Laughing Cow, LP v. Wisconsin Department of Revenue

2024 WI App 15
COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN
PUBLISHED OPINION

Case No.: 2023AP583

†Petition for review filed

Complete Title of Case:

LAUGHING COW, LP, RADS PARTNERSHIP, VIA CRESTA, L.P.,
WESTMAR, LTD, AND FINGER LIVING TRUST DTD OCT. 4, 1988,

PETITIONERS-APPELLANTS,†

V.

WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE,

RESPONDENT-RESPONDENT.

Opinion Filed: February 29, 2024
Submitted on Briefs: September 14, 2023

JUDGES: Blanchard, Graham, and Nashold, JJ.

Appellants
ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the petitioners-appellants, the cause was submitted on the
briefs of Don M. Millis and Olivia Schwartz of Reinhard Boerner
Van Deuren s.c., Madison.

Respondent
ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the respondent-respondent, the cause was submitted on the
brief of Anthony D. Russomanno, assistant attorney general, and Joshua
L. Kaul, attorney general.
2024 WI App 15

COURT OF APPEALS
DECISION NOTICE
DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If
published, the official version will appear in
the bound volume of the Official Reports.
February 29, 2024
A party may file with the Supreme Court a
Samuel A. Christensen petition to review an adverse decision by the
Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10
and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2023AP583 Cir. Ct. No. 2022CV2101

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS

LAUGHING COW, LP, RADS PARTNERSHIP, VIA CRESTA, L.P.,
WESTMAR, LTD, AND FINGER LIVING TRUST DTD OCT. 4, 1988,

PETITIONERS-APPELLANTS,

V.

WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE,

RESPONDENT-RESPONDENT.

APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Dane County:
NIA E. TRAMMELL, Judge. Affirmed.

Before Blanchard, Graham, and Nashold, JJ.

¶1 GRAHAM, J. Five entities that we collectively refer to as Laughing
Cow appeal a circuit court order granting the Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s
No. 2023AP583

motion to dismiss Laughing Cow’s petition for judicial review in this WIS. STAT.
ch. 227 (2021-22) proceeding.1 The court dismissed the petition on the ground
that Laughing Cow failed to serve its petition on the Department in the manner
specified by WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1). On appeal, Laughing Cow contends that its
petition should not have been dismissed because it satisfied the statutory service
requirements or because, even if it did not, it should be granted an exception from
strict compliance with those requirements. We reject Laughing Cow’s arguments
and affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶2 The following summary of undisputed facts is derived from the
materials that the parties submitted with regard to the Department’s motion to
dismiss Laughing Cow’s petition. As discussed in greater detail below, these
submissions include sworn statements by an office manager who attempted to
serve Laughing Cow’s petition for judicial review on the Department, and sworn
statements by three individuals who were working at the Department’s
headquarters on the day of the attempt at service: a security officer who staffed
the Department’s security desk; a tax specialist who staffed the Department’s
reception desk; and a Department employee who was expressly authorized to
accept service on behalf of the Department.2

1
All references to the Wisconsin statutes are to the 2021-22 version.
2
Generally speaking, a WIS. STAT. ch. 227 review is confined to the administrative
record that is compiled by the agency pursuant to WIS. STAT. § 227.55. See WIS.
STAT. § 227.57(1). Here, however, the parties agree that the circuit court properly considered
evidence that is extrinsic to the administrative record when ruling on the Department’s motion to
dismiss. The determination of whether a party has properly served its petition for judicial review
of a final agency decision will necessarily turn on evidence that postdates the agency’s decision
(continued)

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¶3 This case began when Laughing Cow challenged several tax
assessments in administrative proceedings before the Tax Appeals Commission.
The commission issued a written decision, which rejected the challenges and
affirmed the Department’s tax assessments.

¶4 The commission’s decision contained a section titled “Notice of
Appeal Information,” which advised Laughing Cow of its right to seek judicial
review, as well as the filing and service requirements for initiating a petition for
judicial review. Consistent with WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1), the decision advised
Laughing Cow that it was required to timely file any petition with the clerk of the
circuit court and to timely serve the petition on both the commission and the
Department. The parties agree that Laughing Cow’s petition had to be filed and
served no later than August 24, 2022.

