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

Hon. Ralph Adam Fine A default judgment does not preclude the defendant from seeking contribution from other defendants, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Dec. 28. SIVA Truck Leasing leased a van to Milwaukee Careers Cooperative (MCC) for use ...

What the court held Case: Munro v. Golden Rule Ins. Co., No. 04-1396 Issue: Can a bad faith case be brought against an insurer in federal court where the damages and attorney’s fees combined are less than $7,500? Holding: No. ...

The decision suffers from several defects: poor math, misrepresentation of Seventh Circuit precedent, and ignorance of Wisconsin law. First, the court states that, in order to meet the jurisdictional requirement, the jury’s punitive damage award would have to be "more ...

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Dec. 30 that a defendant may be granted an extension to file a notice of intent to pursue postconviction relief, notwithstanding State v. Evans, 2004 WI 84, 273 Wis. 2d 192, 682 N.W.2d ...

From the standpoint of efficiency, the court’s holding is clearly preferable to the alternative, and the attendant procedural complications noted by the court. Allowing a simple extension also avoids the situation in the Seventh Circuit case, Betts v. Litscher, 241 ...

When it comes to technology tips, Google rises to the top of the list, offering a variety of tools for gathering information and conducting research online. Whether you are looking for something on the Internet or on your own computer, ...

Finding Free Canadian Legal Materials on the Internet

The Seventh Circuit held on Dec. 23 that an insurer that issued a policy for advertising injury has no duty to defend a class action filed on behalf of all recipients of the insured’s junk faxes. Capital Associates of Jackson ...

Technically, the decision has no bearing on any case in Wisconsin, as it is nominally an application of Illinois insurance law. Nevertheless, the decision cannot be ignored by any attorney facing this issue. The court even wrote, "Readers doubtless will ...

"In this case, the lawyers were not sending dunning ‘communications’ to Mr. Thomas. Instead, they were doing what lawyers traditionally do — filing a lawsuit in state court on behalf of their client." Hon. Terence T. Evans in dissent A ...

That the majority opinion is erroneous is amply demonstrated by the dissent of Judge Evans, and further elaboration is unnecessary. Nevertheless, the decision of the en banc majority represents a vast improvement upon the original decision of the majority in ...

Increasingly, the domestic practice of the law requires a basic knowledge of international law and, as a result, international and foreign legal research. More often in practice today, international legal issues arise and are interwoven with subjects of domestic law, ...

Hon. N. Patrick Crooks The Wisconsin Supreme Court held on Dec.15 that an appeal must be wholly frivolous for costs, fees, and attorney’s fees to be awarded pursuant to Rule 809.25(3). In 1994, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Holy Trinity) retained ...

The court based its decision solely on the language of Rule 809.25(3), without addressing the merits of Solner’s argument that requiring an entire appeal to be frivolous, before sanctions will be imposed, leads to absurd results. Regardless of the statutory ...

“[The purpose of the alternative means of calculating loss] does not appear to be to provide an alternative means of damage determination for condemnees to bolster awards beyond the levels that had been determined under the traditional ‘before and after’ ...

The court may have reached the correct result in this case, but its reasoning is flawed in some respects. First, the court finds that the statute is unambiguous based on the absence of a comma between the phrase "assuming the ...

E. John Buzza It’s 4:50 on Friday afternoon when your fax machine churns out three motions from the opposition on the Jones bankruptcy file, all noticed for expedited hearing next week. You turn to your legal assistant with that familiar ...

A repeat drunk driver is to be sentenced based on the number of prior OMVWI convictions at the time of sentencing, not the number at the time of the offense, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Dec. 9. In ...

The court’s discussion of why Matke should properly be sentenced as a six-time offender, rather than a four-time offender is well-reasoned, and its disavowal of paragraph 8 in State v. Skibinski, 2001 WI App 109, 244 Wis.2d 229, 629 N.W.2d ...

There’s no place like home for the holidays — work will be there when you get back

Hon. Joan Kessler For an auto insurer to reduce uninsured motorist benefits by a payment from a worker’s compensation insurer, the insured must be the one to receive the payment, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Dec. 7. Scott ...

There is merit in both the majority opinion and the dissent. As the dissent notes, the statements from Dowhower v. West Bend Mut. Ins. Co., 2000 WI 73, 236 Wis.2d 113, 613 N.W.2d 557, and Badger Mut. Ins. Co v. ...

“We are pretending to do business as usual. … I don’t think it is business as usual.” Hon. Ann Walsh Bradley The percentage of civil cases, which end in a jury trial, has dropped significantly in recent years. A Wisconsin ...

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals held on Dec. 1 that the informed consent statute is not misleading, even though it fails to inform a drunk driving suspect that his blood will be taken against his will, even if he refuses ...

The decision in this case is ineligible for publication, but it bears careful attention. Even though the court concluded that Lochemes’ argument must be addressed to the legislature, rather than the courts, there is an excellent argument to be made ...

Cease Electric upholds tort liability for negligently provided services

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Martin held on Sept. 29 that, where a marital settlement agreement classified marital debts as being part of the financial support settlement, rather than the property settlement, the debts are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Mark ...

A question raised by the decision is whether parties getting divorced can ensure that the debts will be nondischargeable in bankruptcy if they merely parrot the exact language used in the case at bar. An interpretation that they can would ...

The director of state courts and the state Supreme Court chief justice are asking the governor and Legislature to give judges a 16 percent raise during the next budget cycle. The request is an attempt to provide equity with other ...

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held on Dec. 2 that although it can review a trial judge’s authority to remand a case to state court, it will not review the lower court’s reasoning. Between 1998 and 2001, the telecommunications ...