Articles and Blogs

In a May 15, 2017 7-1[1] decision authored by Hon. Justice Kagan, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Kentucky Supreme Court’s “clear statement rule” – that an agent can deprive her principal of the rights of access to the courts and trial by jury through an arbitration agreement only if expressly provided in... READ MORE

On August 30, 2016, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (“Court”) affirmed the circuit court’s decision that a plaintiff had not stated a claim on which relief could be granted in an action against a hospital and its employees for alleged violations of Wis. Stat. § 146.82, regarding the confidentiality of health care records, and... READ MORE

On June 23, 2016, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 opinion that the City of Milwaukee can no longer enforce a requirement that police, firefighters, teachers and other public workers maintain bona fide residence within the city boundaries. The ruling reverses the state appeals court’s decision that a 2013 state law, Wis.... READ MORE

On June 23, 2016, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a decision enforcing the three-year statute of limitations in a medical malpractice action. What makes this otherwise routine decision noteworthy is its exceedingly rare context: sexual assault of minors by a family physician. Though the legal issue before the court was the application of the... READ MORE

On July 11, 2013, the Wisconsin Supreme Court (“Court”) released its decision in Outagamie County v. Melanie L., reversing the decision of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals which affirmed the circuit court’s extension of an involuntary medication order.  The full text of the opinion can be found at (http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=99311). Procedural Posture The case involved... READ MORE

The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported data breaches have affected 29 million medical records. Of that number, approximately 60 percent of the breaches between 2010 and 2013 resulted directly from theft. These statistics reported by JAMA should leave many hospital administrators nervous about the possibility of future data breaches. A hospital’s... READ MORE

In WI v. Going Places Travel Corp., Nos. 2014AP1859-62 (April 14, 2015), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed a $3.8 million restitution order and nearly $842,000 in forfeitures against companies (“Travel Services”) stemming from multiple misrepresentations and failures to disclose required information when selling travel club memberships to Wisconsin residents. In this case, Travel... READ MORE

In Bank of New York Mellon v. Carson, 2015 WI 2015 (Feb. 17, 2015), the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Wis. Stat. § 846.102, the statute governing the foreclosure of abandoned properties, authorizes circuit courts to compel mortgagees to bring an abandoned property to sale after the expiration of the five-week redemption period. The... READ MORE

On Tuesday, March 31, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion denying individual Medicaid providers the ability to sue state officials in court for failing to reimburse them appropriately under §1396a(30)(A) of the Medicaid Act. In a 5-4 decision, the Court rejected the providers’ argument that the Act or the Constitution... READ MORE

In Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund v. Holcomb, the Indiana Supreme Court addressed a question of first impression regarding whether Indiana’s Medical Malpractice Act’s cap on attorney fees from a Patient Compensation Fund (“Fund”) award also applies to reduce the Fund’s liability. Holcomb was an adult wrongful death medical malpractice case in which the trial... READ MORE