Wisconsin Supreme Court

The court held that depositing uncommitted settlement funds into the general fund satisfies the statutory deposit requirement even when the funds are credited to a program appropriation within that fund.

The court held that an unborn child receiving prenatal and delivery-related medical care is a patient under Wisconsin's informed-consent statute. The physician therefore owed a duty to inform the surrogate mother about reasonable treatment alternatives and their risks and benefits as to both the mother and child, and…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals, holding that Robert's appeal from the 2024 order continuing his protective placement was not moot because his statutorily mandated liability under Wis. Stat.

The court held that completed Notice of Voting Eligibility forms from guardianship proceedings are court records pertinent to a finding of incompetency and therefore are closed under the governing statute.

The majority held that Ryden’s appeal remained justiciable after his recommitment order expired because vacating it could affect his statutory liability for care costs and his ability to restore firearm rights.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals' affirmance of the order extending D.J.W.'s involuntary commitment, holding that the evidence at the recommitment hearing was insufficient to prove dangerousness under Wis. Stat. §§ 51.20(1)(a)2.c. or 2.d. in conjunction with § 51.20(1)(am).

The supreme court affirmed the court of appeals, holding that the term 'processing' in Wis. Stat. § 77.52(2)(a)11. includes the separation of Fox River sediment into its component parts, so the petitioners' remediation services were subject to sales and use taxes.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Ginger Breitzman's postconviction motion, holding her trial counsel was not ineffective for (1) failing to move to dismiss the disorderly conduct charge on free speech grounds, because whether profane conduct that tends to cause or provoke a disturbance is protected…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Wisconsin's codified business judgment rule, Wis. Stat. § 180.0828(1), is both substantive law and a burden-allocating procedural device, so a plaintiff challenging director conduct must plead facts plausibly showing the conduct falls within the statute's exceptions — willful…

The court affirmed denial of Romero-Georgana's third postconviction motion without an evidentiary hearing. It held that his claim of ineffective assistance of postconviction counsel was procedurally barred because he did not explain why the claim was omitted from his second postconviction motion, and, independently…

The court held that Balliette was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his claim that postconviction counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge trial counsel's performance. His Wis. Stat.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the second sentence of the liability paragraph in Maryland Arms' residential lease, making the lessee liable for all damage to the premises 'in any way caused by the acts' of the lessee, is ambiguous as applied to fire damage caused by the tenant's non-negligent acts of bringing a…

The court affirmed the court of appeals' decision reversing the order granting Ndina a new trial. It declined to resolve whether either party forfeited arguments because both sides failed to raise preservation issues timely, and instead held that excluding family members implicated the Sixth Amendment public-trial…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a defendant seeking resentencing on the ground that the circuit court relied on inaccurate information at sentencing must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, both that the information was inaccurate and that the court actually relied on it; the defendant need not show…

On certification from the court of appeals, the Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of Kaloti's amended complaint alleging intentional misrepresentation against Kellogg Sales Company and its agent Geraci & Associates.

The court affirmed the denial of Allen's postconviction motion without an evidentiary hearing. It held that a motion seeking postconviction relief must allege, within its four corners, sufficient material facts—such as who, what, where, when, why, and how—that, if true, would entitle the defendant to relief; Allen's…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Wisconsin circuit courts always possess constitutional subject matter jurisdiction, but statutory noncompliance may deprive a court of competency to proceed in a particular case.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals' denial of a supervisory writ sought by Ralph and Jackie Kalal, the targets of a privately filed criminal complaint authorized under Wis. Stat. § 968.02(3) after the Dane County district attorney declined to charge them with stealing retirement-account funds.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that partial summary judgment is available in the unfitness (grounds) phase of a termination of parental rights (TPR) proceeding where the moving party shows no genuine issue of material fact on the statutory grounds and, under the heightened clear-and-convincing burden, is entitled to…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court reaffirmed that sentencing courts must place on the record a rational and explainable basis for the sentence, including the sentencing objectives, relevant facts and factors, and the relationship between the sentence components and those objectives.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals and reinstated dismissal of motorcycle owners' common-law fraud and statutory deceptive-trade-practices claims. It held that alleged diminution in value based only on a product line's propensity for future engine failure was too speculative to constitute a…

