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Under Wisconsin law, employees must first be the victim of identity theft or other concrete, imminent harm to have standing to sue employer for data breach. Mere risk of future data misuse is not enough to establish standing.

Business owners and executives are well aware of the risk of data breaches given the proliferation over the past decade or so. Many times we think of data breaches in terms of customer information only. What is often less pondered is

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Continue Reading Wisconsin Signals Limitations on Employer Liability for Employee Data Breaches

In a significant decision with implications for 340B enforcement and False Claims Act (“FCA”) whistleblower litigation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the “Court”) held on March 17, 2026, that a health system (the “System”) may proceed with its qui tam action alleging that pharmaceutical manufacturers engaged in fraudulent price-inflation schemes under the 340B Drug Pricing Program (“340B”), in violation of the FCA. United States ex rel. Adventist Health System of West v. AbbVie, et…
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Permits 340B-Based FCA Claims to Proceed Despite Lack of Private Right of Action

District 4 of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled ruled that in a preliminary hearing in a criminal case there is no requirement that any witness have firsthand knowledge of facts of the alleged crime; instead, a mere reading of the criminal complaint may suffice to bind a defendant over for trial if the complaint is thorough and detailed enough.

While the court said it would be “difficult to establish generally applicable rules,” it rubber-stamped a prosecution in Rock

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals Reduces Preliminary Hearing to Mere Reading of Criminal Complaint

The Tenth Circuit recently issued two companion decisions confirming the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) authority to cite employers for workplace violence hazards under the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C. § 654(a)(1) (“General Duty Clause”). In both cases, the Tenth Circuit upheld OSHA’s enforcement actions and the citations issued in connection with workplace violence incidents in a psychiatric hospital.
Case Background
Both cases stem from OSHA’s investigation into a psychiatric hospital…
Continue Reading Tenth Circuit Affirms OSHA Authority to Cite Health Care Employers for Workplace Violence Incidents Under the General Duty Clause

As Wisconsin prepares for a Supreme Court election between two appellate judges, examining judicial track records is helpful for understanding a candidate’s potential impact on the high-court bench.

Past rulings can provide insight on how the candidates approach the cases before them, reason and interpret law to get to their decisions, and explain those decisions to lower courts and the public.

Court of Appeals Judges Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor vie for an open seat on the Supreme Court.

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Continue Reading Sample Opinions from this Year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court Candidates

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March 4, 2026 – The Wisconsin Consumer Act (WCA) allowed the defendant to remedy the claim with the individual plaintiff, preventing a class action lawsuit, a 6-1 majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided in Gudex v. Franklin Collection Service, Inc., 2026 WI 6.

Reversing the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Justice Brian K. Hagedorn for the majority wrote, “when a customer brings a class action for damages under” Wis. Stat. section 426.110(4)(c) “requires an appropriate remedy be given

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Continue Reading Supreme Court: WCA ‘Appropriate Remedy’ Prevents Class Action

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Feb. 25, 2026 – An appeal challenging the constitutionality of involuntary medication to restore a defendant’s competency to stand trial gave the Wisconsin Supreme Court the opportunity to set standards of review for the
Sell factors in
State v. J.D.B., 2026 WI 5. Justice Brian K. Hagedorn, writing for the 6-1 majority, said “we independently conclude – and agree with the circuit court – that the [s]tate has an important interest in prosecuting Jared for his serious crime

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Continue Reading Wisconsin Supreme Court Sets Involuntary Medication Standards of Review

stock photoFeb. 24, 2026 – Google’s scan of four files that its employee confirmed contained child sexual abuse material (CSAM) operated outside of the Fourth Amendment as a private search, the Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously decided today in State v. Rauch Sharak, 2026 WI 4.

“Google scanned and viewed Rauch Sharak’s files on its own. It had a business reason to do so. Law enforcement became involved only after Google submitted a CyberTip,” summarized Justice Janet C. Protasiewicz, who

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Continue Reading Wisconsin Supreme Court: Google was a Private Actor in File Search

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Jan. 23, 2026 – The Fourth Amendment’s private search doctrine protected a warrantless view of a video that Snapchat flagged as child sexual abuse material (CSAM), a majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday in State v. Gasper, 2026 WI 3.

