Oral Arguments On Important Landlord Case To Be Heard on January 6, 2010

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Caselaw, Tenant Damage, AASEW / Comments

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case of Maryland Arms L.P. v. Connell on Wednesday, January 6, 2010.  This is a very important case for landlords as the decision will affect a landlord's ability to contract with his/her tenant.

You can learn what the case is about by reviewing my earlier posts from May 28, 2009 and October 15, 2009.

Oral arguments will be streamed at http://wisconsineye.org for those that wish to watch.

The exact time that for the Maryland Arms arguments is unknown.  The case is scheduled to be heard second.  The first case starts at 9:45 am.  More than likely -- and assuming everything runs on schedule -- the case will be argued before 11 am.

For those of you new to oral arguments, the Wisconsin Supreme Court justices will allow each side to summarize their arguments (which have already been submitted via briefs).  The justices will also interrupt the attorneys in order to have them answer specific questions that the justices may have or to attempt to get the attorneys to concede certain arguments.  Sometimes the grilling by the justices can be harsh.  The justices will not issue a final decision on Wednesday.  A final decision will be issued many months later in writing.

The AASEW, along with three other Wisconsin apartment associations, hired legal counsel to submit an amicus curiae brief setting forth the concerns of the apartment industry as a whole, with regard to the specific facts of this case.  The lawyer for the apartment associations will also be allowed time to present our argument to the justices.