News & Pubs Archive

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that the Madison Metropolitan School District is not liable for damages to a former student who alleged a security assistant sexually abused her when she was an eighth grade student.

The state appeals court has asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review a case involving the “forfeiture by wrongdoing” doctrine and whether out-of-court statements by a homicide victim can be used against the accused killer.

A 1938 Talbot Lago, worth more than $7 million, went missing 17 years ago. Milwaukee police learned the vehicle was shipped to Europe based on fraudulent documents. Recently, those claiming ownership moved one step closer to recovering it.

Kimberley Motley is the only foreign lawyer practicing in Afghanistan. Why does she do it? A new law affects divorcing parents who want to relocate with children. The new EU Privacy Law affects Wisconsin lawyers and clients, really. The July/August Wisconsin Lawyer looks at these and other matters.

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that Wisconsin prison officials violated the constitutional rights of a transgender inmate by prohibiting her from taking hormones, reversing the lower court’s ruling.

Police found drugs while arresting a man on a bench warrant for an unpaid $298 municipal fine. Recently, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected the man’s argument that the warrant was invalid, requiring suppression of the drug evidence.

Terrance Egerson, accused of violating domestic abuse injunctions and stalking, stated that he wanted to represent himself after his lawyer withdrew. Recently, a state appeals court ruled that he did not clearly invoke a right of self-representation.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that the City of Milwaukee violated the rights of employee-members of the public Employee Retirement System (ERS) by changing voting rules to the ERS Annuity and Pension Board (ERS Board).

Did you know that 14 State Bar of Wisconsin sections are blogging? Recently, four different sections released four new blogs on Wisconsin’s new child relocation statute, considerations for mediation, and the civil procedure overhaul.

A drunk driver will be resentenced now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled (4-3) that a judge improperly increased his sentence for refusing a warrantless blood draw. Three dissenters called on the U.S. Supreme Court for review.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled (4-2) that a political science professor at Marquette University must be reinstated as a tenured professor and receive damages (including back pay) after he was suspended for a blog he posted in 2014.

Laws that prevent joint operation of funeral homes and cemeteries recently withstood a challenge at the state Supreme Court, with a 5-2 majority rejecting a cemetery owner’s facial challenge on equal protection and due process grounds.

A newspaper reporter requested records on “closed complaints” against a professor at U.W.-Oshkosh. The professor challenged the request, but a state appeals court recently ruled that nothing bars the records from being released.

The state Supreme Court has upheld the warrantless blood draw of a suspected drunk driver who was unconscious when the blood draw was performed.

The state Supreme Court has ruled (5-2) that an employer did not violate the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA) when it fired an employee for conduct that violated workplace rules, even though the employer knew he had bipolar disorder.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has issued a final order regarding a petition to raise the hourly rate that lawyers are paid to take court-appointed cases, and the rate that private bar attorneys are paid to take State Public Defender appointments.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected (5-2) facial and as-applied constitutional challenges to Wisconsin’s $750,000 cap on noneconomic damages for medical malpractice victims, reversing a court of appeals decision that struck the cap.

A state Supreme Court majority (4-3) has issued an order that says Tony Evers, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, is entitled to decline the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s representation and get his own lawyer in a pending case.

June 22, 2018 – The State Bar of Wisconsin’s 2018 Annual Meeting and Conference (AMC) in Lake Geneva was so hot fire alarms rang out yesterday as the rain came down outside, slightly delaying packed sessions. But the lawyers didn’t seem to mind.

Christopher Rogers, a third generation lawyer whose grandfather began practicing law in Wisconsin 100 years ago, in 1918, took the oath of office last evening to become the State Bar of Wisconsin’s 63rd president, starting July 1.