FEATURES

• • What's Hot, What's Not: National and Global Practice Trends 2013
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  • This report on what's going on in the legal profession looks at national and global market forces that affect the legal services market. The author predicts the total legal market will grow but will become even more segmented, with some less-innovative firms falling by the wayside.
• • What's Hot, What's Not: Wisconsin Practice Trends 2013
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  • Borrowing a page from Robert Denney's national and global look at trends in the legal profession, Wisconsin and regional attorneys and practice management experts weigh in on practice and marketing trends in the Dairy State.
• • Wisconsin's Wetland Reform Act
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  • Recent changes to Wisconsin law, effective on July 1, 2012, streamline the process of coordinating land development with protection of wetlands.

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FEATURES

• • Retirement Adrift: Financial Elder Abuse
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  • Investor abuse is at an all-time high and elderly investors and retirees are especially vulnerable. For investors who lose money due to stockbroker misconduct, there are options for recovery through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or state andfederal courts.
• • P.O.D.s May Thwart Testators’ Intent: It’s What Mom Wanted
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  • Some features of Wisconsin law may undermine a decedent’s true wishes, rather than advance them. Estate-planning attorneys should advise clients about the potential pitfalls of using payable-on-death designations to make changes to their estate plans.
• • As I See It: A Passion for Pro Bono: What’s Stopping You?
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  • We’re all busy, but providing pro bono legal services doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming. Here, lawyers experienced with the practical, and sometimes political, challenges posed by pro bono work offer tips to get involved in pro bono work.

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FEATURES

• • Deportation Deferred: Risks to Undocumented Youths and Employers
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  • Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, a new immigration initiative, may provide temporary deportation relief for undocumented youths, but the application process might also increase the risk of being deported or terminated from employment.
• • No Longer a ‘Back Room’ Deal: Nontraditional Settlement Agreements Revealed
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  • Many courts and litigation attorneys view nontraditional settlement agreements like Mary Carter and loan receipt agreements with mistrust. But such agreements, when properly structured, can promote more efficient settlement of certain lawsuits.
• • Contrary to the Child’s Best Interest: Jury Trials in Children’s Court Proceedings
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  • Jury trials in CHIPS, JIPS, and TPR proceedings, although a statutory entitlement, do little to promote the judicial systems goal of fostering and protecting the best interests of children.

FEATURES

• • Swimming Upstream: 20 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting Your Practice
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  • Starting a law practice requires a lot of planning, decision making, and hard work. Here are some common mistakes attorneys face and tips on how to avoid them and build a successful law practice.
• • Taking a Different View: Explore Mutual Interests with Facilitative Mediation
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  • When clients seek help resolving disputes, put another option on the table. Facilitative mediation can leave them more satisfied than litigation, and at a lower cost.
• • Noncompete Agreements: A Suspect Expansion of Employers’ Rights
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  • Employers that use noncompetition agreements should avoid relying on a recent appellate decision that gave the employer-litigant wide berth to restrict an employee’s postemployment activities. The opinion’s nonprecedential status and its conflict with published Wisconsin cases make it a shaky and likely short-lived leg on which to stand.

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FEATURES

• • Home Safe Home: Wisconsin’s Castle Doctrine and Trespasser Liability Laws
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  • Soon after passing concealed-carry legislation, the Wisconsin Legislature enacted two other laws to clarify state residents’ right to use weapons in self-defense and land possessors’ responsibility to trespassers. Although the castle doctrine law and thecastle doctrine law and the trespasser liability act became effective Dec. 21, 2011, questions remain as to their provisions.
• • As I See It: James Bond or Jay Gatsby? An ‘Operation’ to Recover a Judgment Abroad
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  • The operation began with a Wisconsin judgment for past due legal fees, but serving the former client in Honduras quickly became an adventure for an intrepid lawyer and legal team. Read how the author tried to recover a judgment from a former tax client who skipped out on his family, his business, his creditors, and his lawyer.
• • PDF Tools for Lawyers: An Apple-to-Apples Comparison
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  • The State Bar’s Law Office Management advisor reviews four PDF products with law-firm-appropriate features and describes their highlights and drawbacks. Don’t miss the helpful chart ranking the products in different categories.

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