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SCOTUS usually makes headlines with its end of the year report (for 2024, Chief Justice Roberts focused on threats to judicial independence), and everyone’s still talking about President Trump saying “Thank you again. Thank you again. I won’t forget.” to Roberts following this year’s State of the Union address. Meanwhile, your state court’s State of the Judiciary address or report is likely slipping by unnoticed. And ignoring it is a missed opportunity. These reports are more than just ceremonial…
Continue Reading The State of the Judiciary is… a Marketing Opportunity ?

A will is one of the most important legal documents you can have, yet many people delay creating one. If you have significant assets, a blended family, or a professional license, having a comprehensive estate plan is essential to protect your legacy and your loved ones. Here’s when you should consider getting a will.
When Should You Get a Will?
1. You’ve Accumulated Significant Wealth
If you have a high net worth, your estate may be subject to federal…
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On January 28, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14187 entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” (the “Executive Order”), which sets forth administration policies opposing the provision of gender-affirming care to minors and directs agencies and certain federal health care programs to limit access to such care through measures including halting federal grant funding to medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to minors.
As described in greater detail below, the Executive Order is being challenged…
Continue Reading Executive Order Restricting Gender-Affirming Care for Minors: Litigation Update and Analysis

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Tipping has been part of the modern-day American restaurant experience for decades. Like most forms of income, these tips are taxable and subject to income tax. But what if this income was free from income tax liability?This idea was proposed under the recently introduced bicameral legislation dubbed the No Tax on Tips Act (“Act”). This newly proposed regime has also seen traction and support at the state level. Wisconsin legislatures have proposed a similar bill to provide relief for…
Continue Reading No Tax on Tips Act: How Taxpayers Can Prepare

Attorney Vanessa Wishart provides legal updates in Wisconsin water law to WI Wastewater Operators Association
Attorney Vanessa Wishart will give legal updates on Wisconsin water and environmental law as part of a daylong symposium on March 18, 2025, to an audience of municipal officials, water treatment plant operators, contractors, and consultants. The 2025 Spring Biosolids Symposium in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, is an annual event providing a forum for discussion and information exchange by assembling speakers who are recognized experts…
Continue Reading Attorney Vanessa Wishart Presents Legal Updates in Wisconsin Water & Environmental Law

The start of 2025 brought with it new challenges for health care providers in interacting with law enforcement while maintaining compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and related privacy laws, like 42 CFR Part 2 governing the confidentiality of substance use disorder records. First, covered entities faced the Dec. 23, 2024, compliance date for the HIPAA Privacy Rule To Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (Final Rule), which requires covered entities and their business…
Continue Reading Interacting with Law Enforcement: Reproductive Health Privacy and ICE Enforcement

Nyzier Fourqurean, the starting cornerback for the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s football team, was granted a preliminary injunction against the NCAA for a possible fifth year of athletic eligibility. Although the NCAA has appealed the decision, this student-athlete victory—though potentially temporary—marks a significant challenge to the NCAA’s long-standing eligibility rules and highlights growing tensions between the NCAA’s […]The post Wisconsin Football Player Granted an Injunction in Eligibility Suit Against the NCAA appeared first on Frieser Legal.
Continue Reading Wisconsin Football Player Granted an Injunction in Eligibility Suit Against the NCAA

Last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a rare Stark Law Advisory Opinion, concluding that a physician-owned hospital (“Hospital”) seeking to relocate eight miles from its current location and add an emergency department would continue to satisfy the Stark Law’s Whole Hospital Exception (“Exception”). This is one of several CMS Advisory Opinions providing helpful guidance to physician-owned hospitals, but the first CMS Advisory Opinion to be issued since December 2021.
The Exception requires, among…
Continue Reading CMS Issues Guidance on Relocation of Physician-Owned Hospitals

