As new school board members and other municipal officers are taking their oaths, it is a good time for a reminder about the Open Meetings Law and closed sessions. This Legal Update will review some basic, but important, information about governmental body meetings and closed sessions. Every meeting of a governmental body must initially be…
The officials for our school district, municipal, and other institutional clients often inquire about estate planning resources and legal counsel. This article is intended to provide an introduction to estate planning and to remind you that our firm has the capability of assisting individuals with estate planning and other related legal issues. One topic that…
Two recently-enacted stimulus laws, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), provide that an employer may be eligible for tax benefits if the employer makes payments toward its employees’ student loans in certain circumstances. Employers and employees can avoid paying federal payroll taxes on an employee’s student…
April 17, 2021 marks the start of the turkey hunting season in Wisconsin. The season kicks off with a special youth hunting weekend during which those who are 15 years of age or younger are permitted to hunt, provided they are accompanied by an adult and hold a valid license, stamp, and harvest authorization. The…
The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, invalidated Governor Evers’ public health emergency declarations on March 31, 2021. The Court’s decision in Fabick v. Evers, 2020AP1718-OA, March 31, 2021 declared a series of public health emergency declarations invalid. The case was originally brought to the Court challenging the validity of Governor Evers’ July 30,…
Much of the media coverage and discussion of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) has focused on stimulus checks and employee paid-leave provisions. However, ARPA also included several other significant provisions that affect public school districts and their special education programs. ARPA allocated nearly $123 billion to a new Elementary and Secondary Schools…
Organized labor has renewed its efforts at the state and federal level to expand various labor protections related to employees’ rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace. House and Senate Democrats introduced the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) on February 4, 2021 (the House previously passed the PRO Act in…
When a public or private entity receives notice of an actual or potential claim or lawsuit, one of the first steps it should take is to implement a litigation hold. In general terms, a litigation hold is a directive to preserve documents, including electronically stored information, and other tangible items that may be relevant to…
Employers have until tomorrow, February 19, 2021, to seek relief of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefit charging for any COVID-19 related unemployment claims. Both contributing employers (i.e., employers who finance their UI liability by submitting a quarterly tax to the DWD) and reimbursable employers (i.e., government units or nonprofits that do not submit a quarterly tax…
As is typical, a new Presidential administration signals a new ideological position with respect to, among other topics, the United States’ policies and priorities relative to the nation’s immigration system. During President Trump’s presidency his administration sought to reverse course on much of the immigration policies initiated during President Obama’s Administration. Now that President Biden…