¶5 Laughing Cow filed its petition with the clerk of the circuit court on
August 22, 2022. Then, on August 23, it properly served the petition on the
commission and, as further detailed in the following paragraphs, it attempted to
serve the petition on the Department.

¶6 To that end, a paralegal at the law firm representing Laughing Cow
gave three envelopes, each containing a copy of the petition, to the law firm’s
office manager, and sent the office manager to the Department’s headquarters in

and that is extrinsic to the administrative record. Because the Department’s motion to dismiss for
failure of service does not go to the merits of the Department’s decision, the circuit court properly
reviewed evidence extrinsic to the agency record when it ruled on the Department’s motion. See
Wisconsin’s Env’t Decade, Inc. v. PSC, 79 Wis. 2d 161, 171-72, 255 N.W.2d 917 (1977)
(concluding that a motion to dismiss for mootness, which would require the court to consider
evidence extrinsic to the agency record, “does not conflict with the general provision that …
judicial review, which goes to the merits of the case, be confined to the record”).

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No. 2023AP583

Madison. One envelope was addressed to the Secretary of the Department, Peter
Barca, and the others were addressed to attorneys in the Department’s office of
general counsel. The return address on each envelope indicated that it was from
the law firm of Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren.

¶7 When later deposed, the office manager testified that she had been
instructed to “take the document to the Department of Revenue for service on the
three individuals.” Beyond that, she testified that she did not know whether she
was “initiating a lawsuit or not.” And she could not recall any precise instructions
that she had been given. Serving legal papers was a duty that the office manager
performed only occasionally, and she could not recall how many times she had
been asked to serve legal papers prior to her attempt to serve Laughing Cow’s
petition on the Department.

¶8 On the day in question, the office manager arrived at the
Department’s headquarters. The first floor reception area was open to the public,
and a security desk and a customer service desk on that floor were staffed on
weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Secretary’s office and other
Department offices were located on other floors, and were not publicly accessible.
If a visitor wished to meet with a Department employee, the visitor was required
to check in at the security desk and then be escorted to the employee’s office by a
Department employee.

¶9 At the time the office manager attempted to serve Laughing Cow’s
petition, the Department had no written policy for accepting service of process.
However, according to the deposition testimony of Emily Pegram, a Department
employee who was “the first point of contact for accepting service papers on
behalf of the Secretary,” the Department had the following internal processes for

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No. 2023AP583

accepting service. Pegram testified that, if a process server arrived at the
Department’s headquarters and stated that they were there to serve the Secretary,
the process server would be directed to the security desk, and the security officer
would call Pegram.3 If the security officer was unable to reach Pegram, the officer
would then call a “very short list of people” who were also authorized “to accept
service papers.” At that time, there were four employees, including Pegram, who
were authorized to accept service on the Department’s behalf. The security and
customer service desks were not authorized to accept service of process on behalf
of the Department.

¶10 On the day that Laughing Cow attempted to serve the Department,
the office manager arrived at the Department’s headquarters at approximately
4:00 p.m. Upon her arrival, she stopped at the security desk, which was staffed by
a security officer. During her deposition, the office manager could not recall
precisely what she told the security officer—she was “certain” that she told him
that she had “documents” for the three individuals whose names were listed on the
envelopes, and that the documents “were from the law firm of Reinhart Boerner
Van Deuren.” However, the office manager did not recall using the phrase “legal
documents,” nor did she recall informing the security officer that she was there to
“serve” those individuals. For his part, the security officer averred that the office
manager said “something to the effect that she had documents to drop off,” but he

3
Although it is not material to the issue in this appeal, Pegram testified that she would
take the following steps when she received a call from the security desk about a process server
who had arrived to serve papers on the Secretary. Pegram would personally report to the security
desk, ask the process server to sign, date, and print their name on a log, provide her information
to the process server, take possession of the papers from the process server, take the service
papers upstairs to the Department’s offices, and then electronically log them into the
Department’s computer system.

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No. 2023AP583

was “certain” that she did not use the phrase “service of process” and did not tell
him that she was there to “serve” the documents.

¶11 The security officer escorted the office manager to the customer
service desk, which was staffed by a tax specialist who was employed by the
Department. At the customer service desk, the office manager told the tax
specialist something to the effect that she “had papers for these three individuals.”
The tax specialist later testified that she often received papers at the customer
service desk related to tax filings and response letters, and that she did not know
that the office manager was attempting to serve a lawsuit.

