“We just raised the amount we’re spending on tourism promotion, from $13 to $15 million per year. Is tourism really more important than fairness in the courts?” John Ebbott, Legal Action of Wisconsin Inc. Over 40 years ago, the U.S. ...
Read More »Hot Chocolate Case Analysis
Although the courts holding that the dangers of hot liquids are obvious is consistent with almost all jurisdictions to have considered the issue, and comports with long-standing product liability law in Wisconsin, the courts other holding is more problematic. The ...
Read More »Dangers of hot liquids are open and obvious
The dangers of hot liquids are obvious, so a vendor has no duty to warn of the dangers. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals also held on Mar. 16 that public policy precludes liability for failure to provide lids for the ...
Read More »Bankruptcy Case Analysis
On its face, the decision appears to create a conflict in the circuits, providing better protection for creditors in the Seventh Circuit than elsewhere in the nation, but the distinction is largely procedural rather than substantive. The court did refuse ...
Read More »Bankruptcy
Unlisted asset belongs to trustee
Read More »Computers Case Analysis
The court acknowledges at one point that it cannot stretch[] the statute too far (especially since it provides criminal as well as civil sanctions for its violation). The statute provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years (20 for repeat ...
Read More »Deleting data violates law
What the court held Case: International Airport Centers, L.L.C., v. Citrin, No. 05-1522. Issue: Does an employee violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by erasing all the data from a laptop loaned to him by his employer? Holding: Yes. ...
Read More »Survey indicates new law punishes debtors
The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) recently released a survey, entitled Bankruptcy Reforms Impact: Where are all the Deadbeats?, that showed the bankruptcy reform act that took effect Oct. 17 isnt doing what proponents purported it would, rather ...
Read More »State Bar will not sue Supreme Court over assessment
“I have traveled the state, visiting lawyers and bar associations. I don’t hear anyone talking about this issue. It would be a giant disservice to spend any more time on this issue.” President Michael D. Guerin, Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & ...
Read More »Court system reviews caseload data
Like most goals worth pursuing, this one is requiring a group of mostly judges to roll up their sleeves and get to work. The goal is to obtain additional judicial officers for Wisconsin. The work is collecting and analyzing data ...
Read More »Labor Logic
Court may be ready to revisit the definition of ‘supervisor’
Read More »The five biggest marketing mistakes
Each year, law firms start out with the best of marketing intentions. But too often, theyre tripped up by common mistakes. Whether its wasting money on the wrong marketing events or hamstringing their in-house marketing professionals, the best and brightest ...
Read More »Qualifications need not ‘jump off page’
What the court held Case: Ash v. Tyson Foods, Inc., No. 05-379 Issue: Is an employer’s reference to an African-American employee as “boy” evidence of discrimination? In a case alleging discrimination, where the employer contends another applicant was more qualified, ...
Read More »Labor Logic
The lastest on trade secrets
Read More »Frivolous lawsuit bill moves forward
A bill designed to toughen the civil justice systems treatment of frivolous lawsuits is winding through the Wisconsin Legislature and may very well end up on Gov. Jim Doyles desk in just a few weeks. While some characterize the bill ...
Read More »Legal Marketing
Client relationships built on communication, reponsiveness
Read More »Appeal Case Analysis
Defense attorneys need to be aware of this case, lest what seems like a reasonable solution alternative orders depending on the result of a pending appellate decision in another case become a trap for the unwary. Many Wisconsin ...
Read More »‘Alternative’ sentences must be appealed
What the court held Case: U.S. v. Smith, No. 05-1638. Issue: Can a defendant get his sentence modified, because the court announced an "alternative" sentence that could apply, depending on the outcome of a Supreme Court case, even though the ...
Read More »Discrimination Case Analysis
Although the Seventh Circuit has used the same now-verboten language employed by the Eleventh Circuit in the case at bar, it does not appear that the decision actually changes the substantive law in the Seventh Circuit. In Millbrook v. IBP, ...
Read More »Discussion of med mal caps intensifies
Legislator prepares cap bill A state legislator is getting ready to introduce legislation that would reestablish caps for noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases. The governor vetoed an earlier attempt to put caps back in place after the Supreme Court ...
Read More »The Fraud Files
Making the most of an expert witness
Read More »Escrow Case Analysis
Although one would hope that facts such as these never repeat themselves, and the case will never be cited as directly applicable precedent; nevertheless, the case is valuable as the first published Wisconsin case discussing the duties of escrow agents ...
Read More »Escrow agent lacks duty
What the court held Case: Black v. Metro Title, Inc., No. 2005AP1423. Issue: Does an escrow agent owe a duty to an incidental beneficiary? Holdings: No. An escrow agent is an agent and fiduciary of only the parties to the ...
Read More »Labor Logic
Sidley & Austin age discrimination case takes another step forward
Read More »OWI Case Analysis
An important question the decision leaves unanswered is whether a defendant could be convicted of operating while intoxicated if, although he never drives the vehicle or starts the engine, he does place the key into the ignition. In an unpublished ...
Read More »Sitting in running vehicle is not ‘operating’
The Supreme Court held on Feb. 14 that, where no evidence was presented that a defendant physically activated or manipulated the controls of a vehicle, she cannot be convicted of operating while intoxicated. On May 25, 2003, Kristin Haanstad met ...
Read More »Court launches site with appeal
Attorneys can use the court system’s Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Access (WSCCA) Web site to track appellate cases as they move through the system. Visit the Web site. The Wisconsin court system has just made it easier ...
Read More »Disparity Case Analysis
It is important to note that, although a district courts refusal to impose a sentence below the guidelines because of disparity between co-defendants is not grounds for reversal on appeal, it is possible that defendants can still contend in the ...
Read More »Sentence does not indicate disparity
What the court held Case: U.S. v. Boscarino, No. 05-2657 Issue: Is disparity between co-defendants’ sentences grounds for finding the sentence unreasonable, where the disparity resulted from one defendant’s cooperation with the government? Holdings: No. A sentence within a properly ...
Read More »Labor Logic
Notice pleading: How to plead the minimum in federal employment claims
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