Filed Under: Appellate Law
Seventh Circuit Clarifies Applicability of Economic Loss Doctrine to Liability Insurance Coverage
The Seventh Circuit recently clarified the potential impact of Wisconsin’s Economic Loss Doctrine on the availability of liability insurance coverage for commercial insureds facing defective product claims. See Haley et al. v. Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co. et al., Nos. 16-3563 & 16-3648 (7th Cir. 2017). In holding that coverage was available for the defective […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
The Not-So-Scenic Pit: Court Reaffirms Limited Local Control Over Certain Solid Waste Facilities
The issue of local control is once again front and center in a recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision, Scenic Pit LLC v. Village of Richfield, No. 2015AP2291 (June 28, 2017) (recommended for publication). Scenic Pit LLC sought to open a clean fill solid waste facility in the Village of Richfield. Such facilities accept disposal […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
WI Courts Continue To Limit Criminal Expungement, Even as Legislature Considers Expanding Scope
In May, Representatives Steffer (R-Howard) and Hoyke (D-Milwaukee) introduced 2017 AB 331 in the Wisconsin Assembly. The proposed legislation would change current Wisconsin law to make expungement available to those previously convicted of a crime or who were ineligible for expungement at the time their case was resolved, and it would expand the number of […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Municipal Law
Discharged Police Officer Has No Constitutional Entitlement to Pay During Pendency of His Appeal
As we reported in November 2016, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld a decision by the Milwaukee City Board of Fire and Police Commissioners (“Board”) to terminate the employment of Milwaukee Police Department (“MPD”) Officer Daniel Vidmar for falsifying a document to take possession of an unclaimed dirt bike from MPD inventory. While Officer Vidmar […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
Court of Appeals Issues Decision in O’Donnell Park Parking Structure Litigation
On July 11, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals addressed a couple of notable legal issues in litigation arising out of the O’Donnell Park Parking Structure panel collapse. Wosinski et al. v. Advance Cast Stone Co. et al., Nos. 2014AP1961, 2213, 2274, 2660, 2015AP1212 (Ct. App. 2017). Steven and Amy Wosinski, their son Eric, and their […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Municipal Law
Wisconsin Court of Appeals Upholds Municipal Snowplowing Against Public Purpose Doctrine Challenge
The Town of Argonne is a small community in northern Wisconsin, near Michigan’s upper peninsula. For more than 60 years, the Town has removed snow from residents’ private driveways upon request. The Town handled snow removal pursuant to contracts, funding the work through fees paid for the service and not through tax revenues. The Town’s […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Dealership & Franchise Law
Wisconsin Supreme Court Decision Raises Fair Dealership Law Questions Beyond Municipal Liability
The primary issue in Benson v. City of Madison, 2017 WI 65, is clearly the question of whether the Wisconsin Fair Dealership Law (“WFDL”) reaches contractual relationships involving municipalities. As discussed here, this is an issue of first impression, and the Court’s holding has broad implications. There are, however, additional aspects of the decision worth […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Municipal Law
Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds Municipalities Are Subject to Wisconsin Fair Dealership Law
In a shocking decision that will increase the cost of local governance and limit the ability of local governments to control their own affairs, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held last week that the Wisconsin Fair Dealership Law (“WFDL”) applies to municipalities. Benson v. City of Madison, 2017 WI 65. The remainder of this post discusses […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
U.S. Supreme Court Decides Wisconsin Takings Case, Adopts Complex Test, and Approves Merger Clauses
The U.S. Supreme Court decided a major regulatory takings case last week, ending a Wisconsin land-use battle that lasted more than a dozen years. See Murr v. Wisconsin, No. 15-214 (U.S. June 23, 2017). It is not common for a case to jump from an unpublished, non-precedential opinion in a state intermediate court of appeals […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
Wisconsin Court of Appeals deems restrictive covenant unenforceable as to short-term rentals
Consider the following facts: a couple owns a single-family waterfront residence on a private dead-end road. The lots on the road are subject to the following restrictive covenant (among others): “there shall be no commercial activity allowed on any of said lots.” They begin renting out the residence on a short-term basis, advertising the property […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
Court of Appeals counts small-claims time limit tightly, though statutes suggest looser approach
How do small-claims parties count time? It seems like a small question that should have a simple answer, but in practice it has proven a vexing one. In Team Property Management, LLC v. Reiss, No. 2016AP2163 (Wis. Ct. App. May 24, 2017) (unpublished), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals determined that the ten-day window after a […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
Supreme Court Resolves Scope of Church Plan Exemption Under ERISA
By an unanimous (8-0) decision issued June 5, 2017, the United States Supreme Court broadly construed the “church plan” exemption from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), to include benefit plans established by church-affiliated organizations. Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, Nos. 16–74, 16–86, 16–25, ___ U.S. ___ (2017), 2017 WL 2407476 (U.S. 2017). […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
New Standard for Designating Attorney Who Drafts Will To Serve as Estate’s Personal Representative
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently limited the circumstances under which an attorney might serve as personal representative of an estate. In In Re the Estate of Ann H. McMaster Dewey, No. 2016AP865, 2017 WL 1497548 (Wis. Ct. App. Apr. 26, 2017), a decedent nominated her estate planning attorney, Robert Wilmot, as her successor personal representative. Upon […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
Wisconsin Court of Appeals Rejects Novel Argument Against Enforcing Personal Guarantee
In Bank Mutual v. Sherman, No. 2015AP2357 (Ct. App. May 17, 2017) (per curiam), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that an ex-husband continued to be liable for a commercial debt he guaranteed years earlier, for his then-wife. The court was not persuaded by the ex-husband’s novel argument that after the couple’s divorce and her […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Municipal Law
Wisconsin Supreme Court Reaffirms Bright-Line Building Permit Rule
In McKee Family I, LLC and JD McCormick Company, LLC v. City of Fitchburg, 2017 WI 34, No. 2014AP1914 (April 12, 2017), the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the bright-line building permit rule, under which a property owner cannot claim vested rights absent submission of an application for a building permit that conforms to the zoning […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Municipal Law
U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms Capacious Scope of Federal Fair Housing Act
The Supreme Court of the United States recently decided Bank of America Corp. v. City of Miami, Nos. 15-1111 & 15-1112, slip op. (U.S. May 1, 2017). The Court remanded the case for further proceedings, and it remains far from clear whether the City can prevail in the end. But the case illustrates the striking […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Municipal Law
Court of Appeals Reaffirms Parties Cannot Recover Lost Profits for Unlawful Activity
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently decided 200 Broadway LLC v. City of Milwaukee, Case No. 2016AP273 (May 2, 2017). The decision is interesting both for its central holding that a party is not entitled to damages for lost profits from an unlawful business, and because the appellate court relied heavily on nineteenth century precedent. […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law
Wisconsin Court of Appeals Clarifies when a Plaintiff’s Claim Accrues for Limitations Purposes
To bring a lawsuit, a plaintiff must file suit in a timely manner. Different kinds of claims face different time limits—limitation periods, in legalese. These limitation periods generally measure time from when the plaintiff’s cause of action first accrues. But that in itself is not very helpful. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals in Bleecker v. […]
Filed Under: Appellate Law Employment & Labor Law
Seventh Circuit: Self-Serving Statements Best Served with a Side of Factual Support
Whitaker v. Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 849 F.3d 681 (7th Cir. 2017), recently served up a refresher on the role of self-serving affidavits in summary judgment proceedings. In Whitaker, the plaintiff alleged that she was fired by a state agency as a result of intentional discrimination based upon her disability. Whitaker suffered from chronic […]
