Litigation attorneys, Christopher Meuler and Ted Warpinski, authored a post for the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Construction & Public Contract Law Section Blog. Their blog post, Should We Assume that Assumption Is a Good Idea? State Wetland Permitting and Act 183, discuss the mechanics of assumed jurisdiction and potential benefits and costs in...
By: Todd Farris In Krueger v. AllEnergy Hixton, LLC, 2017 AP 1802 (Ct App. August 9, 2018) the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV in a 2-1 decision recognized the claim of anticipatory private nuisance but established a high bar to successfully plead one in court. The case involved a lawsuit filed by a group of Town of Hixton landowners who...
Environmental Attorney, Ted Warpinski, shared his comments for an article discussing the environmental protections business owners should have when dealing with environmental disasters entitled, Business Owners: Environmental Lawsuits May Sink You. An environmental lawyer may save your Wisconsin business. The author of the article, Benjy Schirm,...
By Christopher J. Jaekels On July 7, 2017, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held in Milewski v. Town of Dover – 2015AP1523 that the denial of the right to appeal a property tax assessment based on the tax payer’s refusal to grant access to the assessor for inspection, violates the tax payer’s due process rights under the 14th Amendment of the United...
By Christopher J. Jaekels & Michael Van Someren The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution requires federal, state and local governments to pay “just compensation” any time they “take” private property for public use. On June 23, 2017, in a close 5-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a Wisconsin zoning ordinance that...
By Elizabeth K. Miles Many state and federal regulatory agencies, including OSHA, EPA, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, may inspect a business with or without advance notice to ensure compliance with applicable rules and regulations. Here are a few tips to help ensure that your inspections go smoothly. Before an inspection. As...
By Christopher J. Jaekels & Michael Van Someren Property Owners Are Not Entitled to Notice of Rezoning Unless They Request it in Writing Under Wisconsin law, municipalities are not required to directly notify the owners of properties subject to rezoning. Generally, public notice (posting and newspaper publication) is sufficient notice under...
By Christopher J. Jaekels & Elizabeth K. Miles The Wisconsin Legislature recently doubled down on its prohibition of municipal time-of-sale requirements. As of July 14, 2015, municipalities could no longer require an owner to make certain improvements and show code compliance before selling a property. As of March 2, 2016, those prohibitions...
By Michael Van Someren On March 1, 2016, Wisconsin enacted a new statute and repealed and restated another existing statute, both related to the doctrine of adverse possession in the State of Wisconsin. The newly created statute § 893.305, Wisconsin Statutes, creates a mechanism for property owners to delay a potential adverse possessor’s claim...
By Joseph E. Tierney, IV For those who own property abutting a highway or are thinking of developing in such a zone, a recent Supreme Court decision may impact your right to compensation should the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (“DOT”) ever need direct access to a portion of your property. The ability to demonstrate a notable deprivation...
