The new lists of Super Lawyers® and Rising Stars are out and O’Neil Cannon is proud to announce that 12 (approximately 40%) of our lawyers made the lists. The lists are published in the December 2011 edition of Milwaukee Magazine. Our lawyers making the list are:

Super Lawyers

• James G. DeJong
• Seth E. Dizard
• Peter J. Faust
• John G. Gehringer
• Dean P. Laing
• Gregory W. Lyons
• Patrick G. McBride

Rising Stars

• Chad J. Richter
• John R. Schreiber
• Jason R. Scoby

The lists of Super Lawyers and Rising Stars are limited to 5% and 2.5%, respectively, of the lawyers practicing in Wisconsin.

Milwaukee Magazine also published lists of the Top 50 Lawyers in Wisconsin and the Top 25 Lawyers in the Milwaukee area, and both Mr. Laing and Mr. Faust made those lists as well. This is the sixth consecutive year that Mr. Laing has made the list of the Top 50 Lawyers in Wisconsin, making him the only commercial litigator in Wisconsin to have done so.

As described in the Milwaukee Magazine article, the process used for assembling the Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists is as follows:

First, we ask lawyers across the state to name the top attorneys they’ve personally observed in action. We also perform our own research to find outstanding attorneys who may have been overlooked by their peers. Once we have our candidate pool assembled, we access the background, credentials and experience of each lawyer. Specifically, we look at 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement—things like experience, verdicts and settlements, transactions, clients, honors and awards.

The lawyers are then evaluated by a blue ribbon panel of peers within their primary area of practice. Before final selections are made, we divide the lawyers by firm size and chose the top lawyers from each group until we have a list that represents 5 percent of the lawyers in the state (Rising Stars lists are limited to 2.5 percent).

The list of Top 50 Lawyers in Wisconsin is comprised of the 50 lawyers in Wisconsin receiving the highest point totals in the nomination, research and blue ribbon review process. The list of Top 25 Lawyers in the Milwaukee area consists of the 25 lawyers in the Milwaukee area receiving the highest point totals in that same process.

Please be advised that Wisconsin’s Concealed Carry Law goes into effect on November 1, 2011. In just a few days, your employees and visitors, provided they receive a license, will be able to carry concealed weapons into your businesses and in your company vehicles unless you properly elect otherwise according to the new laws. As employers, you should be prepared to update your employee handbooks, enact new policies, and post the proper signs to accurately reflect your company’s policies and to properly minimize the amount of risk you, your business, and your employees are exposed to. A detailed description of the new laws and how they affect employers is available on our website at this link.

If you have any questions about Wisconsin’s new Concealed Carry Law, please contact either Joseph E. Gumina or J.B. Koenings at O’Neil Cannon at 414-276-5000. Either Attorney Gumina or Attorney Koenings can help advise you on the implications of this new law as well as assist you with the drafting of the necessary policies and procedures to best protect your business from liability.

The NLRB has delayed the deadline for employers to post a new controversial notice to their employees informing them of their rights, including the right to organize, under the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). Previously, the deadline for posting this notice was November 15, 2011, but amidst employer confusion, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) pushed the deadline back to January 31, 2012.

All private employers, including labor unions, must post the prescribed NLRB notice. The only employers exempt from this new rule are agricultural employers, those employers covered under the Railway Labor Act (such as railroads and airlines) and the U.S. Postal Service. It is important to note that this new rule affects all non-exempt employers whether or not that employer’s workforce is unionized.

In addition to the above exempt employers, certain small businesses are also exempt from this rule. Such exemptions are based on a small business’ annual sales volume by industry, ranging from $50,000 to $1,000,000 in annual sales volume. Do not assume you are exempt from this rule based on the size of your business until you verify the exact NLRB exemption limits for your specific industry.

Under this new rule, all employers covered by the new rule will be required to post an 11×17 inch notice in a conspicuous place where all such employee notices are customarily posted. If your employees work at multiple locations, notice must be posted at each location. For instances where your employees work at a different company, you are required to post notice there as well—if that company will allow it.

