parent to file a ...

Gregg Herman Thanks to action by the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the issue of whether an attorney is entitled to a judgment for attorney fees from a client under Wis. Stat. §767.23(3)(a) when the attorney ...

Part II Gregg Herman If the much-publicized case of Terri Schiavo wasn't enough to make you reconsider the importance of good estate planning, a recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals case re-emphasizes that point. This is the second of two articles ...

Part I Gregg Herman One gray area of family law was recently made black-and-white by a recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision. Another area, however, may have been made a shade grayer. This is the first of two articles discussing ...

Gregg Herman After Michael Gough's divorce in Utah, he found himself living 1,000 miles away from his four-year-old daughter. Not satisfied with simple telephone calls in between physical visitations, he sought a court order allowing "virtual visitation" through electronic communication. ...

Gregg Herman After Michael Gough's divorce in Utah, he found himself living 1,000 miles away from his four-year-old daughter. Not satisfied with simple telephone calls in between physical visitations, he sought a court order allowing "virtual visitation" through electronic communication. ...

Scott Lewis In De Shaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, 489 U. S. 189 (1989), the U. S. Supreme Court held that the State did not have a constitutional duty — absent a special relationship — to protect ...

Gregg Herman On June 1, the Wisconsin Supreme Court granted the petition for review of the unpublished Court of Appeals District IV opinion in Landwehr v. Landwehr, No. 2003AP2555 (Wis. Ct. App. Jan. 27, 2005) (per curiam) (unpublished). This is ...

Gregg Herman The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently issued its opinion in Chen v. Warner, 2005 WI 55 (May 6, 2005), affirming the circuit court's conclusion that a physician mother's post-judgment decision to quit her employment to stay home with the ...

Gregg Herman Settling placement issues in a divorce case can be difficult enough, but two Wisconsin Court of Appeals cases have had the unfortunate effect of making settlement more difficult. Now, legislation has been introduced to reverse the effects of ...

Don't worry — this column hasn't gone soft. Gregg Herman In my March 30 column, I praised the Wisconsin District IV Court of Appeals for its opinion in Derr v. Derr, No. 03-2181 (Wis. Ct. App. Mar. 17, 2005) (recommended ...

Gregg Herman This column has criticized appellate courts from time-to-time for inconsistency in their use of language. Recently, the District IV Court of Appeals used their opinion in Derr v. Derr, No. 03-2181 (Wis. Ct. App. Mar. 17, 2005) (recommended ...

Gregg Herman This column has criticized appellate courts from time-to-time for inconsistency in their use of language. Recently, the District IV Court of Appeals used their opinion in Derr v. Derr, No. 03-2181 (Wis. Ct. App. Mar. 17, 2005) (recommended ...

Gregg Herman Any confusion about Wisconsin law regarding credits for child support arrears might have (finally) been put to rest, thanks to a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court decision. In In re the Paternity of John R. B., 2005 WI 6, ...

Scott Lewis Here's a strange tale for law enforcement officers. However, the moral of the story, decided by the United States Supreme Court on Dec. 13, is that as long as a police officer has probable cause to arrest for ...