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

In the wake of the decision, municipal employers would be well-advised not to refuse to submit grievances up the chain as a tactic in the "give and take of day to day labor relations." In this case, the only sanction ...

“If you don’t have a written contract for your distribution channel, you still have a contract — you just don’t know what it is. Having some form of written contract is imperative.” Jon P. Christiansen Foley & Lardner Two key ...

“When making an offer of judgment, the defendant is properly held to include [attorney] fees… From that it logically follows that the trial court should also include attorney fees in the judgment when it measures the offer against the judgment.” ...

The decision in this case will result in systematic extortion of inflated settlements in fee shifting cases. That is not a criticism of the decision, however, for a contrary holding would result in deflated settlements, just as systematically. The problem ...

“Defense counsel was able to … question Anderson-El about his charges and whether he expected to get a benefit from testifying. However, … the actual sentence imposed was not relevant to any incentives the prosecution may have given Anderson-El for ...

The question raised by the decision is whether it should be interpreted as a broad holding that the sentences of cooperating witnesses are never relevant, and defendants can be prohibited from questioning such witnesses about them in all cases. Here, ...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court finally decided that it will not allow the citation of unpublished decisions as persuasive authority, at the Court’s administrative conference last Wednesday. The court has been considering the proposal since last fall, and had previously voted ...

“The grievousness or reprehensibility of Tower’s conduct is clear from the record. Tower engaged in prohibited conduct while knowing or recklessly disregarding the lack of a reasonable basis for denying the claim. This court told Tower more than 30 years ...

The decision raises at least two important questions in future cases: (1) can bad faith be found on summary judgment for all intentional torts, or just those alleging bad faith by an insurer; and (2) how can this decision be ...

“Though the court of appeals and the circuit court did not identify a single act by the police that was egregious, put together, the actions of the police and the personal characteristics of Hoppe indicate that Hoppe’s statements were involuntary.” ...

Effectively, the decision removes any stigma from the term, “coercion.” Previous decisions used the terms “coercive” and “improper” interchangeably, and with negative connotations. In this case, the court has distinguished between the two, and held that conduct that is “coercive” ...

“Judicial independence remains the cornerstone of our democracy and our judiciary.” Hon. Shirley S. Abrahamson Chief Justice Wisconsin Supreme Court “You say it’s your birthday? Well it’s my birthday too, yeah.” That famous refrain from the Beatles could’ve been the ...

If you listen to its critics, our civil justice system is a smoldering volcano, spewing forth a “litigation explosion,” which buries our court system in a lava-flow of frivolous lawsuits that paralyze our economy. Sanity, it is argued, can only ...

“Even if the contract might be considered ambiguous regarding the liabilities assumed by Wisconsin Gas, the more reasonable, fair and just construction, which conforms with established business practices, is that Wisconsin Gas only assumed certain known liabilities.” Justice William A. ...

The decision is important for reversing a decision which, in the words of Judge Patience Roggensack, dissenting from the court of appeals’ decision, “create[d] uncertainty in commercial transactions throughout Wisconsin where asset purchase agreements have been common occurrences.” Ultimately, the ...

“It is clear that the error of allowing Vera to serve as a juror contrary to the statutes was not harmless, because his stated inability to understand English prevented him from meaningful participation in the trial process.” Justice N. Patrick ...

A question raised by the case is what constitutes harmless error, and whether, as the dissent suggests, the majority opinion implicitly makes error grounds for reversal per se. The comments by both the concurrence and dissent — that the majority ...

Be it resolved that the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section of the Wisconsin Bar requests that the Board of Governors: 1) Communicate with EEOC officials and members of the Wisconsin Congres-sional delegation urging that prior to any restructuring there be ...

“The inquiry is to determine whether some legislative goal, be it prompt resolution or another purpose, will be thwarted by requiring compliance with sec. 893.80(1) as a precondition to commencing an action under the statute.” Judge David G. Deininger Wisconsin ...

It was obvious when the Supreme Court issued its decision in DNR v. Waukesha that it would be impossible for parties in numerous types of actions with statutes of limitation less than 120 days to both file a notice of ...

What the court held Case: Ann M. Masko v. City of Madison, No. 02-2267. Issue: Should the doctrine of issue preclusion bar an injured motorist, who was convicted after a municipal court trial of a traffic violation, from bringing suit ...

Unfortunately, in the wake of this decision, motorists who are involved in automobile accidents and receive municipal citations will be wise to plead no contest rather than fight the citation, regardless of how much they feel they may be in ...

“For purposes of identifying ‘a particular person’ as the defendant, a DNA profile is arguably the most discrete, exclusive means of personal identification possible.” Judge Ted E. Wedemeyer Wisconsin Court of Appeals A criminal prosecution is properly and timely commenced ...

Although, for new sexual assaults, sec. 939.74(2d)(b) makes it unnecessary to swear out John Doe warrants and file complaints prior to expiration of the statute of limitations, it is still wise to do so for older ones. Section 939.74(2d)(b) took ...

The court of appeals has jurisdiction to issue a supervisory writ to a John Doe judge, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held on May 1. The court further held that a John Doe judge has the authority to disqualify counsel for ...

It is axiomatic to say that a John Doe judge is not authorized to exercise all the powers of a court. In the wake of this decision, however, the question of what powers it can exercise is now more uncertain ...

Oral Arguments Last week, the Wisconsin Law Journal presented the first of a two-part series looking at the elements of preparing and presenting oral arguments. WLJ brought together two appellate judges and four appellate attorneys to discuss the topic of ...

“While we share Kaster’s and the trial court’s concerns that interpreting this phrase to include delivery persons or ushers at sporting events might not be precisely what the legislature intended by creating Wis. Stat. sec. 948.095, this problem is for ...

It is reasonable to think that, even if the court had found the statute ambiguous, it would have affirmed the conviction of Kaster. As the court noted, regardless of when his formal duties as coach may terminate, the contract plainly ...

An organization that sent brochures to defendants that offered paralegal services, and were designed to undermine their confidence in their attorneys, constituted the unauthorized practice of law, the Seventh Circuit held on April 24. However, the court held that, absent ...