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

Police may arrest a suspect at his home, without an arrest warrant, if they are on the premises pursuant to a valid search warrant, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Feb. 25. The court also held that a plea ...

Defendants affected by the decision that a search warrant justifies an arrest without an arrest warrant, prior to the search itself, should continue to raise this issue and preserve it for possible review in the Supreme Court. It may not ...

Fewer of those deemed sexually violent persons may win supervised release from commitment if the provisions in a bill before the state Assembly become law — and that’s as it should be, according to one of the bill’s authors. State ...

“As each policy’s length including the endorsement is only thirteen pages, a policy holder can easily flip through the policy and find the clearly-labeled endorsement page at the end.” Hon. Patricia Curley Wisconsin Court of Appeals An automobile insurance policy ...

The decision is a good candidate for review in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for two reasons: (1) it creates conflict between District I and District III as to whether reducing clauses can include any sources other than the three enumerated ...

“We need to keep pounding the message to lawyers about the ‘Jimmy Stewart mentality.’ Lawyers need to step back sometimes and recognize how they have changed people’s lives, and how truly rare they are.” D. Michael Guerin Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin ...

Department of Labor issues first Sarbanes-Oxley Act decision

“There were multiple opportunities for someone to tell Betterman the truth, yet no one did. The jury could have reasonably found that, under the circumstances, Fleming’s representations were outrageous.” Hon. Gregory A. Peterson Wisconsin Court of Appeals Punitive damages were ...

There are several possible grounds for this decision to be either reversed in whole or in part, if it were to receive further review in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The first is whether the elements of intentional misrepresentation were met. ...

“This is not an appropriate occasion for [appellate review], because we cannot be sure what the dismissal order would have provided, yet its details could affect the question whether plaintiffs are prevailing parties.” Hon. Frank Easterbrook 7th Circuit Court of ...

In the wake of this decision, a question arises how much, if any, of the holding in Bittner v. Sadoff & Rudoy Industries, 728 F.2d 820 (7th Cir. 1984), remains valid law. In that case, Bittner was an employee of ...

The state Supreme Court is considering whether a zoning board of appeals can assert attorney-client privilege or whether documents sent between the board chair and the municipal attorney are subject to open records laws. During Feb. 12 oral arguments, petitioners ...

The details of settling employment claims in federal court

Pro Bono Opportunities for Attorneys This is a joint project that we produce with the help of groups and agencies such as Legal Action of Wisconsin and the Dane County Delivery of Legal Services Committee. We invite additional groups with ...

“Our system of justice would have little meaning if it failed to provide a procedure for individuals who have substantial credible evidence to prove their innocence.” Hon. Ted E. Wedemeyer Wisconsin Court of Appeals A probationer has the right to ...

An interesting question raised by the case is whether or not it will change the standards when a probationer or parolee is not revoked, and the Department subsequently initiates a second revocation hearing based on the same conduct. In such ...

“Our system of justice should not permit the State also to ask for additional substantive instructions once it realizes why the jurors may be experiencing difficulties in reaching a verdict.” Hon. Patricia S. Curley Wisconsin Court of Appeals It was ...

The court agreed that a per se rule against supplemental jury instructions on lesser-included offenses is not warranted, although such instructions should be rare, and reserved for exceptional circumstances. The question is, what constitutes “exceptional” — a difficult question, given ...

“Because there is a qualifying mark in a qualifying place on the ballot, the vote should be counted, so as to give effect to the will of the voter.” Justice N. Patrick Crooks Wisconsin Supreme Court A slash mark next ...

It is ironic that, as Wisconsin prepares to vote in the 2004 presidential primary, its Supreme Court is finally settling an election, involving fewer than 800 total votes, that was held on the same day as the disputed Bush-Gore election ...

A unique defense in employment class actions: The NLRA

A little more than a year after the merger of three of the firms providing civil legal assistance to the poor in Wisconsin, the merged entity is suffering the effects of staff cuts in 2003, the consolidation of two of ...

A bacterial outbreak at a food company is “contamination” within the meaning of a pollution exclusion in its commercial property insurance policy, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Jan. 28. Landshire Fast Foods of Milwaukee, Inc., prepares sandwiches and ...

The decision is remarkable for its failure to even cite to the governing Wisconsin Supreme Court decision on pollution exclusions, Donaldson v. ULI, 211 Wis.2d 224, 564 N.W.2d 728 (1997), in which the court held that the identical exclusion at ...

Preventative measures for bid rigging, false claims liability

Case Evaluation (Front) Kelly Centofanti, Stadler & Centofanti, LLC; Mark Silverman, Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc.; Charles Barr, Croen & Barr, LLP; (Back) Jeffrey Hynes, Jeffrey S. Hynes & Associates, S.C.; Jay Urban, Urban Taylor & Stawski, Ltd.; Merrick Domnitz, ...

“Because the court did not inform Uhde that Wisconsin’s Truth in Sentencing legislation mandates that he serve each day of confinement imposed by the court, and because Uhde asserted that he did not understand this information, Uhde has made a ...

Inasmuch as the decision threatens to undermine the validity of every conviction entered pursuant to a plea since the inception of Truth in Sentencing, it should be expected that the State will seek review, and that the Supreme Court will ...

A curfew on minors impermissibly chills the exercise of their First Amendment rights and is unconstitutional, the Seventh Circuit held on Jan. 22. In Indiana in 1999, shortly after 11 p.m., Colin Hodgkins and three friends left a restaurant after ...

Even though the case only held an Indiana statute unconstitutional, the reasoning will have repercussions in Wisconsin. Because Wisconsin has no statute establishing a curfew, but leaves that to individual municipalities, compliance with the decision will be far more complicated ...