“The government did not exceed the scope of Snapchat’s search when it viewed the video because any expectation of privacy [Michael Joseph] Gasper may have had in the video was frustrated by the private

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Continue Reading Wisconsin Supreme Court: Video View OK Within Private Search

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Dec. 16, 2025 – A car enthusiast who likes vanity plates to express his opinions recently lost his First Amendment claim on summary judgment before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The court in M J Nichols Company, Inc. v. Thompson, No. 24-cv-566-amb (W.D. Wis., Dec. 12, 2025), held that a license plate is government speech.

Whether the language on a license plate is individual expression or government speech to which the First Amendment doesn’t

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Continue Reading U.S. District Court: First Amendment Doesn’t Protect ‘RD RRAGE’

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Nov. 25, 2025 – In what may be the first case of its kind, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in

State v. Melssen, No. 2024AP1942-CR (Nov. 20, 2025) (recommended for publication) vacated an order denying suppression of evidence obtained from an overly broad search of a smartphone. Presiding Judge Rachel A. Graham, writing for the unanimous three-judge panel, concluded “the warrant to search [Emil] Melssen’s smartphone – which authorized officers to search virtually all of the messages, images,

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals: Smartphone Search Unconstitutionally Overbroad

Here is an update from Attorney Emily Dudak Leiter of The Law Center, S.C., regarding Davis v. Ermold and Moore:

As most have heard already, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal constructed by Kim Davis and Liberty Counsel, which was attempting to overturn Obergefell and marriage equality. The Supreme Court declined to review the case last week, and they did so without comment. That is a huge relief. That means nothing is imminent.

I wanted to

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Continue Reading Update Regarding Davis V. Ermold And Moore

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Nov. 12, 2025 – A required administrative referral for criminal prosecution didn’t apply for allegedly breaking controlled substances laws, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently held in
State v. Syrrakos, No. 2024AP554-CR and
State v. Shattuck, No. 2024AP556-CR (Oct. 29, 2025) (recommended for publication). The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the consolidated cases against Christopher J. Syrrakos and Kristyn A. Shattuck to Waukesha County Circuit Court. The circuit court dismissed the cases because the Department of

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Continue Reading Court of Appeals: Controlled Substance Violation Doesn't Get Hemp Regulatory Protection

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In a concurrence to one of the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s blockbuster opinions from the 2024-25 term, SEIU Healthcare Wis. v. WERC, 2025 WI 29, 416 Wis. 2d 688, 22 N.W.2d 876 (Dallet, J., concurring), Justice Dallet called on the Court to reevaluate Wisconsin’s current—and oft-cited—approach to statutory interpretation as set forth in State ex rel. Kalal v. Cir. Ct. Dane Cnty., 2004 WI 58, 271 Wis. 2d 633, 681 N.W.2d 110.

Kalal created a textualist, two-step methodology for interpreting…
Continue Reading The End of the Textualist Era? Wisconsin Supreme Court Presented with Opportunity to Overturn Kalal

Recent weeks and months have witnessed several Medicaid developments that may significantly impact Medicaid funding across the country. Not all of these developments are related to the Medicaid-related provisions of H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21 (July 4, 2025), otherwise known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”). This article summarizes three developments that are unrelated to H.R. 1:

  • U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (“Fourth Circuit”) remands intergovernmental transfer (“IGT”) funding case back to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid

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    Continue Reading Medicaid Developments Unrelated to Recent Congressional Actions

    The Indiana Court of Appeals (the “Court”) in In re: the Civil Commitment of J.A. upheld the trial court’s Order for Temporary Commitment, holding sufficient evidence supported the trial court’s finding that J.A. was gravely disabled and unable to function independently outside of the hospital setting. In re: the Civil Commitment of J.A., No. 25A-MH-528, 260 N.E.3d 231 (Ind. Ct. App. 2025). The Court also emphasized it would not reweigh evidence or assess witness credibility on appeal, despite J.A.’s…
    Continue Reading Indiana Court of Appeals Emphasizes Trial Court’s Role in Credibility Determinations for Grave Disability Findings