State Bar of Wisconsin

The Fillable Forms Bank incorporates hundreds of forms, sample language documents, and checklists generated from State Bar CLE Books, organized into practice area libraries and available in up to four different file formats. Libraries vary in size. Some contain well over a hundred forms.

Save time, paperwork, and your sanity - Streamline your workflow by having 24/7 access to a central online forms bank, drafted to meet your practice needs.

Stay current - You can download the most current version of the form(s) whenever needed, wherever you have an Internet connection.

Work in the format of your choice - Word, WordPerfect, OmniForm Mailable Filler (requires no special software), and PDF options ensure compatibility with your needs and your system.

Fill them out faster - Quick-fill options on the OmniForm Mailable Filler and PDF formats allow you to tab between fields for fast, simple completion.

Make them your own - Word and WordPerfect formats allow you to easily edit forms to seamlessly fit your client's needs or your firm's procedures.

View the number, titles, and available formats of the forms before purchasing a subscription to a Library. Descriptions and revision dates are also available for each form before and after purchase.

You may purchase a one-year subscription to a forms library, or one-time use forms, by ordering online, or by calling the State Bar of Wisconsin at (800) 728-7788. If a number of individuals within your law firm will be using the libraries, you can purchase multi-user licenses by calling the State Bar of Wisconsin.

If you will be subscribing online to a forms library for yourself, or are purchasing one-time use forms, you will receive access immediately after your purchase. Ordering multi-user licenses, and ordering by phone, will result in access within one business day.

• Solo practitioner or specialist in a small firm? The individual, one-year subscription is tailored to fit your needs. You get access to the forms you need, for a full-year, without breaking the bank.
  
  Individual one-year subscriptions - starting at $79.95
  
  
  1. Subscribe online or call (800) 728-7788.
  2. Go to www.wisbar.org/FormsBank and select your practice library.
  3. Search or scroll through the list of forms in the library/libraries you subscribed to.
  4. Download the form(s) you need in the format of your choice.
     You must be logged in.
     
     
• Member of medium or large firm? Check out the cost savings available with multi-user subscriptions, which allow multiple users to simultaneously access all forms in the libraries subscribed to, at anytime.
  
  Multi-user subscriptions - call Customer Service or go to the Fillable Forms Product and select a library for pricing information.
  
  
  1. Call (800) 728-7788 (online registration for multi-users is not available at this time).
  2. Supply a member number to the Customer Service representative and identify the users for each subscription.
  3. Go to www.wisbar.org/FormsBank and select your practice library.
  4. Search or scroll through the list of forms in the library/libraries you subscribed to.
  5. Download the form(s) you need in the format of your choice.
     You must be logged in.
     
     
• Consider yourself an infrequent forms user or rarely practice in this area of law? The one-time use option may be just right for you. You get the form you need for a one-time use. Just purchase, download, and fill it out — you're done.
  
  One-time use forms purchases - starting at $3.99 each
  
  
  1. Go to the Fillable Forms Products and select a category
  2. Scroll through to find the forms you desire
  3. Purchase the forms through the regular checkout process
  4. Receive the email containing a link to the zipped file of forms
  5. Open the file and use the format of your choice.

The Fillable Forms Bank is intended for sale to and use by State Bar of Wisconsin attorneys only. To purchase these products online, you must be logged in as an attorney member.

If a subscriber leaves a firm, any forms subscriptions they hold may be reassigned to another member of the firm by calling State Bar customer service at (800) 728-7788. You must provide the name of the new subscriber at this time. If additional licenses are needed, new users can be added at any time at a prorated charge.

No. Any time the State Bar issues a revision during your subscription, the form will be updated automatically, without additional cost to the subscriber. When forms are updated, you will receive an email notification with a link to the new forms. Additionally, if the Bar adds new forms, checklists, or other documents to the library during your subscription, you can access those forms -- FREE.

The State Bar of Wisconsin updates forms at least as often as the source books are updated; and will regularly review forms to keep them as current as possible. The State Bar of Wisconsin CANNOT guarantee that all forms are current "up to the minute" due to the rapidly changing nature of the law. To assure that you are using the most current version of the form available, you should log in to WisBar whenever you need to use a form.

Your forms library subscription will end one year after date of purchase. The State Bar will notify you when your expiration date nears and extend the option to renew at a discount off the current price.

The State Bar will notify you when your expiration date nears and extend the option to renew at a discount off the current price. Renewals receive 10% off when purchased within 60 days of subscription expiration.

