Filed Under: Family Law
Statutory Updates in Family Law, Part I
Over the last several years, the Wisconsin Legislature, in the wake of the 2018 Joint Legislative Council Study Committee on Child Placement and Support, several new legislative initiatives were introduced. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the passage of many of these bills, but several passed in the 2020-2021 Legislative Session. Many of these statutes are procedures, […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Litigation
Seventh Circuit Rejects Students’ Claim that University’s Refusal to Refund Fees During COVID Closures Amounts to Constitutional Violation
Public bodies deal with many of the same legal issues as private enterprises—plus a host of unique risks that arise because they are public actors. Public bodies therefore must take care to ensure that they are not violating the protected constitutional rights of their citizens, employees, contractors, or (in the case of schools) students. A […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Municipal Law
Court of Appeals Determines City Development Condition Is Unconstitutional Taking
This month, the Court of Appeals affirmed a circuit court decision that held that the City of Brookfield engaged in an unconstitutional taking when it conditioned the approval of a subdivision development on construction of a new public street. The Court of Appeals determined that this “exaction” was not permissible because it did not address […]
Filed Under: Litigation
Seventh Circuit Resolves Open Question Under Class Action Fairness Act
CAFA Background and Exceptions On March 16, 2022, the Seventh Circuit issued its opinion in Schutte v. Coix Health, resolving an open question about the breadth of the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”). 28 USC § 1711 et seq. Congress enacted CAFA in 2005 to expand the availability of federal courts to class action defendants; […]
Filed Under: Dealership & Franchise Law
What Wisconsin Wholesalers Need to Know about the Treasury Department’s Competition Report
Last summer, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14036 targeting “any unlawful trade practices in the beer, wine, and spirits markets, such as certain exclusionary, discriminatory, or anticompetitive distribution practices,” as well as “patterns of consolidation in production, distribution, or retail beer, wine, and spirits market.” The Executive Order required that the United States Department […]
Filed Under: Dealership & Franchise Law
Wisconsin Legislature Considers Bill to Regulate Third-Party Food Delivery Services
The use of third-party food delivery services has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies such as Grubhub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash provide customers with greater access to their favorite restaurants without having to leave the comfort of their own homes. But the use of such delivery services has also caused troubles for customers and restaurants […]
Filed Under: Election & Political Law
League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Files Lawsuit to Reactivate 31,854 Voters
The League’s second challenge to unjust voter purges in Wisconsin seeks to reinstate voters before 2022 midterm elections. MADISON — Today, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, represented by Fair Elections Center, Law Forward Inc., and Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, filed suit in federal court to reinstate more than 31,000 registered Wisconsin voters who were […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Insurance Law
Wisconsin Court of Appeals Rules that Reckless Homicide Cannot Constitute an Accident for Purpose of Insurance Coverage
Recently, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled in a case that tests the interaction between criminal law and civil liability. In Dostal v. Strands, 2020AP1943 (Oct. 19, 2021), the court held that an insured’s criminal conviction for second-degree reckless homicide precluded a mother’s claim against the insurer for damages arising from the death of her child. […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
Wisconsin Court of Appeals Rejects Attempted Underinsured Motorist Double Dip
At the close of summer, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected an insurance company’s attempt to “double dip” and reduce its underinsured motorist (“UIM”) coverage responsibility to an insured based on a liability payment made to another insured.[1] The case arose from an automobile accident that caused the death of Michael Shimeta and serious injuries […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Municipal Law
Denial of Variance Request Regarding Lakefront Yard Setback Requirements
Cox v. City of Madison Zoning Board of Appeals, Appeal No. 2020AP478 (July 8, 2021) Kathleen Cox purchased property on Lake Mendota with the plan to demolish and rebuild the existing house and wet boathouse. A wet boathouse is one that is built over excavated shoreline with the lake water underneath, into which a boat […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Election & 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 Law
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 & 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
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 & 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 & 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 Law 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 Law 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 Law 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
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 […]
