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The Reentry Legal Services (RLS) program of Legal Services of Wisconsin helps people prepare for life after release from prison by securing essential benefits and health coverage.
Heidi Mangelsen headshot Heidi Mangelsen, St. Thomas 2010, is a Reentry Legal Services (RLS) attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin, in Oshkosh. Her practice focuses on providing legal services to incarcerated people as they approach their release from prison.

RLS attorneys represent eligible clients in applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or

…
Continue Reading Boosting Successful Reentry: RLS Helps Formerly Incarcerated People Access Benefits

Attorney Scott Smith authors post for State Bar of Wisconsin Business Law Section Blog
Attorney Scott Smith published a blog post with the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Business Law Section in December 2025. The post, “Five Terms Wisconsin Municipalities Should Revise Before Signing Construction Contracts,” discusses how cities, villages, school districts, and utilities across Wisconsin routinely rely on American Institute of Architects forms for public construction projects, but these documents are imbalanced—Scott’s blog post highlights some key…
Continue Reading Attorney Scott Smith Authors State Bar Blog Post on Wisconsin Municipal Construction Contracts

Attorneys James Egle and Rick Manthe present on support available to small business owners for Wisconsin Family Business Center
Attorneys James B. Egle and Rick A. Manthe will present to an audience of small business and family business owners during the Wisconsin Family Business Center’s Food for Thought program on Wednesday morning, November 19.
“Unlocking Economic Development Tools,” part of the two-presentation Food for Thought program, will help audience members to discover the range of economic development incentive programs…
Continue Reading Attorneys Egle & Manthe Present on Support Tools for New Small Businesses in Wisconsin

Closeup of Vote by Mail envelope
Closeup of a Vote by Mail envelope, official balloting material - business reply mail, USPS first class mail.

In August of this year, the US Post Office announced a new rule that included without much fanfare a MAJOR change in when letters are postmarked. Under this new rule, most letters will no longer be postmarked on the day the letter is received by a post office but instead postmarked a day later when the letter is processed at a regional mail processing facility.
It is important that mailers understand the distinction between the date when the Postal…
Continue Reading Postmark changes at the Post Office and late mail

Attorney Seep Paliwal moderates panel during State Bar’s Cultural Competency in Family Law Cases training
In January 2025, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin approved providing CLE credit for cultural competency training. Stafford Rosenbaum Attorney Seep Paliwal will moderate a presentation featuring a panel of experts during the State Bar of Wisconsin’s very first offering of cultural competency training in family law cases. Participants can view the Cultural Competency in Family Law Cases 2025 CLE in person at the State…
Continue Reading Attorney Seep Paliwal Moderates State Bar of Wisconsin Panel on Cultural Competency in Family Law

For the past year and a half, the tenant side of landlord tenant law in Wisconsin has had serious ammunition when landlords provide their tenants with leases that are void and unenforceable under Wis. Stat. section 704.44 and Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.08. One case is
Koble Investments v. Marquardt (2022AP182), a Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision from 2024 that has recently been argued before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Koble involves a lease that was found void and unenforceable…
Continue Reading Proper Remedies Under a Void Lease: Koble v. Marquardt

Attorney Rick Manthe presents on municipal zoning during Town Law Conference
Attorney Rick Manthe will give a presentation on Friday, October 31, to a Wisconsin Towns Association audience as part of the organization’s annual, daylong 2025 Town Law Conference. The Wisconsin Towns Association collaborates with the UW-Extension Local Government Center and the University of Wisconsin Law School to offer high quality, low cost legal educational programming to lawyers and non-lawyer public officials. Attorneys participating in this conference are…
Continue Reading Attorney Rick Manthe Presents on Municipal Zoning for Wisconsin Towns Association

Attorney Tiffany Highstrom presents on 2025 tax and finance changes for the Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin
Attorney Tiffany Highstrom will present on Thursday, October 30, during the Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin‘s 2025 Tax Webinar. The seminar will be presented by a panel of experts focusing on changes in taxes, finances, donations, estate taxes, and social security that affect family and divorce law following 2025 state law changes and the “One Big Beautiful Bill” in…
Continue Reading Attorney Tiffany Highstrom Presents on Finances and Taxes in Family Law

Assembly Bill 281 (Senate Bill 287) would require certain Wisconsin employers to participate in the federal E-Verify program. The proposed mandate would apply to state agencies and local government units within Wisconsin. In addition, bidders on state contracts subject to the low-bid process would be required to enroll in E-Verify to qualify to bid.

