Madison-based law firm DeWitt Ross & Stevens is joining with Mackall, Crounse & Moore, PLC, of Minneapolis, Minn., on Nov. 16. Mackall, Crounse & Moore adds 26 attorneys to the mix. The combined firms will have more than 100 attorneys…
Ismael Ozanne, a Democrat and Dane County’s district attorney since 2010, has decided to run for Wisconsin attorney general in the 2014 election. State Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, and Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel, a Republican, have already announced…
Sheriff Dave Mahoney is suggesting a new jail downtown could cost as much as $120 million, but the city could bring the cost closer to $100 million if it builds away from downtown instead of expanding the current jail. The…
If you’re unfamiliar with the term “happy law,” it pertains to heading off legal trouble before it develops. So much of business law pertains to preventively reviewing policy and process shortcomings before they lead to legal violations that IB reached out to a variety of legal experts to explain how employers can deploy the “stay-out-of-jail” card.
In response to a lawsuit an employee filed in 2011, Cleary Building Corp. has settled a wage dispute that grew into a class-action suit involving 808 company employees across four states. At issue was the question of whether the employee…
City of Madison Police Chief Noble Wray has announced his retirement effective in September. Wray joined the department in 1984 and has served as the city’s top cop since 2004. Recently, he’s taken flak for the handling of the fatal…
A Kohler Co. employee was accused of charging $117,500 on his company credit cards to start an escort service using Las Vegas call girls. Kirk Riddle, 46, made the purchases between April 16 and May 17, according to a report from Sheboygan Press Media. He allegedly spent $72,000 on advertising for his Las Vegas business. He is charged with 12 felony counts of theft from a business and could face up to 31½ years in prison.
Employment law has grabbed more headlines in recent years, particularly due to the more aggressive enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act by the National Labor Relations Board. In particular, Section 7 of the act, which among other things pertains to protecting concerted activity among employees discussing working conditions, has been a source of controversy.
Anyone who thought a recent federal court beat-down would chasten the National Labor Relations Board – and give employers some room to breathe – got a rapid-response “not so fast” from NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce. The NLRB’s determination, based on the conviction the ruling has only limited application, was but the latest act in an unfolding legal drama that has most employers in limbo as they decide how much legal weight to give to dozens of decisions made by the NLRB since January of 2012.
Are you Executive Register material? Time to make sure IB has all of your current information as we get ready to select the Executive Register Class of 2013, Dane County’s business executive who’s who! Be sure to add or update your…
The Wisconsin Department of Justice confirmed in a letter to the Wisconsin State Journal that it is investigating Community Care Resources, Inc., a Middleton foster care agency, for possible criminal activity. The state alleges the for-private child-placing agency misused taxpayer…
Of all the chilling workforce trends, the one that should stand out for Wisconsin businesses involves the retirements of hundreds of thousands of baby boomers who will have to be replaced during the next several years. The volume of business knowledge they will take with them is reason enough to persuade them to remain an active part of the workforce and/or community giving. With their lifetime of contributions in mind, IB’s annual 7 over 70 celebrates people who still give back to businesses and the community.
For 13 years, In Business has celebrated the successes of rising business stars in our annual 40 Under 40 issue, and each year we have marveled at the vast richness and diversity of the young candidates. The competition is stiff. Not only are we looking for examples of business success and moxie, but also for people who demonstrate a firm commitment to the local community through board involvement, volunteerism, or other activities.
Wishful thinking – it’s perhaps the most common business compliance mistake because it’s the one that leads to all others. Whether it’s the attitude that “everybody does it,” even though “it” is illegal, or a dismissive approach to labor and employment law – “that’s a stupid rule” is a common refrain – organizations that don’t stay current with the laws that affect them, or don’t respect those laws enough to align their policies with them, run the risk of landing in court.
This week IBTV visits with two of the partners of the newly formed Boardman & Clark, LLP law firm. The firm becomes the second-largest Madison-based law firm, with more than 70 lawyers representing a broad range of legal disciplines and…
At some point later this month, the earth could move when the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, and by extension on the ACA itself. After the tone and direction of oral arguments appeared to indicate the justices are skeptical about the individual mandate, which would expand the federal government’s powers under the Commerce Clause, there is real concern in the White House that some adjustments will have to be made in 2013.
They sound like an HR director’s worst nightmare – supervisors who go rogue in the most blatantly inappropriate ways, making a company or organization a local laughingstock or, worse, the target of litigation.
Many don't know I was in the seminary for two years," said Tim Valentyn, president of Murphy Desmond law firm. In his freshman and sophomore years in high school, Valentyn, 57, attended an all-boys boarding school in Oneida, Wis., something that was not uncommon at the time, he explained. "It was very much like Holy Name Seminary. Did I have any clue as to whether I wanted to be a priest? No."
Of all the myriad decisions business owners must make each year, whether to allow their employees and customers to carry guns is probably among the most sensitive they’ll ever have to face – and face it they will when Wisconsin’s new concealed-carry law goes into effect on Nov. 1.
With most of the start-up focus on accounting and banking advice, when does an entrepreneur need legal services? More often than he or she might prefer, as two area legal professionals explain.
