At Hale Skemp, we take a remarkably collaborative approach to serving our clients. As the largest law firm in the area, we have broad experience and a unique culture of collaboration. That means when you work with one lawyer, you have access to the power of the entire team. We share our expertise, strategies, and ideas with each other, so you get the absolute strongest representation. Our clients find us to be approachable, compassionate, and committed to their best interests, whether personal, family, or business. We listen to your concerns and focus on your needs so you can feel confident in knowing our work for you is thorough and skillfully handled.
Our firm has always been one of the largest in Western Wisconsin. Our many lawyers provide a full spectrum of services to the La Crosse area, Western Wisconsin and Southeastern Minnesota, including personal injury, accident and trial practice for both plaintiffs and defendants, estate planning and trusts, family law and divorce, and business law of all types, to name a few areas of practice.
Child Support
The remainder of Tom’s practice is devoted to assisting individuals through the divorce process or resolving post-divorce issues. His knowledge and experience in family law includes handling matters involving custody and placement, child support, maintenance, property division, and paternity and injunction issues. Tom gives these matters the personal attention they require because he understands that in addition to fighting for a fair and equitable result, he is responsible for offering guidance through what is oftentimes a very emotional process.
Child Custody and Visitation
Having an experienced family law attorney is important —and when children are involved it’s even more critical that you have a family law attorney who listens to your concerns and protects what is most important to you. Our family law team understands this can be a time of high stress and anxiety, and that it’s important to use results-drive strategies in all family law matters such as divorce, child support, and property division. Whether your case involves child custody and placement, the division of pension plans and other assets, complex family businesses, or other matters, our family law attorneys are committed to helping you achieve your objectives.
Paternity
Spousal Support
Margaret “Peggy” has worked extensively in the area of family law for over 30 years during which time she has litigated hundreds of complicated issues including custody, placement, child support, maintenance/spousal support, and division issues. In addition to her private practice, Peggy serves as a Supplemental Court Commissioner for La Crosse County.
A man in his mid-40s bled to death at his home after being discharged from a rural hospital after an appendectomy. Claims were made against the surgeon and hospital staff. After a two-week trial, damages were awarded to the deceased man’s family for his wrongful death caused by the negligence of the defendants.
Theft
Arson
Successfully represented a man whose vacation home in Wisconsin had burned. The fire insurer denied payment and claimed arson, and that the insured had fraudulently misrepresented his personal property and contents losses.
Front-end planning can prevent litigation and disputes. We provide ongoing counsel from start-up through dissolution to protect the interests of our clients in contract formation, mergers and acquisitions, purchase and sale of business, regulatory approvals and compliance (licensing, permitting, zoning) franchise agreements, or franchising your business.
Business Formation
We are experienced in business formation and organization, including partnerships, Corporations, S-Corps., Limited Liability Companies (LLC), Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP), and limited partnerships. We’ll explain the differences and advise you on tax implications and personal liability.
Business Disputes
Katie Anderson graduated from University of Wisconsin–La Crosse in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and organizational communication. She has since worked at local law firms as a paralegal and has recently joined Hale Skemp as the family law paralegal. In her previous positions, she worked in the areas of business law, civil litigation, consumer and business collections, real estate and elder law. Outside of the office, Katie enjoys watching her kids play ice hockey and spending time with her husband.
Successfully defended clients, on multiple occasions, being sued for employment discrimination—prepared hearing witnesses and undertook legal defense of the discrimination complaint at the hearing.
Employment Contract
Employment Litigation
The employment law attorneys at Hale Skemp advise clients on the maze of state and federal laws affecting the workforce. We assist clients by drafting/reviewing employment severance agreements, employee handbooks, noncompete or confidentiality agreements. Our primary goal is to avoid litigation for our clients by use of proactive counseling. However, if legal disputes do arise, we have years of experience in handling employment issues either in court or administrative setting for...
Severance Agreement
Sexual Harassment
Tom has been involved with counseling and handling employment cases throughout his corporate career and presently with the law firm. His experiences include handling sexual harassment, disability, retaliation, and wage and hour claims.
Municipal bodies and school districts have unique needs in the legal arena. Public meetings, citizen complaints, the well-being of students, and a range of real estate matters are among the many issues addressed on a daily basis by cities, towns, villages, and school districts. The broad scope and varied nature of legal, regulatory, and compliance issues dealt with by such clients make it necessary to work with experienced and proven legal counsel. Moreover, legal issues faced by municipalities and school districts often end up in local newspaper reports or become topics of heated discussion among local citizens. As such, legal action must occur within the prism of public visibility. Due regard for the effect on public discourse is a necessary component of the decision-making process.