¶12 The tax specialist and the security guard then conferred about what
they should do with the documents. At the conclusion of the conversation, the tax
specialist indicated to the office manager that the tax specialist “would take the …
envelopes.” The office manager gave the envelopes to the tax specialist and left.
The tax specialist later testified that she mistakenly believed the documents to be
property tax assessment appeals, which she had the authority to accept and store in
a secure location overnight. The parties agree that the office manager never asked
the tax specialist whether she was authorized to accept service on behalf of the
Department or the Secretary, and that the tax specialist never represented that she
was authorized to accept service on the Department’s or the Secretary’s behalf.

¶13 After the office manager left, the tax specialist opened the envelopes
and realized that the documents were not property tax assessment appeals, and
were instead “legal document[s] of some sort.” In a sequence of events that are
not material to the legal issue on appeal, the tax specialist stamped the documents
with an August 23, 2022 date and sent an email about them to Kathy Traxler, who

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No. 2023AP583

worked in the Department’s office of general counsel and was one of the
individuals expressly authorized to accept service on the Department’s behalf.

¶14 On the following morning at around 8:00 a.m., Traxler picked up the
three envelopes containing copies of the petition for review, and she placed the
envelopes in the mailboxes of the individuals to whom the envelopes were
addressed.

¶15 As noted, the Department moved to dismiss Laughing Cow’s
petition for judicial review on the ground that Laughing Cow failed to serve the
Department in the manner specified by WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a)1. Following
discovery on the issue and the submission of briefing by the parties, the circuit
court granted the Department’s motion.4 The court concluded that, based on the
undisputed facts, Laughing Cow failed to strictly comply with § 227.53(1)(a)1.,
and that the court therefore lacked competency to proceed. Laughing Cow
appeals.

DISCUSSION

¶16 A person aggrieved by a state agency’s final decision may seek
judicial review of that decision pursuant to WIS. STAT. ch. 227. As relevant here,
to institute a proceeding for judicial review of an agency’s final decision, a
petitioner must file the petition with the clerk of the circuit court for the county in
which the judicial review proceedings are to be held and “serv[e] a petition …

4
In its appellate briefing, Laughing Cow describes the circuit court’s order as granting
summary judgment. However, as the Department notes, the Department’s motion was not for
summary judgment, and was instead a motion to dismiss based on improper service.

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No. 2023AP583

personally or by certified mail upon the agency or one of its officials.” See WIS.
STAT. § 227.53(1)(a)1., (a)2., (c). “[S]trict compliance” with § 227.53(1) is
required, Currier v. DOR, 2006 WI App 12, ¶23, 288 Wis. 2d 693, 709 N.W.2d
520 (2005), and if a petitioner fails to properly effectuate service, the circuit court
lacks competency to proceed. Wisconsin Power & Light Co. v. PSC, 2006 WI
App 221, ¶11, 296 Wis. 2d 705, 725 N.W.2d 423. 5 If the facts are undisputed,
then the issue of whether a petitioner has served its petition in strict compliance
with § 227.53(1)(a) presents a question of law that we review de novo. Id., ¶8;
Currier, 288 Wis. 2d 693, ¶9; Weisensel v. DHSS, 179 Wis. 2d 637, 642, 508
N.W.2d 33 (Ct. App. 1993).6

¶17 On appeal, Laughing Cow challenges the circuit court’s dismissal of
its petition on the ground that it failed to properly serve the Department. It first
argues that it served its petition in compliance with WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a);
alternatively, it argues that it should be granted an exception from strict
compliance with the statute’s requirements. We address these arguments in turn.

