Wisconsin Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

If your ex continues to harass you, depending on the number of messages or attempts to contact you and the content of those messages, you may consider applying for  harassment restraining order against him. It carries criminal sanctions if he violates the restraining order, once in effect. ... Read More

Medical malpractice cases are nearly impossible to win in Wisconsin. I wrote a blog at our law firm's web site on the difficulties of pursuing such a case. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did an excellent article pointing out the difficulties in an article last year or in 2015. You can google to read it. If you feel strongly that you were harmed, gather up all of your current and prior medical records and have them reviewed by a malpractice lawyer. They will review the file and if they deteremine there is some viability to your claim, will hire an outside medical doctor to review the records to determine if there was malpractice. Keep in mind that 9/10 cases that are pursued, wind up with a defense verdict for the hospital or doctor. The statute of limitations for suing on medical malpractice in Wisconsin is three years from the date of the occurrence. Failure to file the lawsuit within three years, would forever bar your claim.... Read More

Under Wisconsin law, the acknowledgment of paternity acts as a judgment of paternity. The only thing to determine after that are "terms" concerning the child, child custody, placement, custody, child support. Your ex boyfriend would be required, in my opinion, to file a motion to reopen the "judgment" (acknowledgment of paterntiy) under s. 806.07 for good cause, and convince the court that there is some reasonable doubt that your current boyfriend is the biolgoical father of the child. If you had sexual intercourse with both during the possible period of conception, that may give rise for the court to have concerns who the father may be. If the court were to grant such a motion for relief under s. 806.07, I could see at that point, the court ordering DNA testing for all of you and the child to derermine parentage. ... Read More

I'm not an expert in this area, but if your parents believe you are mentally incompetent, they can petition for guardianship and/or conservatorship over you. You would have to be notified of those court proceedings, and under Wisconsin law, you would have the right to object and to request a court appointed guardian ad litem, to advcoate in your best interest. ... Read More

The answer to your question is yes: you can sue anyone for anything in this country; Just because you can, however, doesn't always mean one should. If the damages are under $10,000, file a small claims lawsuit against the body shop for the shoddy work done. You probably will need a repair report from an indepdendent repair shop indicating what work needs to be done on your vehicle to make it correct and what the cost may be. If the case goes to trial, someone from that body shop would have to testify in court in your behalf.... Read More

Medical malpractice cases in Wisconsin are nearly impossible to pursue and win. I wrote a blog on the difficulties of pursuing a medical malpractice case last year at our web site (law firm) under personal injury issues. The Miilwaukee- Journal Sentinel also wrote an excellent article on how medical malpractice cases are basically extinct in Wisconsin. The statute of limitations is three years to start a lawsuit from the date of the occurrence or your claim would be forever barred. I am sorry what happened to you, but unless you sustained some type of permanent and viable damage as a result of the treatment, I wouldn't see this as an actionable case. ... Read More

Being inconvenienced or being treated rudely, doesn't rise to the level of an actionable legal case. I am sorry for how you were treated, but I don't see this as a viable medical malpractice claim. If you are unhappy about what occurred, you should consider writing a letter to the medical provider so they know what happened.... Read More

The answer to your question is yes. Under Wisconsin law, the name on the birth certificate has no legal effect. Paternity is established by either both of you signing a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity or by either of you filing a formal paternity case in court, where DNA testing is typically ordered. That is a definitive test that will prove who the biological father is.... Read More

These type of "bad food" cases or "foreign objects" in food are treated with great disdain and mistrust by insurance companies. They routinely deny the claim and force individuals to sue them. Unless  your child received some type of significant injury, there really isn't an injury case worth pursuing. Take pictures of the object and food product and write a stern but respectful letter to the company about what happened and your concern that your baby could have choked. Maybe they offer you some free food coupons or several hundred dollars for the incident. It is really not worth in my opinion, involving a personal injury attorney with. I'm certainly glad your child didn't choke and is o.k. That is really the most important thing. The statute of limitations for a minor pursuing a personal injury case in Wisconsin is 2 years past the age of majority, not the typical 3 years from the incident. Failure to file a lawsuit within 2 years of the child's 18th Birthday would forever bar the claim.... Read More