Premises Liability
Construction Litigation
Roger represented a major regional architectural and engineering firm for a number of years consulting with them in a wide variety of construction-related issues. In addition, he represented general contractors, subcontractors, and owners concerning construction law issues.
Real Estate Transactions
Sarah applies that same attention to detail to business and real estate transactions. She advises new entrepreneurs and experienced executives alike on business formation, handling problem employees, succession planning, and everything in between.
Eminent Domain
We do more than handle simple residential and commercial purchases and sales. At Hale Skemp, you can retain a real estate lawyer with experience in zoning issues, environmental issues, condemnation and eminent domain issues, permit approvals, construction contracts, and title issues. Realtors, builders, developers and individuals turn to us for support when the situation demands steady, capable legal assistance.
Easement
Land Use and Zoning
Landlord-Tenant Disputes
Property Damage
The insurance defense attorneys at Hale Skemp are equipped to handle complex insurance cases involving novel questions, multiple parties, and complicated factual situations. The firm is adept at dealing with all types of insurance defense, including personal injury, property damage, products liability, professional malpractice, business loss, commercial interruption, advertising injury, and other forms of personal and business coverage.
Melissa Nelson was a paralegal at Hale Skemp from 1999-2012, and returned to the firm in 2019. She graduated from Northern State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice and she has a post-baccalaureate certificate from Minnesota Paralegal Institute. Melissa is a litigation paralegal, primarily working in plaintiff’s personal injury, insurance defense and workers’ compensation. Outside of the office, Melissa enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with her husband and four children.
Medical Malpractice
Our experienced professional malpractice lawyers will investigate an injury or loss to determine if malpractice has been committed. For medical malpractice, this often involves gathering medical records and having them reviewed by a specialist to find out if there was malpractice, or negligence, committed by the professional.
Auto Accidents
Social Security Disability
Another area of specialization is Social Security Disability cases. David has been successful for hundreds of claimants in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He also does mediation, having provided alternative dispute resolution services in civil litigation, farmer-creditor conflicts on a volunteer basis, and even disputes within law firms, drawing on management experience in his own firm.
Medicaid Planning
Our elder care attorneys are experienced in Medicaid planning to qualify for government assistance for nursing home care. We can help you avoid medical assistance liens or disqualification. Our experienced elder care attorneys can also help you create irrevocable trusts and provide other strategies to protect assets and avoid taxes to heirs.
Dog Bites
Acknowledged as an effective problem solver, Chuck‘s integrity and judgment are respected by people on both sides of an issue which makes him a valued mediator. His negotiation and litigation skills successfully serve clients injured in car and motorcycle accidents, dog bites, slips and falls, and many other injury-producing accidents. For people injured at work, Chuck brings recognized state-wide expertise in the area of Workers’ Compensation law essential to maximizing benefits for injured employees. As a founding board member and past-president of the Wisconsin Association of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, and after hundreds of successful hearings on behalf of injured workers, Chuck has an excellent working relationship with and the respect of the Administrative Law Judges who conduct Workers’ Compensation hearings.
Our estate planning attorneys can help guide an executor or administrator of an estate through their duties as quickly and inexpensively as possible. We will gather and value assets, liquidate assets, distribute inheritance, file tax returns, and handle all estate accounting and reporting. We advise trust administrators in annual accounting/reporting and have accountants in house to handle inheritance and death taxes.
Wills
In many ways, wills and trusts are not all that different. Both are legal documents that can be used to direct what happens to your money and property when you die. However, a trust can do much more than a will. For example, special needs trusts can be used to preserve money that will supplement the needs of a disabled family member without making that person ineligible for public benefits.
Trusts
Andrea has been a paralegal with Hale Skemp since 1995, specializing in the areas of real estate, probate, trust administration, and business. She graduated summa cum laude from Winona State University, Winona, Minnesota, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Paralegal/Multi-Legal Studies.
Power of Attorney
You may have heard of the terms “springing” and “non-springing” power of attorney and wonder what they mean.
Probate
Kevin has been practicing law at Hale Skemp since 1994 and assists clients in all matters of business law, contract, estate planning, probate law, real estate law, elder law, and intellectual property law.
Reached settlement for less than half of the amount sought, on behalf of the defendant, in a bankruptcy litigation case. The defendant was a small business being sued by a bankruptcy trustee to recover preferential transfer.
Foreclosure
If there is a need to enforce or to defend against enforcement of the terms of one of these contracts through a lawsuit seeking recovery of personal property, or foreclosure of real estate, or a suit for a money judgment, our team of experienced commercial litigation attorneys will competently represent you in this matter.