Notable Former Cases

On July 16, 2013, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) inappropriately relied on the public trust doctrine for its authority to protect non-navigable land and non-navigable water above the ordinary high water mark when it refused the petition to raise the waters of Lake Koshkonong.GLFF filed an amicus brief on behalf of two Wisconsin business associations siding with the District.

On November 12, 2015, an Outagamie County Circuit Court found that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) imposed unlawful permit conditions for high capacity wells. In a resounding victory for industry, the court found DNR lacked the required explicit authority to impose costly monitoring requirements on high capacity well permits. As a related finding, the court ruled that under 2011 WI Act 21 agencies cannot use implied authorities to impose regulatory requirements.GLLF joined the case as an intervenor on behalf of four Wisconsin business associations. We asserted that besides abdicating courts’ constitutional duty to interpret the law, such systematic bias benefits the state as a party and deprives the regulated community of due process. The court tracked our due process argument in a way vital to their decision to eliminate all deference.

On June 26, 2018, the Wisconsin Supreme Court handed down its decision in Tetra Tech. In summary: the deference doctrine is dead. The courts will no longer give agencies any deference on interpretations of law. In July 2017, GLLF filed an amicus brief on behalf of 11 business associations urging the Court to reject the current practice of deferring to an agency’s interpretation of the law.We asserted that besides abdicating courts’ constitutional duty to interpret the law, such systematic bias benefits the state as a party and deprives the regulated community of due process. The court tracked our due process argument in a way vital to their decision to eliminate all deference.

On December 19, 2019, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lamar, overturning the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and declaring a win for the regulated community.On July 12, 2019, GLLF submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on behalf of five Wisconsin business associations addressing the error-correcting exception. GLLF participated in oral arguments on September 4, 2019.

On May 13, 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Wisconsin Legislature, holding the Wisconsin Department of Health Services’s orders were rules and must be promulgated using emergency rulemaking.April 29, 2020, GLLF filed an amicus brief and supporting appendix with the Wisconsin Supreme Court on behalf of Wisconsin Manufactures & Commerce and Wisconsin Dairy Alliance supporting the Legislature in the case relating to agency authorities during the corona-virus challenge.