Gregg Herman Recently, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued its decision in Wood v. Propeck, No. 2005AP2674 (Wis. Ct. App. Jan. 25, 2007) (recommended for publication). The court reversed and remanded a post- judgment order rendered by Dane County Circuit ...
Read More »A first look at the court of appeals’ decision in Wood v. Propeck
Gregg Herman Recently, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued its decision in Wood v. Propeck, No. 2005AP2674 (Wis. Ct. App. Jan. 25, 2007) (recommended for publication). The court reversed and remanded a post-judgment order rendered by Dane County Circuit Court ...
Read More »A first look at the court of appeals’ decision in Wood v. Propeck
Gregg Herman Recently, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued its decision in Wood v. Propeck, No. 2005AP2674 (Wis. Ct. App. Jan. 25, 2007) (recommended for publication). The court reversed and remanded a post-judgment order rendered by Dane County Circuit Court ...
Read More »Be prepared: Think like a thief
Tracy L. Coenen Fraud is committed by real people. They have real families and real jobs. They often are just like you and me. But what makes thieves different from a lot of us is their ability to lie and ...
Read More »Associate’s departure leads to questions about fee payment
Nate Cade Associates. You can’t live without them. And sometimes you can’t live with them. A local personal injury firm discovered the hard way that associates can be a pain in the you know what. And the subsequent published decision ...
Read More »Litigation disasters: Making mistakes with expert witnesses
Tracy L. Coenen There is little doubt that litigation can be stressful for clients and attorneys alike. With filings, briefs, and deadlines, the litigator has little time to worry about whether her or his expert witness is getting the job ...
Read More »Associate’s departure leads to questions about fee payment
Nate Cade Associates. You can’t live without them. And sometimes you can’t live with them. A local personal injury firm discovered the hard way that associates can be a pain in the you know what. And the subsequent published decision ...
Read More »A letter to my family law colleagues
Gregg Herman Several weeks ago in this column, I felt that the Legislature needed some advice on family law matters, even though they had not (yet) asked for it. That expanded to some advice for appellate courts, then trial courts. ...
Read More »2006 ends: Another year, another fraud
Tracy L. Coenen At the end of one year and the beginning of another, people seem fixated on changing for the better. Most people think up a resolution or two to get their new year started on a right foot. ...
Read More »New federal rule allows citation of unpublished opinions
For those attorneys practicing before the Seventh Circuit, that circuit’s historical bar against the citation of unpublished opinions has given way to new Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1, for decisions issued from and after Jan. 1, 2007. Rule 32.1(a) ...
Read More »A letter to Wisconsin’s trial court judges
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 ...
Read More »A letter to Wisconsin’s trial court judges
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 ...
Read More »Finding fraud with the right auditor
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 ...
Read More »Open letter to Wisconsin’s appellate judges
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 ...
Read More »Open letter to Wisconsin’s appellate judges
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 ...
Read More »An open letter to Wisconsin’s lawmakers
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 ...
Read More »An open letter to Wisconsin’s lawmakers
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 ...
Read More »Fighting fraud with proactive prevention techniques
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? ...
Read More »Fostering a culture of integrity in your business
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 ...
Read More »Appellate court’s property division decision is puzzling
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 ...
Read More »Appellate court’s property division decision is puzzling
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 ...
Read More »Greedy lawyer casts shadow on all attorneys
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 ...
Read More »Sources of information in fraud investigations
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 ...
Read More »Court affirms exclusion of gifted property from division
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 ...
Read More »The devil is in the details: Lost profit calculations
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 ...
Read More »Court interferes with agreement between parents
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 ...
Read More »Expert testimony for nonaccountants
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 ...
Read More »Recovering from a fraud loss
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 ...
Read More »Five myths about fraud
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 ...
Read More »Expense report abuse: Much ado about nothing?
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 ...
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