A sample notice is available at no cost from the NLRB through its website, either by downloading and printing it or ordering it by mail. Translated versions are also available and must be posted at workplaces where at least 20% of employees are not proficient in English. Additionally, if an employer customarily posts notices to employees regarding personnel rules or policies on an internet or intranet site, that employer will be required to post the NLRB notice on those sites in addition to the physical posting of the notice in the workplace. There are no reporting or record-keeping requirements under this new rule.

Failure to post notice in accordance with this new rule may be treated as an unfair labor practice under the NLRA and would expose an employer to a potential NLRB investigation. Penalties could range from the NLRB merely requiring that proper signage be posted; an extension of the normal 6 month statute of limitations for filing a charge involving other unfair labor practices; or even to the filing of an unfair labor practice charge against the employer.

If you have any questions about the new NLRB posting requirements, or if you need assistance in determining if your small business is exempt, please contact either Joseph E. Gumina or J.B. Koenings at O’Neil Cannon at 414-276-5000.

Attorney Jason Scoby of O’Neil Cannon was recently reappointed to serve as Chair of the Corporate, Banking and Business Section of the Milwaukee Bar Association (“MBA”). In this role, Attorney Scoby focuses on providing continuing legal education presentations and resources, as well as networking opportunities for attorneys and other professionals in the corporate, banking, and business field.

Some of the topics to be addressed in upcoming presentations may include:

• Choice of Business Entity and the Associated Business and Tax Implications
• Various Subjects in Mergers and Acquisitions
• Lending Issues
• Ethical Issues Involved in Business Transactions
• Contract Drafting

If you would like further information regarding an upcoming MBA event, or if you are interested in making a presentation for the MBA’s Corporate, Banking and Business Section, please contact Jason at jason.scoby@wilaw.com.

Attorney Scoby is an associate at O’Neil Cannon, where he assists clients on a wide variety of corporate and business-related issues, including commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate law, franchising, contract preparation and negotiation, business entity selection, and regulatory compliance.

O’Neil Cannon, founded in Milwaukee in 1973, is a full-service legal practice that primarily focuses on providing business law and civil litigation services to closely-held businesses and their owners. The firm represents corporations, institutions and partnerships at all stages of the business life cycle, helping them start, grow and transition from one generation to the next. We also assist business owners with their personal legal needs including tax and estate planning, family law and litigation-including personal injury litigation.

Best Lawyers®, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Dean P. Laing as the “Best Lawyers 2012 Milwaukee Personal Injury Litigation Lawyer of the Year.

After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in our surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Attorney Dean P. Laing has been with the law firm of O’Neil Cannon for 28 years and leads the Firm’s litigation practice. In addition to representing Fortune 500 companies and other companies in their business litigation needs, he represents severely injured persons in prosecuting their personal injury claims.

Throughout his legal career, Mr. Laing has been frequently recognized by members of the Wisconsin bar and judiciary as one of the top trial attorneys in Wisconsin. He is board certified as a Civil Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and a frequent author and speaker on various legal issues.

On July 8, 2011, Governor Walker signed 2011 Senate Bill 93 into law as 2011 Wisconsin Act 35. More commonly referred to as the “Concealed Carry Law,” this new law will be codified as Wisconsin Statute § 175.60. While the Concealed Carry Law will not be effective until November 1, 2011, Wisconsin businesses should understand the full scope of the law now and be fully prepared for its final implementation in November.

Read full article here.

Attorney Megan Eisch recently joined the Firm’s Business Law and Banking and Creditors’ Groups. She assists secured and unsecured corporate or individual creditors and other entities with the work out of loans, leases and other obligations. Eisch also regularly represents receivers in state Chapter 128 Receivership proceedings, real estate foreclosures, the wind-up of corporations, collection matters, and with the acquisition or disposition of business assets. She is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, J.D., cum laude, and is the senior Articles Editor of the Wisconsin International Law Journal.

