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A Fair Hearing How-To 2026

Product ID: CA3929R8
Presented By: State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE

This program is an excerpt from Legal Issues of the Aging 2025

Playing it fair

Fair hearings provide a forum to challenge reductions or denials of public benefits, such as Medicaid or BadgerCare, before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Used strategically, they can preserve benefits and correct errors. Yet fair hearing requests are often filed reflexively, without a clear assessment of what is at stake, what must be proven, or whether the record can realistically support the outcome a client needs. Misjudging timing, proof, or strategy can cost clients months of benefits—or even foreclose relief entirely.

A Fair Hearing How-To focuses on the judgment calls that matter most before, during, and after the hearing itself.

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Pricing

Member $129.00

Non-Member $179.00

Credits

1.5 CLE

Date and Time

Tuesday, April 21, 202612:00 PM - 1:15 PM CT

Add to Calendar 4/21/2026 12:00:00 PM 4/21/2026 1:15:00 PM America/Chicago A Fair Hearing How-To 2026

This program is an excerpt from Legal Issues of the Aging 2025

Playing it fair

Fair hearings provide a forum to challenge reductions or denials of public benefits, such as Medicaid or BadgerCare, before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Used strategically, they can preserve benefits and correct errors. Yet fair hearing requests are often filed reflexively, without a clear assessment of what is at stake, what must be proven, or whether the record can realistically support the outcome a client needs. Misjudging timing, proof, or strategy can cost clients months of benefits—or even foreclose relief entirely.

A Fair Hearing How-To focuses on the judgment calls that matter most before, during, and after the hearing itself.

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This program is an excerpt from Legal Issues of the Aging 2025

Playing it fair

Fair hearings provide a forum to challenge reductions or denials of public benefits, such as Medicaid or BadgerCare, before an administrative law judge (ALJ). Used strategically, they can preserve benefits and correct errors. Yet fair hearing requests are often filed reflexively, without a clear assessment of what is at stake, what must be proven, or whether the record can realistically support the outcome a client needs. Misjudging timing, proof, or strategy can cost clients months of benefits—or even foreclose relief entirely.

A Fair Hearing How-To focuses on the judgment calls that matter most before, during, and after the hearing itself.

Read More ↓

Margaret Wrenn Hickey is a shareholder at Becker, Hickey & Poster, S.C., in Milwaukee, where she practices in divorce, family law, and elder law, including trusts for the disabled, Title 19, and guardianship. She received her B.A. from Marquette University in 1982, summa cum laude, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1986, cum laude

Attorney Hickey is a past president of the State Bar of Wisconsin and served on the State Bar of Wisconsin Board of Governors (District 2) from 2005 to 2015 and from 2018 to 2023, including service as chair (2006-07) and treasurer (2009-11). She has also served as chair of both the Family Law and Elder Law Section Boards of Directors and was a member of both boards. Attorney Hickey is a past president of the Milwaukee Bar Association (2004-05) and served on its board of directors from 1999 to 2005. She also serves on the Board of the Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund, was its president in 2021, and has previously served on the boards of the Legal Aid Society and the public radio station WUWM.

Attorney Hickey lectures frequently on elder law and family law at local, state, and national bar meetings, as well as to community groups and other professionals. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Bar Association, and the Waukesha and Ozaukee Bar Associations. She is also a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Association for Women Lawyers, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Wisconsin Law Foundation, and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, where she served as president of the Wisconsin Chapter (2005-06). She is a diplomat in the American College of Family Trial Lawyers.

Attorney Hickey is named in Best Lawyers in America for family and elder law and has been named a “Super Lawyer” for many years. Her honors include being named one of the top ten lawyers in the State of Wisconsin in 2012, one of the top 25 women lawyers in the state, and as a “Woman in the Law 2011.”

Heather Burgess Poster is a shareholder with the law firm of Becker, Hickey & Poster, S.C., in Milwaukee. Her practice focuses on representing older adults, individuals with disabilities, and their families in family law, estate planning, public benefits, and advanced directives and guardianship matters. 

Attorney Poster is an advisor and past chair of the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys’ Board of Directors. She is also a board member (treasurer and past chair) of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Elder and Special Needs Law Section Board. She serves as the section’s liaison to the Board of WisPACT, Inc., the non-profit organization that oversees pooled and community trusts for persons with disabilities. 

In 2024, the Wisconsin Law Foundation inducted Attorney Poster as a Fellow in recognition of her significant contributions to the legal profession. In her free time, she is a track mom, gardener, and a die-hard college basketball fan.

  • Make informed decisions about when a fair hearing will advance your client’s interests
  • Become familiar with the statutory, regulatory, and agency law governing Wisconsin fair hearings
  • Build a hearing record that supports both the immediate outcome and potential downstream review
  • Present your evidence and argument using methods administrative law judges can trust
  • Focus your preparation on issues that truly determine eligibility 
  • Gain leverage in negotiations by understanding how hearing posture affects agency decision-making
  • Identify opportunities to recover attorney’s fees when agency positions are not substantially justified
  • Elder law attorneys
  • Estate planning and probate lawyers
  • Guardians ad litem for adults
  • Family lawyers
  • Guardians of adults
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