The court adopted the referee's findings that Attorney Eisenberg committed multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct, including dishonesty, failure to protect a former client's interests, disruption of a tribunal, offensive conduct, improper business dealings with a client, and misleading…

The court held that the warehouse's sinking, buckling, cracking, and eventual demolition constituted property damage caused by an occurrence under the primary commercial general liability policies, even though the owner's claim against the contractor was contractual.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Thiel received ineffective assistance of counsel because counsel failed to review discovery, conduct necessary investigation into the complainant's credibility, and correctly understand and invoke the statutory procedure governing evidence of the complainant's personal and medical…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court overruled its prior environmental-insurance precedent and held that CERCLA response costs for restoring or remediating property are covered damages under standard CGL policies, subject to other policy exclusions.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the referee's findings that John C. Widule knowingly advanced an unsupported factual position, represented clients despite a material conflict of interest, and failed to provide competent representation.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a jury instruction given under Wis. Stat. § 902.01(7), directing the jury to accept as true the judicially noticed fact that Penn Park was a city park — an element of a drug penalty enhancer — operated as an unconstitutional mandatory conclusive presumption under the Fifth and…

In this per curiam disciplinary decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted a referee's findings that Attorney John Miller Carroll committed seven counts of professional misconduct involving four clients — including trust account violations, lack of diligence, failure to keep a client informed, failure to cooperate…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion in excluding the plaintiff's oral-surgeon expert testimony and diagram explaining how the whiplash from a rear-end collision with a garbage truck caused his temporomandibular joint (TMJ) injuries, and that the error was not…

The court held that the affidavit did not establish the particularized reasonable suspicion required to authorize a no-knock entry, because it relied on vague arrest information, generalized drug-related experience, and insufficiently specific evidence of danger or destruction of evidence.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that an underinsured motorist (UIM) policy's exhaustion clause, which requires that the tortfeasor's liability limits be 'exhausted by payment of judgments or settlements,' unambiguously requires payment of the full liability policy limits before the UIM carrier's duty to pay is…

The court held that a medical-malpractice claim based on an alleged misdiagnosis accrues when the misdiagnosis causes an actionable injury, not when the misdiagnosis itself occurs.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the insurance commissioner’s rule excluding property used for nonincidental commercial purposes from the valued policy law exceeded the agency’s statutory authority.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a misdemeanor defendant who did not object to a six-person jury authorized by Wis. Stat. § 756.096(3)(am) could not obtain a new trial after State v. Hansford declared the statute unconstitutional under art. I, § 7 of the Wisconsin Constitution.

The court held that Erickson's failure to object to the denial of additional peremptory challenges required review under ineffective-assistance standards rather than automatic reversal.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Wausau Tile's negligence and strict liability claims against its cement supplier are barred by the economic loss doctrine because the complaint alleges only economic loss: repair and replacement costs for the defective pavers (integrated systems containing the cement as an…

The court held that testimony about the defendant's prior verbal abuse of his ex-wife was improperly admitted as other-acts evidence because the prior incident was not sufficiently similar to make intentional conduct or absence of accident more probable, and its limited probative value was substantially outweighed by…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, answering a certified question from the Seventh Circuit, held that the economic loss doctrine bars a remote commercial purchaser from recovering solely economic losses from a manufacturer under tort theories of strict liability and negligence, even absent privity of contract.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that when a circuit court applies the 'reasonable probability of a different outcome' criterion to a recantation-based motion to withdraw a plea, it must ask whether there is a reasonable probability that a jury, looking at both the accusation and the recantation, would have a…

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed a published court of appeals decision upholding a divorce judgment that divided the husband's military retired pay as marital property and also counted his retained share of it as gross income for calculating child support.