Filed Under: Appellate Practice Election and Political Law
Supreme Court of Wisconsin Denies Legislative Redistricting Rulemaking Petition
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin recently denied a petition submitted by former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (“WILL”), proposing new procedural rules limited solely to legal challenges to new legislative districts, including requiring such challenges to be brought solely to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Stafford Rosenbaum Attorneys […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice
Court of Appeals Holds that Prejudgment Interest Can Be Triggered without a Demand
Recently, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals touched on two important insurance issues: covered autos under Wis. Stat. § 632.32(3) and prejudgment interest under Wis. Stat. § 628.46(1). In January 2016, Jason and Wendy Foerster’s thirteen-year-old son was directed by his uncle to drive a Chevrolet Tahoe to the child’s grandparents’ house to retrieve a piece […]
Filed Under: Election and Political Law
Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds that Wisconsin Elections Commission Is Not Obligated to Conduct Mass Deactivation of Voter Registrations
In a straightforward interpretation and application of the Wisconsin Statutes and procedural standards governing writs of mandamus, on April 9, 2021, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in State of Wis. Ex rel. Timothy Zignego v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, 2021 WI 32, that the Wisconsin Elections Commission (“WEC”) was not obligated by Wisconsin Statutes Section […]
Filed Under: Trust & Estates Law Trusts and Estates
Important Trusts and Estates Tax Changes Could Come in 2022
On March 25, 2021, Senators Sanders, Gillibrand, Reed, Van Hollen, and Whitehouse released a bill to the Senate that, if signed into law, will cause substantial changes to the Internal Revenue Code that pertain, among other things, to estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes.. A similar bill was read into the House by Representative Gomez. […]
Filed Under: Election and Political Law
Seventh Circuit Calls into Question “Stalking-Horse” Election Claims
Earlier this month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided a case involving allegations that a candidate for public office orchestrated a plan to put two other candidates on the ballot to split voters and ensure a victory. The case, Gonzales v. Madigan, No. 20-1874, 2021 WL 857476 (7th Cir. Mar. 8, 2021), could have […]
Filed Under: Election and Political Law
Stafford Rosenbaum’s Election and Political Law Team Hard at Work Post-Election
Stafford Rosenbaum LLP’s election and political law attorneys have had a 2020 filled with noteworthy cases. The new practice group was launched this year, co-chaired by Attorneys Jeff Mandell and Doug Poland, and has been even busier in the last quarter of the year with cases involving presidential post-election results challenges. Stafford Rosenbaum represents Wisconsin […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice Municipal Law
Court of Appeals Accepts Petition for Interlocutory Appeal on Discretionary Immunity, Reverses in Favor of Stafford Rosenbaum’s Client to Dismiss Case
At the end of last week, the Court of Appeals recommended for publication an opinion resulting from a permissive interlocutory appeal sought by Stafford Rosenbaum on behalf of the City of Monroe. Stafford sought the appeal after the trial court denied the City’s motion for summary judgment asserting absolute and governmental immunity in response to […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice Municipal Law
Court of Appeals Holds that a Continuing Trespass Does Not Circumvent the Notice of Injury Requirements
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently found that a continuing trespass does not create a new “event” each day that it remains on the property. See Ebert v. Village of Gresham, 2020 WL 6278316, ¶¶ 2, 13. Because a new event is not created each day, a claimant must file a notice of injury within […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice Municipal Law
Court of Appeals Confirms that an Unimproved Platted Public Road May Not Be Adversely Possessed
A property owner, Timothy Casa De Calvo, sued the Town of Hudson claiming that he adversely possessed real property adjacent to his house. The property in question had been dedicated about 31 years before as a street on a subdivision plat. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of the Town, and the court […]
Filed Under: Trust & Estates Law Trusts and Estates
Attention Parents: Are Your Kids Headed to College during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Here’s Why They Need Powers of Attorney
A power of attorney is a document that allows someone to appoint an agent to act on their behalf in the event that they become incapacitated or unable to make decisions on their own. These documents relate to financial and healthcare matters. One of the greatest benefits of a power of attorney is that it […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice Municipal Law
