Personal Injury Law

This Consumer Protection Safety Commission recall of MTD snow blowers is certainly not recent information.  Beginning in 2005-2006, MTD snow blower tires have allegedly blown up at, or immediately after, inflation, often causing serious injuries to the face, hands, fingers and arms.  The general allegation against MTD is that their plastic product is defective in nature as [...]

Intellectual Property Law

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled yesterday that fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) requires proof of actual intent to deceive, which may not be inferred merely because a trademark applicant made a misstatement that it should have known was false. The court held that “a trademark is [...]

Tax Law

Most businesses are formed as corporations or LLCs.  This is done to provide liability protection to the owner of the business from the risks, debts and obligations of the business.  Absent special circumstances (for example, “piercing the corporate veil” or personal guaranties of debts) creditors cannot look past the corporate entity to recover unpaid obligations.  [...]

Sports & Entertainment Law

On January 27, 2010 the Wisconsin Court of Appeals adopted the “single publication rule” for defamation cases. Bottom line: once defamatory material is published online, subsequent “hits” or visits to that material do not constitute re-publication and the statute of limitations does not renew. Wisconsin courts had not previously addressed this issue.
 
Bob Uecker is [...]

Criminal Law

The Illinois Department of Transportation recently released 2008 statistics reflecting a 16% drop in car accident fatalities in 2008.  Amongst the reasons suggested is increase use of seat belts, less driving, and new laws that make it difficult for teens to obtain drivers licenses.  The research also alludes to laws that eliminate driving distractions, i.e. laws that prohibit cell phone [...]

Employment Law

I have heard many unemployed workers who are in protected classes under discrimination law (e.g. workers with disabilities, workers over 40 years old) express frustration that employers will not hire them for jobs they are qualified for, and the workers feel this is for discriminatory reasons based on their protected class (e.g. hiring employer does [...]

Business Law

In many litigation cases, the question is not, “was there a breach”, but rather “what are my damages.” As smart business people, the decision must always be what is my likelihood of success combined with my likely award. Unfortunately, there are many times when one party is as right as rain, but if the damages [...]

Environmental Law

Wetlands were once regarded as a nuisance, and were often drained for cropland or dredged for more useable waterways. We have since come to appreciate them as an important tool in flood prevention and water purification, and state and federal agencies have stepped up their efforts to protect them. The challenge, unfortunately, is to draw [...]

Civil Litigation

This Consumer Protection Safety Commission recall of MTD snow blowers is certainly not recent information.  Beginning in 2005-2006, MTD snow blower tires have allegedly blown up at, or immediately after, inflation, often causing serious injuries to the face, hands, fingers and arms.  The general allegation against MTD is that their plastic product is defective in nature as [...]

Real Estate Law

This is a guest blog written by Joe Lederman of the Mesothelioma Cancer Center:
There are many things to consider when remodeling, purchasing or foreclosing an older home. Used in millions of homes and buildings built before 1980, workers and citizens are still being exposed to the corrosive substance. Often used in fireproofing, flooring, roofing [...]

Family Law