Is there a court order in effect that allows the paternal grandparents third party visitation? If there is, you all must follow the court orders or you could be found in contempt of court. If there is not a court order in place for third party visitation, you do not have to let them see the child at all; if they don't like it, they can file a petition with the court to request third party visitation.... Read More

Jurisdiction for divorce is established by residency in the state where you are now living, not where you were married. If you reside here in Wisconsin, you must be a resident of the state for 6 consecutive months and the county you live in for 30 days prior to filing. If you meet that requirement, you csnnfild for divorce. You will need to hire a process server prvsheroff to personally serve the divorce papers on your spouse. If they can't be found, after reasonable attempts have been made to have the papers served, you can resort to what is called, "substituted service." This allows mailing the pairs and publishing in the newspaper. Once all of that is accomplished and assuming no response from your spouse, you should be able to proceed with a default divorce in Wisconsin. ... Read More

There are statute of limitations in all civil cases. There is a 20 year statute of limitations to enforce a judgment. Prior to the 20 years, s.806.07 would apply. For allegations of fraud, mistake, neglect and inadvertence, there is a 1 year limitation from the date of the order or judgment. For other factors under the statute, the motion must be filed in a timely and reasonable fashion for the motionto be considered. Sooner is better than later.... Read More

I am sorry to hear what happened to you and the shoddy representation you received from your lawyer. It sounds like you have already filed a grievance with the office of lawyer regulation (OLR). I can't tell from your post if the lawyer has been disciplined in your case or you are commenting about prior discipline they may have received. To pursue your malpractice case, you will need a complete copy of your file from the lawyer. The statute of limitations for pursuing a legal malpractice case on Wisconsin is under contract, and a 6 year statute of limitations to start a lawsuit or otherwise the claim would be forever barred.... Read More

The answer to your question is yes, you have a right to sue your lawyer for professional legal malpractice, if in fact they screwed up your case. You may have a hard time finding a lawyer interested in suing them, given the limited damages of your case; the argument being, assuming the lawyer screwed up, how were you damaged financially? Can't the case be properly ref-filed and done? The statute of limitations for suing in Wisconsin is 6 years under contract from the date of the contract (occurrence). Failure to file within the 6 years, would forever bar your claim. You can also consider filing a grievance with the office of lawyer regulation (OLR).... Read More

Read your fee agreement; many family lawyers write into their fee agreement that if your case makes it to the pre-trial level, and the case doesn't settle, you may be required to pay an additional advance fee (retainer) to complete the case. If the fee agreement doesn't specifically state that, you would not be obligated to pay a second retainer.... Read More

Does your lawyer offer you an explanation why any money needs to remain in escrow or trust more than a year later? The answer to your question is yes; you can consider hiring another lawyer to take over whatever is left of your case to secure the remaining funds for you. Another option would be sending your lawyer a written demand letter to release the funds within 10 days; if they refuse, and offer no explanation as to why those funds need to remain in trust, in writing to you, file a grievance with the office of lawyer regulation. (OLR).... Read More

Sure would have helped had you mentioned what your car is worth. In every state, a bankruptcy debtor is allowed to keep a vehicle. In most of these states, the value of the vehicle is limited to a certain dollar amount. In Nevada, the dollar amount is considered rather generous, at $15,000.... Read More

When you file bankruptcy, you are required to list EVERY DEBT. Is there something about EVERY or DEBT that does not apply to your reverse mortgage? If you fail to list EVERY DEBT in your bankruptcy case, you will be committing several criminal offenses, so unless you want to face jail time because you made a mistake, I urge you to get experienced representation. Or you are welcome to learn the hard way. Your choice!... Read More

You can make a claim for injury against Enterprise and their  lisbility carrier as well as their driver. Under Wisconsin law, you have 3 years to file a lawsuit from the date of the occurrence or your claim will be forever barred. You will need to request the accident report on your own. If injured in the accident, you are well advised to hire a personal injury attorney to help pursue the case for you.... Read More