Last week, the Joint Committee on Finance began voting on motions to reshape the 2023-25 state budget as originally proposed by Gov. Tony Evers in his executive budget. The committee process, expected to conclude by mid-June, will result in the final budget bill that will be voted on by the full Legislature.

At its May 2 meeting, the committee began by approving a motion to remove hundreds of spending proposals and non-fiscal policy items from the budget, effectively resetting spending levels to the 2021-23 baseline (the current budget). 

Third party litigation funding or “litigation financing” is a form of investing in which hedge funds and other financiers invest in a lawsuit in exchange for a portion of any settlement or judgement award. The investment provides cash to plaintiffs to litigate a claim, while the financier—thanks to its sophisticated underwriting—anticipates the case to end in a large enough judgement or settlement to satisfy its obligations.

In Wisconsin, under 2017 Act 235, a litigation financing agreement must be disclosed to the court and other parties to a case. The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform called this transparency requirement “groundbreaking” and is working to enact similar disclosure reforms in other states, holding Wisconsin up as an example to follow.

In Acuity, a Mutual Insurance Co. v. Estate of Shimeta (2023 WI 28), the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that an insurance policy’s reducing clause applied individually to each person insured, rather than limiting the insurer’s total liability for the accident.

In Banuelos v. University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority (2023 WI 25), the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that Wisconsin law did not permit a health care provider to charge any fee to a patient’s attorneys for providing an electronic copy of her health care records.

In Secura Supreme Insurance Company v. Estate of Huck (2023 WI 21), the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that an insurance policy’s reducing clause could only be applied to the net amount received by an insured estate after the estate made a statutorily required reimbursement to another insurer.