20. Guest Posts

State v. Suzanne Lee Shegonee, 2022AP361-CR, District 4, 10/27/22 (one-judge decision; ineligible for publication); case activity (including briefs) This is a guest post by Katie York, head of the SPD’s Appellate Division. The circuit court sanctioned Shegonee $500 for accepting a new plea offer 3 days prior to her scheduled jury trial. The state made… Read more

State v. Jacob Richard Beyer, 2021 WI 59, 6/15/21, on certification from the court of appeals; case activity (including briefs) On Point is proud to present a guest post by Tom Aquino of the Madison appellate office: A unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court holds: “we will not permit parties to stipulate to every fact that satisfies… Read more

Since July 1, 2016, circuit court clerks have been permitted to transmit documents and records electronically to the court of appeals. When that occurs, the court of appeals paginates the documents in the appellate record. Sometimes a document is shared among multiple appeals. Originally the system was designed to paginate a document permanently–one time. Therefore… Read more

Three separate opinions in Seifert v. Balink result in a 5-2 majority upholding admission of expert medical testimony under the Daubert standard.  Because Seifert is the first Wisconsin Supreme Court case interpreting this standard for admission of expert testimony, it provides guidance to lower courts and to practitioners regarding the 2011 statutory changes. The On Point summary concisely… Read more

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently denied Rule petition 15-04, which sought to amend SCR 20:1.9 governing a lawyer’s duties to her former clients. In this post, SPD Legal Counsel, Devon Lee, explains that the current rule does not prevent the types of communications highlighted by the petitioners. The petition proposed an amendment to SCR 1.9(c) which… Read more

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently amended portions of SCR Chapter 20 that, among other things, govern the use of technology in a law practice. SPD Legal Counsel, Devon Lee, explains what these changes mean for lawyers who use email, cloud computing, and/or social media. Isn’t that everybody? Changes in technology have changed the ways in… Read more

State v. McKellips, 2016 WI 51, 6/28/16, reversing a published court of appeals decision, 2015 WI App 31; case activity (including briefs) SCOW here defines the phrase “computerized communication system” by separately defining each word, and then lumping together those definitions to conclude that text messages sent with a flip phone constitute “use of a… Read more