5
Some older cases that discuss the requirements of WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1) describe a
petitioner’s failure to comply with the statute as depriving the circuit court of subject matter
jurisdiction. However, in Village of Trempealeau v. Mikrut, 2004 WI 79, 273 Wis. 2d 76, 681
N.W.2d 190, our supreme court clarified that, because the state constitution confers general
subject matter jurisdiction on circuit courts, a party’s failure to comply with a procedural statute
does not deprive the court of subject matter jurisdiction; instead, the failure to comply with a
procedural statute may limit the court’s competency to exercise its jurisdiction. Id., ¶12; see also
Currier v. DOR, 2006 WI App 12, ¶6 n.2, 288 Wis. 2d 693, 709 N.W.2d 520 (2005) (citing
Kohler Co. v. Wixen, 204 Wis. 2d 327, 337, 555 N.W.2d 640 (Ct. App. 1996)). Consistent with
this clarification from Mikrut, more recent cases have described a petitioner’s failure to comply
with § 227.53(1) as depriving the circuit court of competency to exercise its jurisdiction. See
Currier, 288 Wis. 2d 693, ¶6 n.2; Wisconsin Power & Light Co. v. PSC, 2006 WI App 221, ¶11,
296 Wis. 2d 705, 725 N.W.2d 423.
6
Although the parties dispute certain historical facts, the parties do not argue that any of
these disputes are material to the dispositive issue.

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No. 2023AP583

¶18 Laughing Cow first contends that the “undisputed facts demonstrate
that [it] complied with WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a)1. by timely serving the Petition
on the Department” “‘or one of its officials.’” However, Laughing Cow does not
argue that it strictly complied with § 227.53(1)(a)1. and, as we now explain, such
an argument would be unavailing.

¶19 The unambiguous language of WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a)1. requires
a petitioner to serve a petition either “personally or by certified mail upon the
agency or one of its officials.” However, a petitioner cannot “personally serve”
the agency, as an entity, itself. See Weisensel, 179 Wis. 2d at 644-45. Instead, a
petitioner who elects to serve the petition by personal service must personally
serve an “official of the agency,” id., which WIS. STAT. § 227.01(7) defines as “a
secretary, commissioner or member of a board of an agency,”7 or a person who is
not an “official of the agency,” but who is nonetheless expressly authorized to
accept service on the agency’s behalf. See Weisensel, 179 Wis. 2d at 644-45.

¶20 Here, Laughing Cow elected to personally serve its petition.
Therefore, Laughing Cow had to personally serve its petition upon an “official of
the [Department],” id., or an express designee. The parties appear to agree that, as
of August 2022, Secretary Barca qualified as an “official” of the Department
within the meaning of WIS. STAT. § 227.01(7), and that the Department had also
expressly authorized several Department employees, including Pegram and
Traxler, to accept service on the Department’s behalf.

7
See also Weisensel v. DHSS, 179 Wis. 2d 637, 644-45, 508 N.W.2d 33 (Ct. App. 1993)
(explaining that in most instances, the secretary of a department will be the “official of the
agency”).

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No. 2023AP583

¶21 Laughing Cow acknowledges that it did not serve Secretary Barca.
However, Laughing Cow points to the undisputed fact that “Traxler … had the
Petition in hand by 8:00 a.m. on August 24, 2022, the last day for Laughing Cow
to [timely] effectuate service,” and it appears to argue that it personally served
Traxler. As we now explain, this does not constitute personal service upon
Traxler.

¶22 WISCONSIN STAT. § 227.53(1)(a)1. does not specifically define
personal service. However, in the context of other statutes that address service of
process, we have explained that personal service requires that “papers effecting
service of process … be physically placed in the hands of the party to be served.”
Ewing v. State Auto. Ins. Co., No. 2018AP2265, unpublished slip op. ¶¶17-18
(WI App. June 30, 2020) (discussing service under WIS. STAT. § 801.11, and
concluding that the act of throwing a summons in the direction of a player on a
baseball field from 20 feet above in the stadium stands and shouting “you have
been served” did not amount to personal service).8

¶23 Here, it is undisputed that the office manager did not physically
place Laughing Cow’s petition in Traxler’s hands. Nor, for that matter, did the
office manager inform Traxler—or any other department employee—that she was

8
We cite the authored, unpublished opinion in Ewing for its persuasive value pursuant to
WIS. STAT. RULE 809.23(3)(b). Ewing v. State Auto. Ins. Co., No. 2018AP2265, unpublished
slip op. ¶¶17-18 (WI App. June 30, 2020). The statute at issue in Ewing was WIS. STAT.
§ 801.11, which identifies alternative means of service if, “with reasonable diligence,” the
defendant cannot be personally served. See § 801.11(b), (c), (d). By contrast, the statute at issue
here, WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a), addresses personal service and service by certified mail, and
does not identify any other alternative means of service.

