Posts under ‘General Civil Litigation’

The short answer is potentially a fair amount of rights, though as with many things it depends. In general residential work, the main mechanism for enforcing payment for both general contractors and sub-contractors is through the use of construction liens. This may not always be the case in commercial projects as it makes a difference [...]

As a seller of residential (or commercial) real estate be very careful as to what you attempt to conceal or fail to disclose. The Wisconsin Appellate Court recently held that misrepresentations are not limited to oral or written declarations but also could include efforts to conceal defects, such as painting a basement wall to conceal [...]

If you are in business long enough, chances are at some point you will be served with a summons and complaint for a garnishee action, an attempt to collect money from your business for a debt that someone else owes. While earnings garnishments are relatively common, non-earnings garnishments are less so and carry with them [...]

The dreaded “frivolous claim” is always a difficult situation. First, you have to show that it is actually “frivolous”, and second, you may still end up spending a fair amount on attorneys’ fees getting even a frivolous claim dismissed. It is sometimes difficult to define what exactly is frivolous. In most lawsuits the Defendant feels [...]

Unfortunately, as is the case with many legal questions, the answer is maybe. There are a number of factors to look at before that question can be answered, and most likely you would need to see a lawyer to evaluate each individual case. Generally speaking a party suing your business, if they obtain a judgment [...]

After all of the discovery, motions, and attempts at settlement are completed it is time to go to trial, where the case will be decided. I have seen numerous reports making varied estimate, but the general consensus seems to be that only 2-5% of cases actually go to trial, the other 95-98% are resolved in [...]

While mediation is voluntary, in most counties in Wisconsin, including Milwaukee and Waukesha County, the Court will order the parties to attend mediation. This does not mean that the parties must settle at mediation, only that they will attend. What Happens at Mediation? Mediation usually takes place after most of the discovery has been completed [...]

While there are a number of motions that may be filed during and after the discovery process, such as motions to compel discovery, or motions for protective orders, what I want to talk about are motions which directly effect the outcome of the case. So even though the title of this section is titled “Motions” [...]

After the initial pleadings are entered, there will generally be a scheduling conference between the Attorneys and the Judge to set the schedule for the case. Part of that schedule will include a date in which all discovery must be completed. Litigation has been described as playing poker with everyone’s cards face up. While this [...]

The pleadings stage is the initial stage of any litigation. The Plaintiff (or the person bringing the action) will file a summons and a complaint. The summons will indicate that the Defendant(s) have either 20 or 45 days (depending on the allegations made) to answer the complaint. The complaint will contain all of the allegations [...]

If you run a business, sooner or later you will have a disagreement with a customer, contractor, or vendor that may lead to litigation. For many business owners litigation, and what is entailed, is clouded in mystery. The next few articles are going to attempt to illuminate some of those mysteries and explain the process, [...]

In an ideal world we would always get what we pay for, and people would always live up to their obligations. Unfortunately in both residential and commercial buildings, the contractor does not always provide the quality of work that was contracted for. Often litigation arises to resolve the dispute. The focus of the litigation is [...]

It seems quite often you see contracts that contain provisions similar to the following: Either party may cancel this contract at any time by giving the other party 60 days written notice. This always sounds like a good idea when you discuss it. Basically it is the back-out provision, if things are going badly, you [...]

The short answer: YES. DirecTV is cracking down on Commercial Misuse over the last year and a half, particularly misuse of NFL Sunday Ticket, resulting in huge fines. Previously DirecTV had limited its focus to just those who were using “Pirate” boxes or illegal access cards to get at its content. Now, DirecTV is unleashing [...]

In an opinion that was issued last week the Wisconsin Appellate Court upheld a circuit court decision in which the plaintiff’s were not able to sue for actual damages in a failed residential real estate transaction because they did not return the earnest money to the buyer. The court ruled that they irrevocably elected liquidated [...]

In a January 2007 decision, Estate of James H. Matteson v. Robert R. Matteson et al. , the Wisconsin Appellate court takes the time to further clarify its decision from Lange v. Bartlett , 121 Wis. 2d 599, 602 which stated [W]hen one partner leaves a partnership and allows the other to continue the business, [...]

To the unsuspecting business, there are a surprising amount of consumer protection laws in Wisconsin, especially relating to penalties from a business. Businesses regularly get themselves into hot water by imposing sanctions on consumers without taking those laws into account, the consequences can be dire and expensive. A recent Wisconsin Appellate case James Cook et [...]

Unless you are making all other parties actually aware of your business entity, you may not be. A recent Wisconsin Appellate decision Black v. Bach, 2005AP3010 reminds us that agents (this means anyone, employees, owners, or anyone acting to bind the LLC or Corporation) need to take steps to ensure that everyone they deal with [...]

It is probably relatively obvious how to find an attorney, open the yellow pages or jump on Google and you will have thousands to choose from. The title of this post should be “how to find a GOOD attorney in Milwaukee?” The first thing to realize is that a good attorney for one person, is [...]

The short answer- Yes; but you can only recover damages of up to $5,000 plus statutory attorney’s fees ($250-$500) and court costs. A recent decision in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals Winkler v. Spaman Wholesale confirmed as much when it denied the defendant’s motion to vacate the default judgment for $5,000 because the demand in [...]