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Shot of a group of unrecognisable businesspeople having a meeting in a modern office
Planning the way to profit

The National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) has changed the dynamic in union organizing efforts by shifting responsibility to the employer to seek a representation election if the Union provides the employer with representation cards from a majority of the employees. In a recent decision, the Board created a new dynamic for organizing. Rather than requiring the Union to file for an election if the employer doubts the majority of the employees desire a union, now it is the responsibility…
Continue Reading NLRB Adopts New Framework for Union Representation Proceedings

von Briesen & Roper, s.c., today announced the promotion of Christopher E. Avallone to Shareholder.
Christopher E. Avallone is co-chair of the Appellate Section and a member of the Commercial and Business Litigation Section. Avallone focuses his practice on representing clients in complex civil litigation, with an emphasis on disputes between shareholders or members of privately-held companies, breach of contract actions, and class action defense. He is recognized as a Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (2023) for Commercial Litigation…
Continue Reading von Briesen Announces Shareholder Promotion

Pierce v. Banks et al., No. A23A0394, 2023 WL 4227923 (Ga. Ct. App. June 28, 2023)

In Pierce, the Georgia Court of Appeals issued a decision regarding the enforceability of settlement agreements where strict “mirror-image” acceptance is not achieved. Appellant Aaron Pierce was involved in a motor-vehicle accident with Appellees Kyndyl Banks and Octavius Avery Smith. Following the accident, counsel for Pierce made a written pre-suit offer to Appellees’ insurer, Trexis One Insurance Corporation. The offer letter provided that…
Continue Reading Georgia Court of Appeals Decision on ‘Mirror-Image’

In its recent opinion in 5 Walworth, LLC v. Engerman Contracting, Inc., 2023 WI 51, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overruled its prior decision in Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., LLC v. Nebraska Cultures of California, Inc., 2016 WI 14, 367 Wis. 2d 221, 876 N.W.2d 72. Specifically, the Court rejected its analysis in Pharmacal that in order for coverage to apply under the standard insuring agreement of a CGL policy, the alleged property damage must be to property other than the…
Continue Reading Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds the Integrated Systems Rule No Longer Applies to Determine Coverage Under a CGL Policy

Smart law, legal advice icons and astute lawyer working tools in lawyers office
Smart law, legal advice icons and lawyer working tools in the lawyers office showing concept of digital law and online technology of astute law and regulations .

Ending its 2022 term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the three long awaited employment law decisions that impact all employment settings.

1. In Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General; Decision No. 22-174 (06/29/2023), the U.S. Supreme Court clarified an employer’s burden when denying an employee’s request for a religious accommodation. While previous court direction may have suggested an employer could satisfy the burden for denying a request if it showed “more than a de minimus cost”, the Court clarified that…
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Issues Three Important Employment Law Decisions

von Briesen & Roper, s.c., today announced that attorney Jonathan J. Feldbruegge joined the Milwaukee office as a Shareholder in the Litigation and Risk Management Practice. Feldbruegge has more than 10 years of litigation experience and focuses his practice on construction litigation, fire and explosion litigation, insurance coverage and fiduciary litigation. 
Feldbruegge is recognized as a Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch (2021-2023) for Product Liability Litigation – Defendants and is listed as a Wisconsin Rising Stars (2019-2022) in Civil…
Continue Reading von Briesen Welcomes Jonathan J. Feldbruegge

Athletic running track with numbers
Athletic running track with lane numbers at a stadium

Enacted in 1972, Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational activities that receive federal funds and requires public elementary and secondary schools, as well as colleges and universities, to effectively accommodate the athletic interests and abilities of students and provide equal opportunity in the benefits, opportunities, and treatment provided for athletic teams.

While Title IX does not directly address gender identity, the Department of Education recently released a notice of proposed rulemaking related to a transgender student’s…
Continue Reading All Tied Up: OCR Issues New Resources on Equal Athletic Opportunity Under Title IX

On June 13, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) once again issued a decision that alters the standard employers must use when determining whether a worker is an independent contractor. Specifically, in The Atlanta Opera, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 95 (2023) (Atlanta Opera), the NLRB provided that its analysis of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor will look to a number of common-law factors and no longer consider entrepreneurial characteristics to be a main consideration…
Continue Reading NLRB Changes the Independent Contractor Standard

Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company, Inc. v. Employers Insurance Company of Wausau, 2023 WI 42

In Pepsi-Cola, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a per curiam decision on May 24, 2023, affirming a court of appeals decision dated July 8, 2022, Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company, Inc. v. Employers Insurance Company of Wausau, 2022 WI App 45, 404 Wis. 2d 337, 979 N.W. 2d 627, because no three Supreme Court justices could reach agreement to either affirm, reverse, or affirm in part…
Continue Reading Wisconsin Supreme Court Affirms Court of Appeals Decision that Anti-assignment Clause Does Not Prohibit Post-loss Assignment of Insurance Rights

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) concept.
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) concept.

