“I don’t have the trust with (Wisconsin) DHS.” – Wisconsin Natural Resources Board member Terry Hilgenberg, Feb. 23, 2022.1
On Feb. 23, 2022, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulatory policy-setting body, the Natural Resources Board (NRB), met to discuss three proposed final rules to regulate per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in drinking water, wastewater (through surface water criteria), and groundwater.

In that meeting, the NRB unilaterally increased the proposed final drinking water standard from the Wisconsin…
Continue Reading Parts Per Quadrillion: Public Health Messaging and PFAS

By: Attorney Megan Drury
There are a variety of financial issues that will need to be addressed during a divorce, and in some cases, one spouse may be asked to provide financial support to the other. Spousal support is not an issue that will factor into every divorce case, but it may be necessary in situations where the income earned by one spouse was used to cover most or all of the family’s living expenses. Decisions about spousal…
Continue Reading What Are My Options if I Can No Longer Afford to Pay Spousal Support?

Rock County Human. Servs. v. A.P., Appeal nos. 2022AP248-249; 7/14/22, District 4; (1-judge opinion, ineligible for publication); case activity
This is one more in a long line of appellate decisions affirming a default finding of grounds for terminating a parent’s rights without a finding that the parent had behaved egregiously as required by Dane Cnty. DHS v. Mable K., 2013 WI 28, ¶71, 346 Wis. 2d 396, 828 N.W.2d 198. The difference here is that the court…
Continue Reading COA affirms default in TPR, violates rules of appellate procedure

By: Attorney Jason Luczak
There are different types of offenses that are considered to be white collar crimes, and these offenses usually involve illegal activity of a financial nature. Embezzlement is a common charge in white collar criminal cases, and those who have been accused of this offense will need to understand the nature of the charges and the potential consequences of a conviction. Anyone who has been accused of a crime will want to secure legal representation…
Continue Reading How Are Embezzlement Charges Handled in Wisconsin?

Katie is our new legal assistant. We are pretty sure that as you interact with Katie, you will realize she fits right in here at OG+S. Below, she gives a taste of what we mean by that (see: cat’s name).

I grew up mostly in Wisconsin and Michigan, I am the youngest of three children, and both of my older brothers went to UW Madison (Go Badgers!).

I am a graduate of Jackson College in Jackson, MI, where I…
Continue Reading Introducing Katie Francey

July 19, 2022 – The Dane County Circuit Court did not erroneously exercise its discretion by requiring parents who sued a school district over its transgender student policy to disclose their identities to defense counsel, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled.In

John Doe 1 v. Madison Metropolitan School District, 2022 WI 65 (July 8, 2022), the supreme court held that it was proper for the circuit court to require the parents to disclose their identities because otherwise defense counsel…
Continue Reading Parents Challenging School Transgender Policy Not Entitled to Anonymity

July 17, 1962, witnessed an event that changed the course of Wisconsin history.  That day, Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson signed the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Roll of Attorneys. At age 28, she could finally fulfill her childhood dream of practicing law. She ultimately became Wisconsin’s first woman justice and first woman chief justice.  When she retired from the legal profession 57 years later, she was the longest-serving state supreme court justice in Wisconsin and the nation.

In honor of the occasion, …
Continue Reading 60th Anniversary of C.J. Abrahamson’s Admission to Practice in Wisconsin

Nancy Kindschy v. Brian Aish, 2020AP1775, petition for review of a published court of appeals decision granted 6/22/22; case activity (including briefs)
Issues (from the petition for review):

Whether Wis. Stat. §813.125, as construed by the Court of Appeals to prohibit speech from a public sidewalk intended to persuade listeners to cease their sinful conduct (participation in abortion) and repent immediately before something bad happens and they no longer have time to repent, violates the First Amendment of…
Continue Reading SCOW takes up harassment injunction against anti-abortion protester

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, USSC No. 20-843, 6/23/22 reversing N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Beach (2nd Cir. unpublished); Scotusblog page (including briefs and commentary)
You can read tons of analysis of, and commentary on, of this precedent-demolishing (and establishing) case at Scotusblog (and many, many other places). SCOTUS abandoned its previous balancing approach to assessing gun regulations under the Second Amendment in favor of a history-only approach (with that “history,”…
Continue Reading Some (brief) notes on Bruen

July 18, 2022 – To recover attorney fees under Wisconsin’s public records law, a records requester “must obtain a judicially sanctioned change” in the relationship between the requester and the custodian of the records, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled.In Friends of Frame Park U.A. v. City of Waukesha, 2022 WI 57 (July 6, 2022), the supreme court held (4-3) that “prevails” as used in the fee-shifting provision of the state public records law is a term of…
Continue Reading Records Requesters Must Win in Court to Recover Attorney Fees

Walworth County v. M.R.M., 2022AP140-FT, certification filed 7/14/22, District 2; case activity

1. Does the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Waukesha County v. E.J.W., 2021 WI 85, ¶38, 399 Wis. 2d 471, 966 N.W.2d 590, have retroactive application or only prospective application?
2. In a ch. 51 case involving a petition to extend a commitment order, is circuit court competency determined from the expiration of the earlier commitment order or from the expiration of the extension order,…
Continue Reading COA asks SCOW to clarify circuit court competency to conduct remand hearings in ch. 51 cases

State v. Alberto E. Rivera, 2021AP1100, 7/12/22, District 1, (not recommended for publication); case activity, (including briefs)

The court of appeals rejects Rivera’s claims for ineffective assistance of postconviction counsel for failing to raise two claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Rivera challenged trial counsel’s counsel’s failure to seek suppression of an in-court identification because (a) it was tainted by an earlier suggestive “showup” procedure, and (b) his right to counsel was violated during the line-up…
Continue Reading COA rejects Ineffective Assistance Claims Based on the Failure to Seek Suppression of an In-court Identification

State v. Junior L. Williams-Holmes, 2021AP809-CR, District 2, 6/15/22 (recommended for publication); case activity (including briefs)
Williams-Holmes was given a bifurcated prison sentence and consecutive probation after being convicted of battery to and false imprisonment of his girlfriend. Because of Williams-Holmes’s history of domestic violence, the circuit court ordered, as a condition of probation and extended supervision, that Williams-Holmes not reside with any member of the opposite sex or any child not related to him by blood “without permission…
Continue Reading CoA upholds probation condition requiring judge’s permission to live with certain persons

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is following through on its promise to crack down on violations of consumers’ right to repair the products they buy. Back in July 2021, the FTC announced that it would ramp up enforcement against companies who unfairly prevented customers from fixing products themselves or choosing their own repair shops. In July 2022, it announced actions accusing Harley-Davidson and MWE Investments, LLC (a manufacturer of Westinghouse outdoor power equipment) of doing just that. Both…
Continue Reading FTC Gets Serious About Consumers’ Right to Repair Their Products