Month: July 2012

WCJC Welcomes New Directors

Posted on by Hamilton

At its annual meeting on June 29, 2012 the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council welcomed three new members to its board of directors: Bill Sepic, Bryce Tolefree, and Laurie Fischer.

Bill Sepic is President of the Wisconsin Automobile & Truck Dealers Association Inc. Sepic is replacing former WATDA representative Mary Ann Gerrard.

Bryce Tolefree, who is associate general counsel at American Family Mutual Insurance Co. and Past President of the Wisconsin Defense Counsel, will take over for Michael P. Crooks as WDC’s representative on the WCJC board.

Laurie Fischer, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association, will join the board as a new member representing an additional sector of Wisconsin businesses interested in promoting fairness and equity in Wisconsin’s civil justice system.

Returning members of the board of directors include:

President – Bill G. Smith
State Director
National Federation of Independent Business

Vice-President – James Buchen, Esq.
Senior Vice President, Government Relations
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce

Treasurer – Andrew Franken
President
Wisconsin Insurance Alliance

Secretary – Jerry Deschane
Executive Vice President
Wisconsin Builders Association

John Mielke
Director of Government Relations
Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin

James Boullion
Director of Government Affairs
Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin, Inc.

Beata Kalies
Director of Government Relations
Electric Cooperatives

Gary Manke
Executive Vice President-CEO
Midwest Equipment Dealers Association

Nickolas George
President
Midwest Food Processors Association, Inc.

Eric Borgerding
Executive Vice President
Wisconsin Hospital Association

Mark Grapentine, Esq.
Senior Vice President, Government Relations
Wisconsin Medical Society

Thomas Howells
President
Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association

Matthew Hauser
President
Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association

Edward Lump
President and CEO
Wisconsin Restaurant Association

Members of WCJC’s board of directors serve three year terms.

WCJC President Bill G. Smith, Vice-President James Buchen, Treasurer Andy Franken, and Secretary Jerry Deschane were elected to an additional one year term in their respective executive officer positions.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Lower Court Decision Involving Collateral Source Rule in Medical Malpractice Case

Posted on by Hamilton

In Weborg v. Jenny, et al., 2012 WI 67, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a court of appeals decision finding that the circuit court committed “harmless error” by admitting evidence of collateral source payments in a medical malpractice case.

The 5-2 decision authored by Justice Annette Ziegler, joined by Justices Patrick Crooks, Patience Roggensack, David Prosser, and Michael Gableman, determined that evidence of collateral source payments is admissible in medical malpractice cases only when the evidence is “relevant.” Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and Justice Ann Walsh Bradley filed a joint dissenting and concurring opinion. Continue reading “Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Lower Court Decision Involving Collateral Source Rule in Medical Malpractice Case” →