In May 2024
in this blog,
1 my co-author Jenni Spies Karas and I warned that practitioners and judges should be mindful to cite the authority by which they are requesting or entering default judgment, pending the outcome of the Wisconsin Supreme Court case
State v. R.A.M. That caution has become a reality.


Courtney L.A. Roelandts, Marquette 2018, is the assistant managing attorney of the Children’s Court Guardian ad Litem Division of the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee,…
Continue Reading State v. R.A.M. and a Parent’s Right to Counsel in TPR Cases

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Are Wisconsin Noncompete Contracts Legal in 2024?
 Posted on September 11,2024 in Business LawNoncompete agreements are contracts between employers and employees that restrict the employee’s ability to work for a competing business or start a competing company for a certain period of time after their employment ends. These agreements can help protect a business’s trade secrets, customer relationships, and other confidential information. However, there has been growing concern that noncompete agreements unfairly limit workers’ ability to seek…
Continue Reading Are Wisconsin Noncompete Contracts Legal in 2024?

On Friday, September 20th, the Wisconsin Law Review and the State Democracy Research Initiative will bring together legal scholars to discuss the future of American state election law and the challenges that may arise in the face of the upcoming federal elections.
When: Sep 20, 2024 08:45 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
For more information, including a registration link, visit the Wisconsin Law Review’s 2024 Symposium website. Each panel of the Symposium has been approved for 1.5…
Continue Reading WI Law Review Symposium on State Law & Federal Elections, Sept 20th

Attorney Mederson to present on climate change during State Bar’s Annual Environmental Law Update
Attorney Jessica C. Mederson will present with a panel of other experts during the State Bar of Wisconsin’s 36th Annual Environmental Law Update on Thursday, September 12, 2024. Jessica and the other panelists’ portion of the Environmental Law Update promises to be “a lively panel discussion about climate change [where the audience will] receive guidance on ethical questions with a unique environmental law perspective.” Register…
Continue Reading Attorney Jessica Mederson Presents at State Bar of Wisconsin’s 2024 Environmental Law Update

Remember back with Carter’s Big Mac post, I said we’d explore more things? Here is one of those posts!

The enforcement of laws depends on who made the law. If a city counsel created the ordinance, then it applies to that city – and no others. Same with counties, states, and countries. Sometimes an organization helps set out some templates so those entities can have some guidance and there can be some uniformity among the multitude of legislatures.
Continue Reading Border to Border

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Sept. 10, 2024 – A party seeking health insurance coverage for autism-related medical treatment has lost an appeal at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in Midthun-Hensen v. Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, No. 23-2100 (Aug. 5, 2024). Beginning in 2017, Angela Midthun-Hensen and Tony Hensen asked their insurer, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, Inc., (Group Health) to cover speech therapy and sensory integration therapy for their autistic son. Group Health decided that neither therapy…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Upholds Decision Denying Coverage for Autism-related Treatment

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Farm bankruptcies are down. Way down. The Numbers Wisconsin
led the nation in Chapter 12 reorganization cases in 2017, 2018, and 2020.
But no more. This reduction in filings is not limited to Wisconsin, however.
Chart 1, based on data from
uscourts.gov, shows Chapter 12 filings nationwide over the last five years.​



Chart 1: National Chapter 12 filings, 2019-23, from a high of 599 in 2019 to 139 in 2023.
Source: uscourts.gov. Click on image…
Continue Reading Farm Bankruptcies Reach Record Low

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Sept. 9, 2024 – A county zoning ordinance requiring cellphone towers to be at least one-half mile apart is preempted by state law, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District IV) has ruled in
Savich v. Columbia County Board of Adjustment, 2023AP78 (July 18, 2024). In August 2020, Tillman Infrastructure, LLC (Tillman) and AT&T Mobility (AT&T) applied to the Columbia County Planning and Zoning Department for a permit to build a cellphone tower at a specific site on farmland…
Continue Reading Cellphone Tower Separation Ordinance Preempted by State Law

