By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-11 00:24:22 | Updated at 2026-06-11 23:46:33
1 day ago
A small legal dispute between a dentist and the heir to a multi-million dollar shoe company could reshape the laws that define pedestrian access to the beaches along the Great Lakes in Wisconsin.
When Paul Florsheim, the great-grandson of the founder of Florsheim Shoes, was issued a trespassing citation and fined $313 for walking his dogs in front of dentist Daniel Domagala's beachfront house in Shorewood, he did not simply give up and pay the fine as most people would.
Instead, he chose to appeal the ruling so his case could be heard by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the highest court in the state.
'My personality is such that if I’m confronted with it I don’t back away from that,' Florsheim told the Wall Street Journal.
Domagala is known locally in Shorewood – an affluent village along the coast of Lake Michigan – for monitoring the beach in front of his boathouse and using alarms and signs to scare off anyone who comes too close.
Florsheim, 66, recently retired from his job as a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and he lives in a ranch house just three doors down from Domagala.
The retired professor is an avid dog-walker who enjoys taking strolls along the beach with his two-year-old German shepherd, Leo, and his six-year-old border-collie mix, Rosie.
During his walks, Florsheim regularly ignored Domagala's signs that say, 'PRIVATE PROPERTY BEYOND THIS SIGN' and 'ONLY WATER ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT,' so the dentist called the police on his neighbor many times.
Paul Florsheim, the great-grandson of the founder of Florsheim Shoes, has appealed a trespassing fine he received for walking on the beach in front of a neighbor's house
Daniel Domagala, a dentist, called the police on Florsheim many times for trespassing on his beachfront boathouse property. Domagala is pictured with his wife
The minor legal dispute between neighbors could change the laws that define pedestrian access to Lake Michigan's shoreline. One of the Great Lake's beaches is pictured
The Village of Shorewood eventually felt compelled to issue Florsheim a trespassing citation due to the frequency of the calls.
According to Wisconsin's laws, anyone can wade, swim or boat in the Great Lakes' waters, but there is a clear state Supreme Court ruling from the early 20th century that protects beachfront property owners from people walking on their land.
Florsheim, who represented himself when fighting his trespassing citation in court, argued that it was absurd for him to be allowed to wade in the water past Domagala's house but not walk just a few feet up the shore on dry sand.
The retired professor lost the case and was issued a relatively modest fine, but the judge, Margo S Kirchner, indicated that did not have to be the end of the story.
Kirchner said she ruled against Florsheim because of a 1923 Wisconsin Supreme Court case, in which a landowner was granted priority access to Lake Winnebago's shore so he could water his cattle.
The judge said she believed the more than century-old ruling seemed to apply to this case, but she also noted that the precedent was not in line with practices in other states.
'Perhaps Doemel should be overruled,' Kirchner said, referencing the 1923 ruling.
Florsheim told the Wall Street Journal that he did not go into the case with the intention of trying to overturn a state supreme court ruling and create a new legal precedent. His stubborn nature just made things turn out that way, he said.
Anyone is allowed to wade, swim or boat in Lake Michigan's waters, according to state law, but property owners have priority access to the shoreline. Sailors are pictured on Lake Michigan
A view onto Lake Michigan from the affluent Village of Shorewood, where Florsheim and Domagala own their houses, is pictured
For his part, Domagala argued in court that people constantly ignore his signs and absentmindedly lounge on his property all the time, which is a frequent source of frustration.
'They sit around like they own the place,' he said, testifying that he had to complain about pedestrians trespassing around 50 times just last summer.
The dentist also said that he never permitted Florsheim to walk on his property and likened the retired professor's actions to a home invasion. 'Imagine somebody is in your house saying this is not your house,' Domagala said.
It remains to be seen whether the Wisconsin Supreme Court will take on the case, let alone whether it will uphold the lower court's decision and its own 1923 ruling regarding priority shoreline access for property owners.
But if the state's highest court does agree to hear Florsheim's case, the retired professor will be much better prepared, as he is now being represented by lawyers with the nonprofit Midwest Environmental Advocates.