Wisconsin Court of Appeals Allows Inclusion of Parking Lot Income in Milwaukee Property Tax Assessment
In Milwaukee Block 10 Properties v. City of Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reaffirmed two key principles in its reversal of a circuit court decision which ordered the City of Milwaukee to revise its property tax assessment for the Aloft Hotel. First, Wisconsin affords substantial deference to property tax assessments prepared by municipalities. Property […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice Litigation
Wisconsin Court of Appeals Strikes Down Insurer’s Limitation on Underinsured Motorist Coverage
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently held that Wisconsin law precludes enforcement of a provision in an insurance policy that purported to limit underinsured motorist (“UIM”) coverage to only those insureds who sustain bodily injury or death. Ryan Johnson died from injuries sustained in a collision involving an underinsured vehicle. Johnson’s minor son, Elliot Brey, […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice Employment & Labor Litigation
U.S. Supreme Court Holds Employment Protection Reaches Sexual Orientation and Transgender Status
Title VII is the portion of the federal Civil Rights Act that prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It was first adopted by Congress in 1964. Last week, in a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted Title VII to prohibit discrimination on the basis of […]
Filed Under: Government Law Municipal Law
Unique COVID-19 Recovery Needs Addressed through Local Government Aid
Last week Governor Evers announced a $200 million program for local leaders entitled “Routes to Recovery: Local Government Aid Grants.” The program intends to address Wisconsin communities’ urgent and unique situations surrounding COVID-19 recovery. Funded by federal CARES Act dollars, these grants are in addition to the $1 billion in state-wide COVID-19 related aid that […]
Filed Under: Environmental Law Municipal Law
Stafford Rosenbaum Helps Pier Owner Simplify Wisconsin Law on Permit Exemptions
Recently the Court of Appeals released an opinion holding that municipal pier regulations enacted pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 30.13(2) cannot be applied to a pier that qualifies for a state permit exemption under Wis. Stat. § 30.12(1g)(f). As a result, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision in order to rule in […]
Filed Under: Business Law Litigation
Seventh Circuit Decides “Corn Syrup” Advertising Feud between Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch
The Seventh Circuit has weighed in on the highly publicized advertising dispute between beer giants Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch. See Molson Coors Beverage Company v. Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC, Nos. 19-2200, 19-2713, 19-2782, 19-3097 & 19-3116 (7th Cir. May 1, 2020). In early 2019, Anheuser-Busch began advertising that Miller Lite and Coors Light use corn syrup […]
Filed Under: Environmental Law
DNR Can Consider Cumulative High Capacity Well Impacts Under New Attorney General Decision
On May 1, 2020, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul reversed his predecessor’s opinion prohibiting the Department of Natural Resources (“DNR”) from considering the cumulative impacts of high capacity wells[1] on waters of the state. The events leading up to this reversal are critical to understanding the current and future effects of this new Attorney General […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice Government Law Municipal Law
Court Reiterates that Not All Government Actions that Diminish Property Value Are Compensable
State and local governments have a variety of powers. They can take private property for public use, but they have to fairly compensate the property owner. They can also use their police power—a broad array of authority to protect public health and safety—to regulate the use of property. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals’ recent decision […]
Filed Under: Environmental Law
Supreme Court Expands Scope of Clean Water Act
The scope of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) expanded under the Supreme Court’s ruling in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 590 U.S. ___ (2020). The Court found that the CWA requirement for a permit prior to discharging a pollutant to navigable water could apply to pollutant discharges to groundwater that subsequently travel to […]
Filed Under: Appellate Practice Business Law
Court of Appeals Applies Economic Loss Doctrine to Subcontractor Dispute under Interrelated Contracts Theory
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently issued a decision expanding the economic loss doctrine to horizontal claims by subcontractors who lack contractual privity. See Mechanical, Inc. v. Venture Electrical Contractors, Inc., No. 2018AP2380 (Apr. 22, 2020). The issue was whether one subcontractor could assert a negligence claim seeking purely economic losses (in this case delay […]