10
No. 2023AP583

there to serve a petition for judicial review.9 Instead, the office manager placed
the petition in the hands of a tax specialist who was not an “official” of the
Department, was not authorized to accept service of papers on the Department’s
behalf, and never represented herself to be authorized to accept service on the
Department’s behalf. Although the tax specialist did ultimately forward the
petition to Traxler, this does not constitute personal service upon Traxler or the
Department. See Weisensel, 179 Wis. 2d at 640-41, 646 (rejecting the notion that
a petitioner complies with WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a)1. by handing a petition to an
agency employee who is not authorized to accept service on the agency’s behalf,
who then hands the petition to an employee who is authorized to accept service).
Therefore, Laughing Cow did not comply with § 227.53(1)(a)1.

¶24 In the alternative, Laughing Cow argues that, even if it did not
comply with WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a), it should be granted an exception from the
statutory requirements because “the circumstances presented fall within the
judicially-recognized exceptions to the statute’s requirements.” To that end,
Laughing Cow cites three cases in which our supreme court appeared to accept
something less than strict compliance with certain statutory service requirements

9
Laughing Cow argues that, in contrast to WIS. STAT. § 801.11(1)(b)1., which details
alternative methods of effectuating service upon “natural person[s],” and which requires a server
to inform an alternative recipient of the contents of the documents being served, WIS. STAT.
§ 227.53(1)(a)1. does not require a person attempting to serve an administrative agency to inform
the recipient of the contents of the documents being served. We need not decide whether
Laughing Cow’s interpretation of § 227.53(1)(a)1. is correct—as discussed above, the office
manager did not comply with § 227.53(1)(a)1. because she did not physically place the petition in
the hands of a person who was authorized to accept service on the Department’s behalf. Because
that conclusion is dispositive, it is not necessary to address whether, had the office manager
physically placed the petition in the hands of the Secretary or express designee, she was also
required to inform the recipient that she was serving a petition for review.

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No. 2023AP583

based on the particular circumstances of the case.10 See Wisconsin’s Env’t
Decade, Inc. v. PSC, 84 Wis. 2d 504, 517-19, 267 N.W.2d 609 (1978)
(concluding, among other things, that the fact that petitioner prematurely served its
petition upon the agency did not deprive the circuit court of “subject matter
jurisdiction”);11 Evans v. Department of Local Affairs & Dev., 62 Wis. 2d 622,
625-28, 215 N.W.2d 408 (1974) (concluding that a faulty caption did not deprive
the circuit court of “subject matter jurisdiction”); Hamilton v. DILHR, 56 Wis. 2d
673, 688-89, 203 N.W.2d 7 (1973) (concluding that a pro se petitioner’s failure to
timely file his petition in the circuit court, and the fact that he served his petition
on an agency employee who was not authorized to accept service, did not deprive

10
The three cases cited by Laughing Cow involved a prior version of the statute that is
now numbered WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a). For purposes of the personal service requirement, we
see no material difference between § 227.53(1)(a) and the statutory language that was in effect
when those three cases were decided, and neither side argues to the contrary.

Separately, the Department argues that Laughing Cow has forfeited any argument that it
should be granted an exception from strict compliance because it did not make this argument or
cite to these cases before the circuit court. Although the brief that Laughing Cow filed in the
circuit court did not cite the cases discussed above that involve exceptions to the rule of strict
compliance, we will address their argument. Laughing Cow generally argued in favor of an
exception during the circuit court proceeding, albeit in a more oblique manner than it does on
appeal, and the circuit court clearly understood that it was arguing in favor of an exception based
on the precedent discussed above. See generally Townsend v. Massey, 2011 WI App 160,
¶¶19-27, 338 Wis. 2d 114, 808 N.W.2d 155 (generally discussing principles of forfeiture under
Wisconsin law).
11
In Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, Inc. v. PSC, 84 Wis. 2d 504, 528-34, 267
N.W.2d 609 (1978), our supreme court also rejected an argument that the circuit court lacked
“subject matter jurisdiction” on the ground that the petitioners failed to serve their petition on
every one of 150 persons who had appeared during the administrative hearings. Although some
subsequent cases have described this conclusion as a court-created “exception” to strict
compliance with the statute, we do not agree that that characterization of the court’s decision is
apt. In rejecting the agency’s argument, our supreme court determined that the statute does not
actually require service on every single person who appeared during the administrative hearing.
Thus the petitioners complied with the statutory requirements in this respect and did not need an
exception to proceed with their lawsuit. See id. at 515, 519-34.

