Miscellaneous

• Pilots Killed at Two Air Shows

  Jenny Albano | July 30, 2007 11:30 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  A stunt pilot died after he crashed during a Dayton, Ohio air show on Saturday, July 28. This occurred only a day after another pilot was killed in an accident in an air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.A pilot named Jim LeRoy died on the way to the hospital after his S2S Bulldog biplane crashed on the runway of the Dayton International Airport. The plane had been performing loop-the-loops to...

• Legislator Seeking End to U.W. Law Support Is Experienced Pro Se Litigant

  David Lowe | July 17, 2007 9:33 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Declaring that Wisconsin does not need more "ambulance chasing lawyers", Rep. Frank Lasee, Republican from Green Bay, has proposed a measure that would end public support for the University of Wisconsin Law School. The measure gained approval from the Republican controlled Wisconsin Assembly and became part of the recently approved Wisconsin Assembly's budget bill.Appropriately, Governor Doyle...

• Wisconsin Court Allows Clergy Abuse Victims To Sue For Fraud

  David Lowe | July 12, 2007 8:11 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Court decisions by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1995 and 1997 closed the door to the courthouse for childhood victims of sex abuse by priests, holding in John BBB Doe v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee that the statute of limitations had expired three years after the last incident of abuse and, in a case called Pritzlaff v. Archdiocse of Milwaukee, that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee was not liable for...

• Contingent Fee Lawyers In Public Interest Cases Face Real Risks

  David Lowe | July 10, 2007 8:15 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Today's New York Times has published a piece by legal affairs columnist Adam Liptik raising questions about state and local governments' use of contingent fee lawfirms to handle major litigation, such as tobacco and environmental pollution cases. Most of the criticism of the fee arrangements comes out of the mouths of lawyers defending the polluters and other corporate interests, who would...

• Jury Service-- Seeing It From The Other Side

  David Lowe | April 16, 2007 11:35 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Here I am, Monday morning in the Milwaukee County Courthouse-- a familiar time and location. But this time I am sitting in the jury assembly room with a jury summons in my hand. This is my first opportunity for jury service, and one that I am looking forward to. We are sitting in auditorium type seating, unacquainted with one another, no one talking, all somewhat uncomfortable in these strange...

• Pet Food Recall Raises Issue Of Remedies For Pet Owners' Loss Of Companionship

  David Lowe | March 20, 2007 10:35 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  The recall of contaminated pet food manufactured by Menu Foods, Inc. of Streetsville, Ontario, Canada, will awaken the public to the fact that state laws give rather meager court remedies to owners who lose a pet due to negligence. The recall, announced March 17, 2007, involved 60 million containers of pet food of the "Cuts and Gravy" style. The food was sold in stores between December 3 and...

• Bush Administration View of Judicial Independence: Scary

  David Lowe | January 22, 2007 7:23 AM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  An editorial from the Appleton Post-Crescent responds to the frightening views about judicial independence purveyed in a recent speech by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. The Bush Adminstration sees our constitutional scheme as one that would have the judiciary defer to the judgments of the executive and legislative branches. Rightfully calling these views "appalling", the editorial...

• The Real Aim Of Tort Reform: The Elimination of Compensation For The Personal Injury Victim

  David Lowe | January 14, 2007 4:41 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Today's New York Times editorial page features an excellent piece that illustrates the unfairness of "tort reform", whose purpose is to protect business by denying compensation to personal injury victims. The article focuses on an egregious situation in the State of Alabama where a chemical injury victim is barred from suing until "manifest injury" has surfaced, but then has the case dismissed...

• Don't Overlook Uninsured Motorist Coverage

  David Lowe | November 12, 2006 5:18 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Car accident victims are often surprised to learn that they can recover compensation even if their personal injuries were caused by an uninsured motorist. So long as the injury victim has an auto insurance policy issued in Wisconsin, or is a member of a household having such a policy, the law requires that the insurance policy include uninsured motorist coverage. It must still be proved that the...

• School Bus Accidents: New Data Reveals A Bigger Problem

  David Lowe | November 06, 2006 8:24 PM | 0 CommentsMilwaukee, WI

  Requring the use of safety belts on buses "not only prevent injuries related to crashes," they could also keep kids seated "so they're not falling out of their seats when buses make normal turns or brake. A study just published in the medical journal Pediatrics found that over 51,000 children required emergency medical attention for non-fatal school bus-related injuries over a three-year period....