For thousands of skilled foreign professionals, the H-1B classification provides a pathway to work in the United States. However, with a strict annual limit, or cap, of 65,000 H-1B visas—plus an additional 20,000 reserved for those with advanced U.S. degrees—the demand for H-1B status far exceeds the available supply. As a result, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) uses a lottery system to determine which applicants may file an H-1B petition.
The H-1B cap initial registration period for…
Continue Reading H-1B Cap Lottery: What You Need to Know for the FY 2026 Season

On February 14, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (the “Court” or “Fourth Circuit”) issued a significant ruling in United States ex rel. Rosales v. Amedisys North Carolina, clarifying how the first-to-file rule applies to qui tam actions under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The Court determined that the first-to-file rule must be assessed on a claim-by-claim and defendant-by-defendant basis, considering all properly filed complaints.
Background of the Case
Relator Rosales filed a…
Continue Reading Understanding the Fourth Circuit’s Ruling on the First-to-File Rule in FCA Cases

First, let’s look at what happened in 2010. In an election between Justice Louis Butler and challenger Michael Gableman (yes, him), an ad ran showing the mug shot of a convicted rapist next to a photo of Butler.  As it happened, both were African-American, and the implication, reminiscent of the Willie Horton ad run against Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential campaign, was that Butler was responsible for getting the rapist out of prison and thus allowing him to rape another victim. In fact,…
Continue Reading High court shuns truth in advertising

In United States of America ex rel. Cheryl Taylor v. Healthcare Associates of Texas, LLC, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”) upheld a jury verdict finding Healthcare Associates of Texas, LLC (“HCAT”) liable under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). However, in a significant ruling for health care providers facing FCA scrutiny, the Court substantially reduced the provider’s penalties after finding the FCA’s statutory civil penalty unconstitutionally excessive under the Eighth Amendment.
Background…
Continue Reading Federal Court Slashes $448 Million False Claims Act Penalty, Citing Eighth Amendment

Wisconsin Court of Appeals issues opinion that voting ballots lacking endorsements from elections officials must be counted
On March 6, 2025, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (Dist. IV) issued a must-read election law opinion declining to toss out three ballots cast in a Rock County election. Gonfiantini v. Rock Cnty. Bd. of Canvassers, No. 2024AP1233 (Wis. Ct. App. March 6, 2025) (recommended for publication). The three ballots were not initialed (i.e. “endorsed”) by the appropriate elections officials as…
Continue Reading Court of Appeals Concludes Ballots Lacking Election Official Endorsements Must Be Counted

On March 7, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) posted a memo dated March 10, 2025, that gives nursing homes and surveyors more time to prepare for implementation of new rules and updates to allow surveyors to add extra attention and increase oversight in nursing homes.
On November 18, 2024, the Quality, Safety & Oversight Group at CMS issued a memorandum entitled “REVISED: Revised Long-Term Care (LTC) Surveyor Guidance: Significant revisions to enhance quality and oversight…
Continue Reading Nursing Home Update: CMS Extends Implementation Date of Surveyor Guidance Changes in Appendix PP

Stafford Rosenbaum Attorneys Latta and Vladimirova speak to ALFA International business audiences during International Client Seminar
Two attorneys at Stafford Rosenbaum, the Wisconsin member law firm of global legal network ALFA International, participated in the organization’s International Client Seminar on March 6-9, 2025.
Attorney Rich Latta moderated a panel discussion, “The More Things Change—What Happens Now After the U.S. Supreme Court in Loper Bright Has Turned Back the Clock to 1984?” The panel discussed the Loper…
Continue Reading Attorneys Iana Vladimirova & Rich Latta Moderate Discussions at ALFA International Seminar

On March 5, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (the “Sixth Circuit” or “Court”) in Bashaw v. Majestic Care of Whitehall, LLC affirmed the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio’s (the “District Court”) grant of summary judgment, finding the reasons for an employee’s termination were not pretextual. The employee was terminated from her non-clinical position at a skilled nursing facility and claimed the reasons for her termination were “pretext” for…
Continue Reading Skilled Nursing Facility Employee Loses Appeal: A Closer Look at the Fact-Specific Considerations in a Pretext Analysis