Reinhart's real estate attorneys are frequently called upon
as local counsel to tailor purchase agreements, commercial leases,
loan documents and other real estate documents prepared by
out-of-state clients and their principal attorneys to fit the
peculiarities of Wisconsin law. One issue that crops up regularly
involves the use of the term "gross negligence." Unlike
other states, Wisconsin courts have not recognized a distinction
between "simple" and "gross" negligence since
1962, in Bielski v. Schulze, 16 Wis. 2d 1, 14-19
(1962).
In our capacity as local counsel, we frequently suggest
replacing "gross negligence" with something more
appropriate, such as "recklessness." For example, our
team recently modified an exception to the borrower's indemnity
provision in an out-of-state client's draft lease to swap
"gross negligence" with "recklessness" to
achieve an appropriate standard for the applicability of that
exception. As originally drafted, the provision limited