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No. 2023AP583

the circuit court of “subject matter jurisdiction” because the circuit court clerk
unreasonably refused to file the petition and the agency employee who accepted
service had misled the petitioner into believing that he was authorized to accept
service on the agency’s behalf). Laughing Cow interprets these cases as setting
forth a broad general rule that a petitioner should be excused from strict
compliance with § 227.53(1)(a)1. if the petitioner substantially complies with the
statute by attempting to timely serve the responding agency; the petitioner is
prevented from strictly complying by “the actions of others over whom it has no
control”;12 and the responding agency received timely notice of the petitioner’s
claim and is therefore not prejudiced by the petitioner’s failure to strictly comply
with the statute.

¶25 Laughing Cow’s attempt to distill a broadly applicable test from
these three cases is unavailing. As we stated in Weisensel, 179 Wis. 2d at 647, the
“exceptions” to strict compliance with WIS. STAT. § 227.53(1)(a)1. “are few and
[are] limited to the facts of those particular cases.” Id. Here, the facts of this case
do not fit within the scenarios described in Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade,
Evans, or Hamilton. This case does not involve an attempt at service that was
premature, see Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, 84 Wis. 2d 504; a faulty

12
As we explain in the body of this opinion, we are not persuaded that the cases
Laughing Cow cites set forth a broadly applicable test. We nevertheless pause to address
Laughing Cow’s argument that it was prevented from strictly complying with the statutory
service requirements by the actions of others over whom Laughing Cow had no control. We
reject Laughing Cow’s repeated assertions that the Department “prevented” it from effectuating
service of process by failing to “follow its own internal policies” for accepting service of process.
This argument fails because it is undisputed that the office manager who arrived at the
Department’s headquarters never told the security guard, the tax specialist, or any other
Department employee that she was attempting to serve the Department or the Secretary, such that
the security guard, tax specialist, or some other Department employee would have had reason to
follow the Department’s policies for accepting service of process.

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No. 2023AP583

caption, see Evans, 62 Wis. 2d 622; or a clerk’s unreasonable failure to file a
pro se petitioner’s petition, see Hamilton, 56 Wis. 2d 673.

¶26 It is true that, like Laughing Cow, the petitioner in Hamilton also
failed to serve its petition on an official of the agency or express designee, and the
court overlooked that failure. However, the facts of Hamilton are readily
distinguishable in all material respects from those at issue in this case. In
Hamilton, the petitioner was not represented by counsel, and was expressly misled
through correspondence with an agency employee to believe that the employee
was authorized to accept service on the agency’s behalf. Id. at 686. Here, by
contrast, Laughing Cow has been represented by counsel at every stage of this
litigation, and its attorneys should have been aware that they were required to
personally serve Secretary Barca or an express designee. Additionally, Laughing
Cow does not argue that it was misled by the Department’s tax specialist, or by
any other Department employee, to believe that the tax specialist with whom the
office manager left the service documents was authorized to accept service on the
Department’s behalf.

¶27 Dismissal may be a harsh penalty for Laughing Cow’s failure to
comply with the statutory service requirements, but our cases have stated that
“uniformity, consistency and compliance with procedural rules are necessary to
maintain a simple, orderly and uniform system of conducting business in the
courts.” Weisensel, 179 Wis. 2d at 647 (citing Miller Brewing Co. v. LIRC, 173
Wis. 2d 700, 707, 495 N.W.2d 660 (1993)). Even if equity would support an
exception, we cannot make one here in light of our conclusion in Weisensel that
exceptions to strict compliance with the statute “are few and [are] limited to the
facts of” Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, Evans, and Hamilton. Weisensel,

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No. 2023AP583

179 Wis. 2d at 647. See Cook v. Cook, 208 Wis. 2d 166, 189-90, 560 N.W.2d 246
(1997) (the court of appeals cannot overrule its prior opinions).

By the Court.—Order affirmed.

15