Two recent cases under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the PUMP Act provide an early look at how courts and juries are treating these relatively new protections. In both cases, employees prevailed—and recovered significant damages.

Pregnancy Accommodations Must Be Taken Seriously

In Tarango v. PermiaCare (W.D. Tex. 2026), an employee requested relatively modest pregnancy-related accommodations, including permission to wear different footwear and to work remotely after giving birth. Those requests were denied. The employee also experienced…
Continue Reading Early PWFA and PUMP Act Cases Show Strong Enforcement

If you’ve been scheduled for an Independent Medical Examination, or IME, you’re not alone in feeling uneasy about it. For many injured workers in Wisconsin, this is one of the most confusing and stressful parts of the worker’s compensation process.

You may be wondering why it’s happening, what the doctor is really looking for, and whether it could affect your benefits. The short answer is yes, it can affect your claim. But understanding how an IME works can help…
Continue Reading What to Expect at an Independent Medical Examination (IME) for a Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Case

Settling a long-term disability (LTD) claim is often more complex than it first appears. Most people naturally focus on the settlement amount, since that is the most visible part of the agreement. However, every settlement also includes additional terms that define what rights are being resolved and what both sides agree to moving forward.

At first glance, these provisions can feel overwhelming or overly technical. In reality, they are a standard part of resolving an insurance claim. While they…
Continue Reading What to Expect When Settling a Long-Term Disability Claim

Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C. (“Hall Render”) continues to strengthen its nationally recognized health care firm with the addition of Susan Banks, Summer Martin and Rebecca Merrill as Shareholders. The trio brings deep, complementary experience across health care regulatory compliance, reimbursement strategy and complex transactions, further strengthening Hall Render’s national platform.
Banks, Martin and Merrill join Hall Render with an established track record of working collaboratively to advise health systems, hospitals, providers and life sciences organizations…
Continue Reading Hall Render Welcomes Three Shareholders to Strengthen National Health Care Practice

Hall Render is pleased to announce that Susan Banks has joined the Firm as a Shareholder in its Denver office.
Susan is a health care reimbursement and compliance attorney who focuses on complex Medicare and Medicaid payment and regulatory matters. She counsels hospitals, health systems, physicians and other providers and suppliers on reimbursement methodologies, billing compliance and overpayment risk, and regularly represents clients in government audits, investigations and enforcement actions. With extensive experience working with federal and state agencies,…
Continue Reading Susan Banks Joins Hall Render as a Shareholder

Hall Render is pleased to announce that Summer Martin has joined the Firm as a Shareholder.
Summer is a health care transactional and regulatory attorney who provides strategic counsel to health systems, hospitals, physicians and other providers on complex business arrangements, compliance matters and strategic growth initiatives. She has significant experience structuring and negotiating mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other affiliation arrangements, and previously led a health care mergers and acquisitions team at a global law firm. Summer…
Continue Reading Summer Martin Joins Hall Render as a Shareholder

Hall Render is pleased to announce that Rebecca Merrill has joined the Firm as a Shareholder.
Rebecca is a health care regulatory and operations attorney who advises providers, suppliers, health systems, research institutions and life sciences organizations on complex compliance, enforcement and business matters. She partners closely with legal, compliance and operational teams, as well as senior leadership and boards, to navigate evolving regulatory requirements, manage enterprise risk and support strategic initiatives. Her practice spans reimbursement and regulatory compliance, investigations…
Continue Reading Rebecca Merrill Joins Hall Render as a Shareholder

In 2024, we wrote about Bowie v. Settecase, No. 2022AP1561 (Wis. Ct. App. Dec. 12, 2023) (per curiam) (unpublished). There, the Court of Appeals deemed the defendant’s summary judgment argument waived because the case went to trial and “a party who proceeds to trial waives the right to appeal an order denying his or her earlier motion for summary judgment.” Id. ¶6. Our prior article explained that the cases the Court of Appeals cited to apply this waiver…
Continue Reading Update: The Ghost of Procedural Rules Past

