Libraries Closed on Thanksgiving Day

The Wisconsin State Law Library, Milwaukee Legal Resource Center, and Dane County Legal Resource Center will be closed on Thursday, November 27th for the Thanksgiving holiday. WSLL and MLRC will be open the next day on Friday, November 28th; DCLRC will be closed until the following Monday.

Thanksgiving postcard circa 1900. Creative Commons

To submit a question to the Wisconsin State Law Library while we are closed, you may call us at 608-267-9696 or Ask a Librarian online. We will respond to questions and requests on Friday, November 28th.

Phone service is restored

Phone service has been restored for the Wisconsin State Law Library.

Thank you for your patience during this interruption of service!

Phone services are unavailable

Phone service is temporarily unavailable in the Wisconsin State Law Library. Any calls made at this time to our reference or circulation lines will not go through. The branch libraries in the Dane and Milwaukee courthouses do have working phone lines.

If you need immediate assistance, please fill out our online contact form to send us an email. Thank you for your patience as we resolve this issue. Watch this blog for updates.

WSLL Recommends: Wisconsin Collection Law

We are often asked about collection law. To find information we turn to Wisconsin Collection Law, by Robert A. Pasch.

In its second edition, Wisconsin Collection Law is volume 12 and 13 of the Wisconsin Practice Series published by Thomson Reuters. It is a comprehensive publication on substantive and procedural law.

Topics include:

• Pre-suit considerations
• Collection regulation
• Consumer credit transactions
• Marital property concerns
• Bulk transfers
• Obtaining a civil or small claims money judgment
• Attachment
• Injunctive relief
• Replevin: non-consumer and consumer
• Judgments and foreign judgments
• Executions and exemptions
• Supplemental proceedings/examination
• Garnishment
• Receivers
• Creditors' actions
• Other collection issues

Sample and mandatory court forms are also included. Volume 13 consists entirely of appendices referring to selected Wisconsin statutes and regulations, commonly used statutes of limitations, and federal acts.

Wisconsin Collection Law is available to check out at the State Law Library and our branch libraries in the Milwaukee and Dane County courthouses. It is also available on Westlaw for free in our libraries.

New Guide to Researching Wisconsin Legislative History

Because legislative history research can be overwhelming, we distilled the core procedure into a two page, colorful handout on Researching Wisconsin Legislative History. This handout, styled like a children's board game, leads researchers through 8 steps. On the back of the handout we list notes about available date ranges for online and print sources for each step. If you need to do a legislative history, start with this guide for basic pointers and sources to get you started. Ask a librarian for help and for more in-depth education be sure to sign up for our November class.

Researching the legislative history of a Wisconsin statute can be a time-consuming process. Many of our users need help setting goals and getting started. Our two hour CLE credit class on researching Wisconsin legislative history gives an overview of the basic steps and sources. The class also covers rarer research topics like researching the history of a Wisconsin court rule or budget bill. Space is available for this hands-on class on November 11, from 9-11 a.m at the Wisconsin State Law Library training room. Register online today.

WSLL at Your Service: November 2014

The November issue of WSLL @ Your Service is now online.  

In this issue:

• What is New: Holiday closings; UW Pro Bono Reception Recap; State Bar's Annual Real Estate Seminar Update; Upcoming Classes; WSLL Holiday Party
• Welcome to the Redesigned wilawlibrary.gov
• This Just in...: New & updated library materials; Monthly list of new titles
• Tech Tip in Brief: Convert Text Messages to Email
• WSLL Recommends: Deposing and Examining Doctors
• Odds 'n' Endings: Toys for Tots  Donations Now Accepted

 As always, your comments are welcome.  Please direct them to the editor, Lisa.Winkler@wicourts.gov