Attorney Tiffany Highstrom to present on the role of a guardian ad litem Attorney Tiffany Highstrom will present on the role of a guardian ad litem on Wednesday, May 8, during the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Guardian ad Litem Training 2024. As part of a panel, she will discuss tips for how to interview children; how to formulate your recommendation and abide by the rules of evidence; communicating the best wishes of the child to the court; conflicts and how to avoid them; overcoming the therapeutic privilege; and dealing with parents that are high conflict. Guardians ad litem for minors, family l ..read more

Federal Trade Commission bans most non-compete agreements in employment contracts On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission approved a Final Rule that bans almost any agreement that restricts where a worker may work after he or she leaves his or her current employer. Such an agreement is a non-competition agreement. The Final Rule is effective 120 days after publication in the Federal Register absent a successful legal challenge. We anticipate legal challenges to be filed very soon. The highlights of the Final Rule are: It prohibits a non-competition agreement after the Final Rule’s eff ..read more

Federal Trade Commission will vote on banning non-compete agreements On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission will hold a special Open Commission Meeting to vote on whether to issue a proposed final rule preventing most employers from enforcing non-compete agreements. On January 19, 2023, the FTC published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, 88 FR 3482. The FTC’s position is that that non-competes are an “exploitative practice that suppresses wages, hampers innovation, and blocks entrepreneurs from starting new business.” If the final rule retains the key p ..read more

Law Clerk Klara A. Henry assisted in the drafting of this blog post. Environmental Protection Agency Finalizes Drinking Water Standard for PFAS Contaminants Nationwide On April 10, 2024, the EPA issued a highly anticipated final rule establishing legally enforceable limits for five types of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often called “forever chemicals”). The rule sets individual limits for these five forms of PFAS, as well as limits on two or more of the substances mixed together. The larger class of PFAS substances consists of almost 15,000 synthetic chemicals, many of which have ..read more

Attorneys Uwabera and Thao Present on Data Privacy and Transparency during League of Wisconsin Municipalities’ League Mutual Insurance Spring Conference Stafford Rosenbaum Attorneys Clementine Uwabera and Pahoua Thao will give a presentation on Tuesday, April 23, as part of the two-day, sold-out League of Wisconsin Municipalities’ League Mutual Insurance Spring Conference 2024. To an audience of government, municipal, insurance, cybersecurity, and legal professionals, they will present, “Navigating Privacy and Transparency for Municipalities.” The presentation covers data privacy for municipal ..read more

Attorneys Jessica Mederson, Rick Manthe, and Derek Punches Author “Addressing Sustainability and Resiliency in the Built Environment” “Addressing Sustainability and Resiliency in the Built Environment” was originally published in The Municipality magazine’s April 2024 issue. Attorneys Mederson, Manthe, and Punches discuss with The Municipality magazine the continuing impacts of climate change, how to incorporate sustainable practices in the built environment (i.e. fully established structures), ensuring the built environment is resilient, and municipal considerations, limitations, and tools. R ..read more

The Wisconsin Fair Dealership Law has been an integral feature of Wisconsin law, shaping the state’s economy for the past 50 years. To those protected by the law, the WFDL provides valuable security to their business operations and their employees. By contrast, the WFDL has been criticized as inefficient, vague, and protectionist by parties who are subject to the WFDL’s high cause and notice standards. With these differing views, the WFDL has been a source of extensive litigation since its enactment on April 5, 1974. While there have been over 500 decisions interpreting various aspects of the ..read more

As the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence have increased, so have concerns that generative AI might be used to manipulate voters and the administration of elections in the 2024 presidential election and primaries. The first warning shot came in New Hampshire on January 21, 2024, two days before the New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election, when numerous New Hampshire residents received robocalls that played a message with what appeared to be an AI-generated voice clone of President Joe Biden’s voice, encouraging recipients not to vote in the January 23, 2024 primary. The “de ..read more

Attorney Vanessa Wishart Presents PFAS Impacts at Wastewater Treatment Plants for Wisconsin Wastewater Operators Association On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, Attorney Vanessa Wishart will speak on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) impacts at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) at the 2024 Spring Biosolids Symposium in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Vanessa’s presentation is part of a daylong seminar for municipal officials, plant operators, contractors, consultants, and more. Attendees will receive information on current issues related to biosolids and septage management, enabling them to respon ..read more

Attorney Pam Ploor presents and authors recent updates to labor & employment law in Wisconsin Attorney Pamela Ploor authored “Artificial Intelligence in Municipal Employment” for the March 2024 edition of the League  of Wisconsin Municipalities magazine, The Municipality. The article addresses government guidance, risks, and recommendations for the use of AI tools in municipal employment, and it is part of a bi-monthly employment law series that Pam has been writing for The Municipality for nearly two years. Pam will present “Human Resources Legal Updates” during the League of Wiscons ..read more