Insight from Ruder Ware Government & Public Affairs Team:

Assembly Bill 281 was recently approved by the Assembly Committee on Commerce, and its…
Continue Reading Wisconsin E-Verify Bill Poised to Pass Legislature

In a notable move, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) has directed the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (“OPTN”) to suspend some routine oversight activities during the ongoing government shutdown. In early October 2025, it was reported that HHS directed the United Network for Organ Sharing (“UNOS”)—the nonprofit contractor that operates the OPTN—to pause certain compliance and policy functions. UNOS responded by canceling some committee meetings and pausing its monitoring of reports on heart and lung transplant…
Continue Reading OPO Landscape Series: Shutdown Stalls Organ Transplant Oversight

Attorney Brian Sajdak discusses records retention during Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association Meeting
Stafford Rosenbaum Attorney Brian Sajdak will present on records retention during the District 5 Meeting of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association on October 23, 2025. Brian’s presentation is part of a daylong meeting on a variety of topics prepared by the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association and aimed at professional development for municipal clerks.
Attorney Brian Sajdak is a partner in Stafford Rosenbaum’s Milwaukee office, practicing municipal, zoning…
Continue Reading Attorney Brian Sajdak Presents for Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association

Stafford Rosenbaum Attorney Paul Kent recognized by Wisconsin Law Journal on Environmental Law Attorney Powerlist
Originally published on wislawjournal.com on September 29, 2025.
Paul Kent has experienced firsthand the ebb and flows of environmental law and not only a practicing attorney but as an educator.
“I started teaching in 1989 and it was the first wave of interest in environmental law. We had a huge attendance, and people were focused on pollution,” Kent said. “In the early 2000s, interest…
Continue Reading Attorney Paul Kent Earns Wisconsin Law Journal Powerlist Honor

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1 – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The purpose of the law was to extend 2017 tax cuts and fund other administration priorities. In order to pay for these policies, however, significant cuts were made to programs that provide health care and other assistance. In the public benefits world, much attention was paid – and rightfully so – to the negative impacts the bill would have on…
Continue Reading Under the Radar – Quiet Changes to Medicare by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

In July 2025, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it had issued “more than 20 subpoenas” to health care providers involved in the provision of gender affirming care to minors. On August 18, 2025, one of these subpoenas—issued to a children’s hospital in Pennsylvania (the “Hospital”)—was included in a court filing that became public (the “Subpoena”).

The Subpoena demanded that the Hospital produce extensive documentation from the period ranging from January 1, 2020, to the date…
Continue Reading Update on DOJ Subpoenas Regarding Gender Affirming Care for Minors

Among the cacophony of campaign promises floated by then-candidate Trump prior to the 2024 presidential election, one drum beat steadily: A vow to implement a no-tax-on-tips and no-tax-on-overtime law.

Martin Kuhn headshot

Martin C. Kuhn, Marquette 2004, Marquette 2004, is the founder of Kuhn Law, in Milwaukee, where he has focused on labor and employment for 19 years.

On July 4, 2025, oversized sharpie in hand, President Trump signed into law the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBB),[1] endeavoring…
Continue Reading One Big Beautiful Bill’s Impact on Tips and Overtime

Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Legislative Committee’s Veto of Administrative Rules, Dramatically Reshaping Agency Rulemaking
Introduction
On July 8, 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down five statutes that, since 2018, have empowered four members of a ten-member legislative committee, the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (“JCRAR”), to effectively veto an agency’s proposed and promulgated rules. See Evers v. Marklein (“Marklein II”), 2025 WI 36. In reaching this conclusion, the Court adopted a new interpretation of the…
Continue Reading Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Legislative Committee’s Veto of Administrative Rules