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Madison - The Assembly signed off on a bill Thursday capping attorney fees written by a lawmaker whose company faces paying $20,000 in such fees to a tenant who sued the firm.

The bill by state Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) would presume that reasonable fees are no more than three times any monetary damage award but would allow judges to exceed that if plaintiffs' attorneys could prove the limit was unreasonable. It passed 55-39, with Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) joining all Democrats in voting against it.

Vos, the co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, runs a firm that recently agreed to pay legal fees in a dispute with a former tenant - an issue he never mentioned during hearings.

Democrats contended limiting attorney fees would gut the state's consumer protection laws because lawyers wouldn't agree to take complex cases over relatively small amounts.

"All it's gong to do is close the door to the courthouse for you and your constituents," said state Rep. Tony Staskunas (D-West Allis). "We'll have a consumer act on the books but there won't be . . . an adequate means to enforce it."

In an effort to persuade Republicans to vote against the bill, Staskunas read from decisions by conservative state Supreme Court Justices David Prosser and Michael Gableman that praised state laws allowing people to recover attorney fees.

But Vos argued the bill preserved the ability of wronged consumers to pursue their cases, while protecting businesses from having to pay large sums for frivolous claims.

"They say it's all about the little guy," Vos said. "It's not. It's all about the trial lawyer.

"Everyone will get their day in court - every single Wisconsinite - but what businesses will get is some certainty."

The GOP-controlled Senate approved the bill along party lines last week. The measure now goes to Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who included the bill in the special legislative session now under way.

Vos is the sole shareholder of Ladwig & Vos, which owns a Whitewater rental house, records show. Last year, the company sued five students who had leased the house for the 2010-'11 year but moved out after three months.

The company sought $17,000 in unpaid rent, said Brian Schuk, an attorney for one of the college students. Schuk countersued, claiming breach of contract, security deposit violation and rent overpayment.

According to records, his client paid one-fifth of the $1,500 security deposit, one-fifth of the summer rent and in early August 2010, one-fifth of the fall rent. Later that month, all five tenants moved out because the power had gone out in the house 25 times in three months, according to the counter claim.

Last month, the parties agreed to a settlement in which Ladwig & Vos would pay Schuk's client $2,175 for deposit return and unearned rent, as well as reasonable attorney fees and costs. The settlement states that Ladwig & Vos disputes the merits of the tenants' claims.

Last week, Schuk filed an accounting of his fees and costs that totals a little more than $20,000. A judge will decide whether the amount is reasonable. No date has been set for a hearing.

Under the bill, Schuk's fees would be presumed to be capped at $6,525.

Vos said he hadn't mentioned the case because he didn't want the debate to focus on him. He argued the case would affect future cases, but not his own.

An attorney filed a complaint Thursday against Vos with the state Government Accountability Board, but Vos said the agency told him there were no ethical problems with his involvement with the bill.

Guns: Before Thursday's session started, leaders set a policy allowing concealed guns in the Assembly chambers and its public viewing galleries. As part of the policy, they banned the open carrying of weapons such as rifles.

The move came after Walker last week opened up the Capitol and most other state buildings to guns carried by those who receive permits under the state's new concealed weapons law.

Democrats railed against the policy on the Assembly floor, saying it was contradictory to allow people to carry guns in the galleries when protesters are removed from the galleries and cited for holding up signs or filming the Assembly's proceedings.

The Assembly also:

Approved a bill, 72-22, to overhaul the state's tax enforcement system. The measure passed the Senate last week on a party-line vote and now goes to Walker.

The measure would have complex effects on how certain cases are handled by the Department of Revenue.

Tied the annual interest rate on unpaid court judgments to the prime rate - a move that in the short term would dramatically lower those interest rates. The bill passed 59-36 on party lines.

Now, court awards that aren't paid right away accrue interest at 12% a year. Under the bill, the rate would be 1 percentage point above prime, which would result in a rate now of 4.25%.

The bill passed the Senate and now goes to Walker.

Jason Stein and Bruce Vielmetti of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.