The first nationwide test of a mandatory episode-based payment model has been unveiled. In the Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2027 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (“IPPS”) Proposed Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) proposes resurrecting and expanding the original Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (“CJR”) Model to establish a mandatory, nationwide episode-based payment model for most hospitals paid under the IPPS beginning October 1, 2027.     
Under the proposed model, known as the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Expanded Model (“CJR-X”), most hospitals paid…
Continue Reading CMS Proposes Resurrection and Nationwide Expansion of Mandatory Joint Replacement Bundled Payment Model (CJR-X) 

The Indiana Court of Appeals (the “Court”) affirmed the trial court’s order for a temporary commitment which authorized forcibly medicating the patient. The Court held that the hospital presented clear and convincing evidence, primarily through detailed physician testimony, that both commitment and involuntary medication are appropriate. In re Commitment of L.F., No. 26A-MH-658, 2026 WL 969885 (Ind. Ct. App., Apr. 10, 2026).
Background
L.F. was admitted to the hospital after being found standing in traffic. While hospitalized, L.F.
Continue Reading Court of Appeals Upholds Commitment Order, Reinforces Evidentiary Standard for Forced Medication

It’s springtime. According to my inbox, graphic designers consider this the best of times to “refresh” your logo.
Cool.
Before relegating the old, though, consider the trademark implications.
United States trademark registrations can be “standard character” — which means the registration covers words in the mark regardless of how they are depicted visually — or, they can be “design” registrations. That means the registration covers only the particular design as depicted in the original drawing file.
And US trademark…
Continue Reading How the “Logo Refresh” Can Wreck Your Trademark

  • JLL reports that the medical outpatient building sector remained active entering 2026, with national occupancy reaching a record 92.7% in Q4 2025 and average rents increasing 3.3% year over year, despite reimbursement pressure and regulatory policy uncertainty. Health systems continued to drive both leasing and development activity, accounting for 46% of MOB leases and 57% of outpatient construction deliveries in 2025.
  • An article highlighted five major 2026 hospital transactions, including Prime Healthcare’s acquisition of Franciscan Health Olympia Fields, RWJBarnabas

    • …
    Continue Reading Weekly Hospital Real Estate Briefing: Orlando Health to Buy Another AL Health System | Hospital M&A Activity Up in Q1 26 | Stark Self-Disclosures Exceed $100M

    Ohio is currently at the center of one of the most significant shifts in name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) rights for high school student-athletes.

    After years of focusing on NIL in college athletics, the most consequential developments are now occurring much earlier in the athletic pipeline, with direct implications for students, schools, and policymakers.

    Until recently, Ohio stood as one of the last holdouts in the country, prohibiting high school student-athletes from earning compensation tied to their name, image,…
    Continue Reading Leveling the Playing Field: How Ohio’s NIL Battle Signals the Future ofHigh School Sports

    A second OWI offense within 10 years in Madison, Wisconsin, carries a mandatory minimum of 5 days to 6 months in jail and a 12- to 18-month driver’s license revocation. In 2026, judges have zero discretion to waive the ignition interlock device (IID) requirement, which must stay for at least one year.

    If you are facing a second OWI charge in Wisconsin, you are facing steep penalties. The penalties that are on the table are even steeper if your…
    Continue Reading Wisconsin Second Offense OWI: 2026 Mandatory Minimums and Ignition Interlock Rules

    The use of artificial intelligence in candidate screening and hiring processes has been a “hot” employment issue for the past several years. This is driven, in part, by the rapid and widespread adoption of these tools by employers: in March 2025, a Forbes article declared that “[t]he world is on the verge of a seismic shift in how talent is hired, one that will redefine the fabric of work itself.” That same article included Gallup survey statistics showing that,…
    Continue Reading Legal Challenges to AI in Hiring: FCRA Has Entered the Chat

    My father loved the sea. By extension he also loved all sea-related tchotchkes, i.e., model sailing vessels, fake shark’s teeth, lighthouses big and small, cute little fishermen in bright yellow rain slickers. You name it, he had one. How did he explain this passion? Growing up in western Wisconsin, he was far from the sea. In a former life he believed he was … a whale. Many years ago, he wandered into an antique store in Florida on the…
    Continue Reading The ‘Masterpiece’ and a Daughter’s Burden, Relieved