O’Neil Cannon, founded in Milwaukee in 1973, is a full-service legal practice that primarily focuses on providing business law and civil litigation services to closely-held businesses and their owners. The firm represents corporations, institutions and partnerships at all stages of the business life cycle, helping them start, grow and transition from one generation to the next. We also assist business owners with their personal legal needs including tax and estate planning, family law and litigation—including personal injury litigation.

The 2011 edition of the Annual Survey of Wisconsin Law published by the State Bar of Wisconsin CLE Books has recently been released for circulation and this year’s work includes another contribution by Attorneys Dean P. Laing and Patrick G. McBride in the area of evidence. The Annual Survey reviews significant Wisconsin judicial and legislative developments from 2010 and is organized by individual chapters addressing recent developments in a specific area of law. Attorney Laing has been the author or co-author of the “Evidence” chapter of the Annual Survey for the past 23 years and Attorney McBride has been the co-author for the past 10 years.

This year’s chapter on evidence addresses issues regarding the use of expert testimony, including whether the statutory prohibition to the admission of preliminary breath test results was trumped when the results were used as a basis for an expert’s opinion, and whether expert testimony was required at summary judgment in a breach of contract action regarding a computer-services agreement. The Wisconsin courts also determined whether the state could play an edited portion of a child’s video statement during closing argument in a sexual-assault trial without making the child available for cross-examination after showing the video, and whether the state needed to preserve apparently exculpatory evidence consisting of threatening cell-phone voice messages for use by the defendant in establishing the self-defense standard in a homicide trial. In a civil action, the court of appeals considered whether an affiant demonstrated the requisite personal knowledge to establish the admissibility of account statements under the hearsay exception for records of regularly conducted activity.

The “Evidence” chapter summarizes these decisions and others as they impact the development of the law of evidence in Wisconsin. A full copy of the “Evidence” chapter appearing in the Annual Survey can be found here. A copy of the Annual Survey of Wisconsin Law can be obtained through the State Bar of Wisconsin CLE Books at www.wisbar.org

The Pension Protection Act (PPA), passed by Congress in 2006, requires most tax exempt organizations to file an annual information return or notice with the IRS. Failure to file the required return or notice for three consecutive years results in automatic revocation of the organization’s tax-exempt status. The IRS has provided a list of organizations whose tax-exempt status has been revoked for failing to meet the filing requirements for 2007, 2008, and 2009. Most tax-exempt organizations file their returns or notices and are unaffected by the automatic revocation. Those organizations whose tax-exempt status is automatically revoked may reinstate their status by following the process outlined on the IRS website.

Donations or charitable contributions made to any organization whose tax-exempt status has been automatically revoked, remain tax deductible so long as the donation or contribution was made prior to the publication of the organization’s name on the list. After publication, however, organizations that do not reinstate their tax-exempt status may no longer receive tax-deductible contributions, and any donations or contributions they receive may be taxable.

Donors should check the IRS listing to ensure that their contributions will be tax deductible. To determine an organization’s tax-exempt status or eligibility to receive tax-deductible contributions, donors should rely on the updated listing provided by the IRS, and should no longer rely on the previous listing in IRS Publication 78, nor the IRS determination letter issued to the organization before the date of automatic revocation.  For an updated listing, click here.

The general rule in a federal individual bankruptcy is that IRAs and other qualified retirement assets are protected and such assets are not subject to the claims of the individual’s creditors. However, in the case of Ernest W. Willis v. Deborah Menotte, Red Reef, Inc. the US Court of Appeals found an exception to that rule. In the Willis case the debtor used his IRA in a way that technically disqualified it for income tax purposes in 1994 and 1997. However, the IRS never caught the technical violations and the statute of limitation ran as to the IRS’ claims. In 2007 Mr. Willis filed for a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, long after the technical violations occurred. Nonetheless, the Bankruptcy Court and the US Court of Appeals ruled that the statute of limitation that applies for tax purposes had no relevance for bankruptcy purposes and the debtors $1.5 million of IRA assets were exposed to creditors. The lesson that should be taken from this is that the statutory rules that create the tax and bankruptcy favored status of these IRAs and retirement accounts must be followed very carefully.