On May 30, 2023, General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a Memorandum titled “Non-Compete Agreements that Violate the National Labor Relations Act.” In the Memorandum, Ms. Abruzzo sets forth her position and view that the “proffer, maintenance, and enforcement of [non-compete agreements] violate Section 8(a)(1) of the Act” except in limited circumstances.

Section 8(a)(1) makes it illegal for employers to interfere or restrain employee’s Section 7 rights. Section 7 of the National Labor…
Continue Reading NLRB Memorandum GC23-08: ‘Non-Compete Agreements that Violate the NLRA’

School Bus
Yellow school bus crossing a bridge

It is every student’s favorite time of the school year: Field trip season! However, for school districts across Wisconsin grappling with staffing challenges, field trips are additional areas of risk where student needs can go unmet. Such emerging needs might include accommodations for diabetes, the fastest growing chronic disease in children in the United States. On a national scale, from 2001 to 2017, the number of people under age 20 living with Type 1 diabetes increased by 45 percent.
Continue Reading Ride on the Magic School Bus: Navigating Student Needs with Staff Shortages

von Briesen & Roper, s.c., today announced that attorney Sherry B. Clay joined the Firm’s Trusts and Estates Section.Clay focuses her practice on estate planning; tax planning including revocable trusts, irrevocable grantor trusts, life insurance trusts, supplemental needs trusts, spousal access trusts, beneficiary grantor trusts, and qualified personal residence trusts; administration of probate and non-probate estates; and premarital agreements. She has significant experience creating and funding family business entities and foundations. She is a member of the State Bar…
Continue Reading von Briesen Welcomes Sherry B. Clay

Real estate inheritance concept and contract agreement.
Real estate inheritance concept and contract agreement.

Generally speaking, real estate is subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is located. That makes coordination of property ownership outside your home state an especially important piece of your overall estate plan. Failing to specifically address the funding/titling of this real estate can cause, among other hassles, unnecessary court processes at death. The following are a few things to consider.

Out-Of-State Real Estate
If you utilize a revocable trust as your main estate planning vehicle…
Continue Reading A Home Away From Home: Planning Considerations for Out-of-State Real Estate, Mobile Homes and Foreign Real Estate

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued a proposal and request for public comment regarding the Agency’s plans to establish regulatory limits for PFAS compounds in drinking water (see Federal Register, 88 FR 18638, 3/29/23).
The proposed EPA rule includes regulatory limits for six PFAS compounds, most notably, the compounds perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perflourooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), which are two of the most common PFAS chemicals that have been historically used in numerous manufactured products. Specifically, the…
Continue Reading EPA Proposes Regulatory Limits for PFAS in Drinking Water

Secura Supreme Insurance Company v. Estate of Huck2023 WI 21, 406 Wis. 2d 297, — N.W.2d — (Filed March 22, 2023)
In Estate of Huck, the decedent Daniel Keith Huck was killed by a motorist while performing his job duties for the Village of Mount Pleasant. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin affirmed the court of appeals’ decision, which affirmed the order of the trial court, granting judgment to the Estate of Daniel Keith Huck. After receiving the tortfeasor’s liability…
Continue Reading The Wisconsin Supreme Court Issues Two Decisions Concerning the Interpretation of Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Reducing Clauses

On April 6, 2023, Governor Tony Evers signed 2023 Wisconsin Act 4 (“Act 4” or the “Act”) into law, which will have widespread impacts on the classification of jailers employed by Wisconsin counties under the Wisconsin Retirement System (“WRS”) as of January 1, 2024 (the Act’s effective date). Act 4 will impact all counties, including those that presently classify jailers as “general employees” for WRS purposes. Although there are still some unknowns arising out of Act 4, below are…
Continue Reading 2023 Wisconsin Act 4