Recent Articles

Important Changes to Zoning Law

John Bruce
March 19, 2012 20:37

The Wisconsin Legislature in its last session made significant changes to the ability of municipalities to regulate commercial and other buildings. Senate Bill 472 prohibits municipalities from imposing cost requirements on repair or remodeling of legal nonconforming structures.  Such...

Payroll Tax Cut Extension Signed into Law

Todd Goodwin
March 05, 2012 03:27

  PAYROLL TAX CUT EXTENSION PASSES     On February 22, 2012, the President signed into law the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. Under this new law, the payroll tax cut was extended until the December 31, 2012 which means...

How to Delete Your Google "History"

February 24, 2012 15:57

We have had numerous clients ask whether what they do on the internet may become public at some point. Our answer is always the same: "consider that anything you do on the internet is equivalent to putting something up on a billboard; at sometime, someone could take your digital history and...

Judge Sets Expert Witness Rates

January 17, 2012 00:06

wislawjournal.com recently reported that "Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Jeff Kremers issued a directive Monday morning that reimbursement of court-appointed expert witnesses should not exceed $2,800 at a maximum rate of $150 per hour." How is this likely to affect businesses...

Top 10 Concealed Carry Questions & Answers (From the December, 2011 State Bar of Wisconsin in its "Business Law News," as submitted by Peter F. Mullaney, von Briesen & Roper S.C., Milwaukee)

January 04, 2012 21:31

An excellent article with the 10 most common questions about Wisconsin's new Concealed Carry Statute has been posted by the State Bar of Wisconsin in its December, 2011 edition of Business Law News. This article was written By Peter F. Mullaney, von Briesen & Roper S.C., Milwaukee.

Worried About How You've Classified Workers as Independent Contractors or Employees?

January 04, 2012 20:34

Many employers worry about how they classify workers. While it seems less costly to classify many workers as "independent contractors" rather than "employees," the IRS can generally make a wrong decision in this area very costly to the employer. This all stems from the...

IRS Computer Glitsch Halts Issuance of FEIN's Until Next Year

December 30, 2011 16:47

Murphy's Law, "If something can go wrong, it will," has picked in inopportune time to strike the IRS. Just as we head into year-end, trying to cram one last transaction into 2011, the IRS computers have gone down, making it impossible to obtain Federal Employer Identification Numbers...

Oconomowoc Attorney Opinion: New Law Limiting Legal Fees Will Fail

December 14, 2011 19:34

On December 7, 2011, Wisconsin's Governor, Scott Walker, signed into law a provision that will limit the amount of attorney fees that can be awarded to three times the amount of compensatory damages awarded. While the new law was designed to protect those who create jobs from facing...

Ten Important Short Sale Tips and More by Guest, Karen G. Courtney

November 04, 2011 19:59

I have been writing Title Insurance on Real Estate Closings for a number of years. My underwriter is Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. ("ATG"), which only writes title insurance through its attorney-members. In the past year or so, I have received dozens of inquiries...

"Ask the Attorney" to Air on 11/22 and 12/20

November 03, 2011 14:59

I will be hosting two call in talk shows on WTKM, 104.9FM and 1510AM, starting at 10:00am, on Tuesdays, November 22 and December 20. WTKM is located in Hartford, Wisconsin, but reaches listeners from Racine to Madison to Sheboygan. Listeners are encouraged to call in with their legal questions....