French for “Foot of the Lake,” Fond du Lac is a city located south of Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. It has a population of over 42,000, and in 2006 was named the safest metropolitan area in the United States by Quinto Press.

Fond du Lac is home to Mercury Marine, a division of Brunswick Corporation and a major manufacturer of outboard motors. In September 2009, Mercury managers sued for $7 million in unpaid bonuses plus punitive damages. The lawsuit claimed that Mercury executives promised managers 10 percent of achieved company savings, but ultimately neglected to pay such bonuses. Mercury claimed that no bonuses were provided by parent company Brunswick due to weak market conditions. The case is still pending in federal court.

On January 13, 2009, Fond du Lac settled a claim for $35,000, which alleged that the city’s water system had been exceeding the permissible radium contaminant level. Long-term exposure to radium poses a higher risk of bone cancer. As part of the settlement, the Fond du Lac also implemented a treatment plan removing radium from non-compliant wells, along with a plan to improve water conservation.

If you have a legal matter in Fond du Lac, it is important to understand which court has jurisdiction over your case, for it affects where to file and which attorneys are licensed to represent you. Most legal actions fall under Wisconsin state jurisdiction. City ordinance violations are adjudicated by Lakeside Municipal Court, and other civil and criminal actions belong to the Fond du Lac County Circuit Court. However, note that all bankruptcy proceedings fall under federal jurisdiction. Fond du Lac residents would file in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, located in Milwaukee. In addition, only attorneys admitted to the federal Bar and trained in electronic filing may represent a client in a bankruptcy proceeding.

There are various active attorneys currently in Fond du Lac city, each with their own specialties, and LegalMatch can ease the tedious process of finding the right one through our highly effective attorney-client matching system.

For more legal resources in and around the Fond du Lac area, please visit the following websites:

• Wisconsin Bar Association
• Wisconsin Circuit Court forms