Depp v. Heard: Attorney Objects to His Own Question but Did He?
The headline on this video clip of testimony in the trial of Johnny Depp’s case against his ex-spouse, Amber Heard, says that Amber Heard’s attorney “objects to his own question”. But did he? What is actually happening here is that he objected to the answer, or at least he intended to do so. […]
Do I Really Need to Shovel Snow?
As winter rolls on, it gets tougher and tougher for even the hardiest Wisconsinites to pull themselves out of bed before work and shovel out the previous night’s snowfall. This is especially true when snow accumulates on consecutive days or the piles of snow bordering our sidewalks get to be chest high. As obnoxious as […]
The Wage and Hour Implications of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
In early November, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a bipartisan infrastructure deal. The bill allocates approximately $1.2 trillion for infrastructure spending, including $55 billion to expand access to clean drinking water, $110 billion for roads and bridges, $66 billion for railroads, $65 billion each for power grid updates […]
The Supreme Court Issues Opinions On Two Vaccination Mandates: What Employers Need To Know
On January 13, The Supreme Court of the United States issued two important decisions pertaining to vaccinations in the workplace. In one ruling, the Supreme Court struck down the Biden Administration’s OSHA rule requiring employers of 100 or more individuals to implement a policy requiring their employees to either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or show […]
Five Days, Fourteen Days, and the Right to Cure: Notices to Terminate a Residential Tenancy
One of the most common questions or misunderstandings we see among residential landlords is: When is the appropriate situation to use a 5-Day Notice to Pay/Cure or Quit (a “5-Day”) versus a 14-Day Notice Terminating Tenancy (a “14-Day”), which does not give the tenant the ability to cure the default and continue to reside in […]
Mask Mandate Extended – Dane County
On September 9, 2021, Dane County issued Face Covering Emergency Order #2 (“Order #2”) which is scheduled to go into effect on September 10, 2021 at 12:01am, directly following Face Covering Emergency Order (“Order #1”) scheduled to expire on September 16, 2021 at 12:01am. What’s with the time overlap? The overlap in time isn’t directly […]
CDC’s Eviction Moratorium Upended by the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court issued a new opinion on August 26, 2021 which will perhaps be an end to the ongoing dispute over the legality of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (the “CDC”) eviction moratorium (the “moratorium”). A deeper dive into the terms of the moratorium and an analysis of the procedural posture as […]
DANE COUNTY TO RE-ISSUE MASK MANDATE, EFFECTIVE AUGUST 19
Public Health of Madison and Dane County (PHMDC) announced a new, county-wide mask mandate on August 17, 2021 to go into effect on August 19, 2021. Citing evidence that fully vaccinated people can still transmit the Delta variant of COVID-19 to others, PHMDC noted that countywide 7-day case average has risen from 19 on July […]
Can I reject a tenant based on criminal history?
The law in Wisconsin (including Madison) currently does not prevent using criminal background to screen potential clients. However, federal law does prohibit using arrest records (open criminal cases are considered arrest records) as a basis for a denial. Even if you are a small local landlord, you are subject to the federal law as […]
U.S. Department of Labor Proposes Further Rulemaking for Tip Regulations
The U.S. Department of Labor recently proposed further rulemaking for tip regulations, which delayed some regulations until December 2021, while others took effect on April 30, 2021. The FLSA allows an employer to count a limited amount of tips received by its tipped employees as a credit toward the employer’s Federal minimum wage obligations. This […]