Navigating the death of a parent brings profound emotional challenges, and managing their estate can add an additional layer of complexity. Estate planning plays a critical role in making this difficult time more manageable. Whether your parent left behind a clear estate plan or you are navigating the probate process, understanding the steps involved in settling their affairs can help ease the burden.
Understanding Estate Planning and Probate
If your parent created an estate plan, it likely includes…
Continue Reading Navigating the Death of a Parent with Estate Planning

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Sept. 6, 2024 – A plaintiff’s failure to honestly and meaningfully address a question of appellate jurisdiction under
28 U.S.C. section 2107 rendered his appeal frivolous, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled in
Upchurch v. O’Brien, 22-2541 (Aug. 6, 2024). As a result, the Seventh Circuit held, sanctions under
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 38 were appropriate. The Great Outdoors Timothy O’Brien and his wife Margaret owned a resort on Catfish…
Continue Reading Failure to Address Jurisdictional Issue Rendered Appeal Frivolous

 
 Posted on September 04,2024 in Criminal Defense
Wildfire season in Wisconsin is drawing to a close. The season started off with more fires than usual after a particularly warm winter and, as of today, nearly 900 wildfires have burned throughout the state.

Some fires are inevitable and can even be used to manage growth in a way that helps mitigate more serious wildfires in the future. But when fires are caused by humans – whether intentionally or not…
Continue Reading Will I Go to Jail for Accidentally Starting a Wildfire?

As we approach the 2024 election, many individuals are concerned about how potential changes in the political landscape could affect their estate plans. The upcoming election could have significant implications for gift and estate tax rates, which are set to revert to pre-2017 levels if no new legislation is passed. This blog post will help you understand the potential changes and how to prepare your estate plan accordingly.
The Current Estate Tax Landscape
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act…
Continue Reading The 2024 Election & Your Estate Plan: What You Need to Know

As the saying goes, nothing is certain in life but death and taxes, and estate planning encompasses both. Despite this certainty, many of us avoid thinking about the end of our life and neglect making an estate plan. There are things you can do now that can save you, your spouse, and your loved ones a lot of trouble and aggravation.
Lifetime documents: The Impact of Powers of Attorney and Living Wills
Estate plans almost certainly will include a…
Continue Reading Who Needs a Will Anyway: Why Estate Planning is So Important

Certainties of life include birth, death, and taxes, and for attorneys, continuing legal education (CLE) reporting requirements.​

CLE credits are a critical constant for attorneys, not just a duty as part of being a professional, but essential for maintaining a professional edge and upholding standards of competence and responsibility.

Previous articles, like this one from Nov. 15, 2023, InsideTrack, discuss various methods for earning CLE credit that you may not know about, such as: Whether you are a…
Continue Reading Paths to CLE Opportunities

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Aug. 29, 2024 – In a case of first impression, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District III) has applied the other-acts evidence statute to a sexual assault case. In State v. Hill, 2022AP1718 (Aug. 6, 2024), the Court of Appeals held that the analysis for admitting other-acts evidence under State v. Sullivan, 216 Wis. 2d 768, 576 N.W. 2d 30 (1998), doesn’t apply to prior conviction evidence sought to be admitted under section 904.04(2)(b). In August 2022, the…
Continue Reading Sullivan Test Inapplicable to Prior Conviction Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases

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Aug. 29, 2024 – The FBI was not required to seek a warrant before obtaining cell phone data on an armed man heading toward the site of civil unrest because of exigent circumstances, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held in
U.S. v. Karmo, No. 23-1082 (July 31, 2024). Civil unrest broke out in Kenosha on Aug. 23, 2020, after the police shot a Black man while attempting to arrest him. Michael Karmo and…
Continue Reading No Warrant Required for Cell Phone Data of Armed Man Heading Toward Unrest