Walter Tatera v. FMC Corporation. (Asbestos cases. Court of Appeals reversed. Opinion by Justice Ziegler. Dissent by Justice Crooks, joined by Chief Justice Abrahamson, Justice Bradley. The Supreme Court, 4-3, reversed a Court of Appeals decision affirming in part and reversing in part a Milwaukee County Circuit Court order granting summary judgment to FMC Corporation on negligence and strict liability claims involving what is described as an asbestos-related death. The Appeals Court agreed FMC was entitled to summary judgment on the strict liability claim, but reversed and remanded on the negligence claim. The majority opinion was written by Justice Ziegler and concluded the negligence claim against FMC falls within the general rule that a principal employer is not liable in tort for injuries sustained by an independent contractor’s employee while he or she is performing the contracted work. The majority concluded FMC’s conduct did not constitute an affirmative act of negligence. The court also concluded that machining an asbestos-containing friction disk does not qualify as an extra-hazardous activity because steps may be taken to minimize the risk of injury. The court determined the negligence claim was barred. 

Justice Crooks, writing the dissent, said the case “clearly demands the opposite result from that reached by the majority.” He said granting summary judgment for the defendant, FMC, was inappropriate and the majority’s decision to deny a trial “under the circumstances presented here is not defensible. Chief Justice Abrahamson and Justice Bradley joined the dissent.

The opponent of Rep. Dave Cullen (D-Milwaukee), Chairman of the Assembly Insurance Committee was removed from the November ballot because he failed to garner the required 200 nomination signatures.  The board found Paris Procopis had only 192 valid signatures.

On a 5-2 vote, the State Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Doyle Adminstration  by ordering repayment of the $200 million transferred from the Patient Compensation Fund as part of the 2007 state budget plus lost earnings and interest. The suit was brought by the State Medical Society.  The court also ordered a permanent injunction on any future transfers based on the provisions of the 2007-09 budget bill.  Link to Supreme Court Opinion: Decision

Doyle Administration spokesperson Dan Schooff, Secretary of the Department of Administration, took a very harsh tone with respect to the decision.  According to the Wisconsin State Journal:

“Department of Administration Secretary Dan Schooff blasted the court’s ruling saying it “will not benefit any injured patients, it will not benefit anyone’s health – it will only benefit the peace of mind of a few members of the state Medical Society.”  Schooff threatened to cut rates paid to doctors and providers in the Medicaid and BadgerCare Plus programs as well as other areas to come up with the money needed to repay the fund.”

Two cases whcih the WIA had interest and involvement were decided in our favor this week:

Mercycare v. WI Commissioner of Insurance. (Maternity coverage for surrogate mothers. Rock County circuit court reversed. Majority opinion by Justice Bradley. Justice Roggensack, joined by Justices Ziegler and Gableman, concurs.)

 WI Supreme Court. Kevin Blum, Jr. v. 1st Auto & Casualty Ins. Co. (Auto insurance coverage. Court of Appeals affirmed. Majority opinion by Justice Prosser. Justice Bradley, joined by CJ Abrahamson, concurs in part/dissents in part. Justice Roggensack, joined by Justices Ziegler and Gableman, concurs in part/dissents in part.)

President Obama nominated UW-Madison law professor Victoria F. Nourse to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to replace retiring Judge Terence Evans.  Nourse, 51, who has been at UW since 1993, has also been a visiting professor at Yale University, New York University and Emory University. At UW-Madison she teaches courses in legislation, statutory interpretation, constitutional history and criminal law.

According to a memo from the Department of Administration entitiled Major Budget Policies and Budget Instructions,  most agencies are to hold their overall fiscal year 2011-12 and fiscal year 2012-13 GPR budgets to fiscal year 2010-11 levels. In addition, most agencies will be required to submit plans to reduce nonfederally-funded state appropriations by ten percent….another tough budget on horizon

Thanks to the MacIver Institute the heretofore somewhat shielded economic interest statements for legislators are now accessible to the public.  For years the public did have access to viewing and copying such reports but the legislators were notified of the identify of the viewer which as you may have guessed chilled the access…now thanks to the Internet and the folks at the MacIver Institute, Wisconsinites can now know from where legislators are getting their non legislative income… http://maciverinstitute.com/issues/economic-interests/

The Supreme Court approved a rule defining the unauthorized practice of law.  The new rule contains an exemption for the business of insurance…see the attached article for more information.  When the final rule is posted by the Court we will share it with members.  Court sets limits of practice.

In a letter to Gov. Doyle, Rep. Annette “Polly” Williams (D-Milwaukee) outlined her concerns regarding the recently enacted and implemented mandatory auto insurance law.  See her letter: williamsssreq

The Pacific Research Institute this week released a report titled, “U.S. Tort Liability Index: 2010 Report,” ranking Wisconsin’s tort system 9^th best in the country.  Although this appears to be good news..see Andy Cook’s analysis for the Wisconsin Civil Justice Coalition.  WCJC Blog