Fillable Forms are available either as a library subscription, or as individual, one-time, downloads. If you purchase an individual form, you will have access to the form for seven days, during which you can download a zipped file with all available file formats of that form. Once the download period has ended, you will have to re-purchase the form to receive any updates.

Individual fillable forms only can be used according to the terms set forth in the User Agreement. It is a violation of the user agreement if a single individual form is purchased and used for multiple clients. If you would like to use a form for multiple clients, you can do so by increasing the quantity of the form at the time of purchase.

The Fillable Forms Bank is intended for sale to and use by State Bar of Wisconsin attorneys only. To purchase these products online, you must be logged in as an attorney member.

Before using the forms bank, you must agree to the user agreement, or you will be shown the agreement whenever you try to access the forms. The most recent version of the User Agreement is available online and also is included with your individual form purchases. If revisions are made to the User Agreement, you will once again be asked to agree.

A summary of the terms are as follows:

• The forms are the copyrighted property of the State Bar of Wisconsin.
• The forms are intended for use in the representation of third-party clients.
• The forms are not to be distributed, either modified or unmodified, to any third parties for purposes of resale or redistribution.
• The State Bar of Wisconsin does not offer any warranty with respect to the use of the forms bank, and the Bar will not be liable for any damages incurred in the connection with use of the forms bank.
• Each individual user of the forms bank must have a user license. No license sharing is authorized. Subscribers may purchase multi-user packages if multiple users are anticipated. Downloading a library of forms for the purpose of sharing them with other users without the necessary licenses is in violation of the agreement.
• The license authorized the user to use the forms during the subscription period only. Continuing to use the forms beyond the expiration of the subscription is a violation of the agreement.
• Individual form purchases (not subscriptions) include a one-time-use license. It is a violation of the user agreement if a user purchases a single individual form and uses for multiple clients.
• There is a NO REFUND policy on forms purchases.

Once you have purchased a subscription to a forms library, you will be able to login to the Fillable Forms Bank using the same login information you use for WisBar. How do I login?

Once you log in, you can access any forms from the libraries you have purchased. You can view the libraries you have purchased by going to myStateBar and looking under "My Forms Libraries".

After purchasing an individual fillable form, you will receive an email with a link to a zipped file containing all available formats for that form, as well as a copy of the User Agreement. In addition, you can access your forms by going to myStateBar and clicking on the product name under "My Downloadable Products".

If you receive a prompt when clicking on the link, Save the zipped file to your hard drive. You can then open the zipped file and copy the files to your hard drive.

You will have access to download the form for seven days, after which your link will expire and you will be unable to download the form.

You can check whether or not you have an email address on file with the State Bar by visiting My Profile. If you do not have an email address on file, you must add one before completing your order. You can do this online, before your order, or at the time of purchase by calling Customer Service at (800) 728-7788.

If you did not have an email on your record and completed a purchase, you must contact Customer Service at (800) 728-7788 for your form. You will also have to supply an email address for the delivery of your form.

Individual fillable forms can only be accessed online, with a valid email address, and can only be used according to the terms set forth in the User Agreement.

Most forms are offered in 4 formats: Word, WordPerfect, Adobe PDF, and OmniForm Mailable Filler (sample language documents are offered only in Word and WordPerfect). When purchasing forms as either a part of a subscription to a library, or as one-time use forms, all available formats are available for use.

Word and WordPerfect formats can be modified by changing or deleting text, moving text around, etc. Adobe PDF and OmniForm formats can only be modified by adding text into blanks for client and case information.

If you need to modify the language in a form - such as when drafting a will - you will most likely want to use the Word or WordPerfect form, depending upon which software you currently have. We do not support changes to the formatting of the Word or WordPerfect forms.

If the form is a standard form where you will not be modifying any language but simply will be filling in the blanks, a PDF or OmniForm version is preferable, but the Word or WordPerfect form also can be used for this purpose.

PDF and OmniForm forms are similar in appearance and in how they are filled out. The main difference between the two is that the completed PDF only can be saved if you have the professional version of Adobe Acrobat. Without Adobe Acrobat, you can complete the form and print it, but cannot save it.

The completed OmniForm can be saved under a new name without any additional software required. The ability to save and email a completed document would be the main reason to choose the OmniForm over the PDF.

When you attempt to view a form in the forms library, you may be prompted to choose between opening the file or saving it to your computer.

The State Bar recommends that subscribers to a forms library open the forms, instead of saving them to their computer. Doing so will ensure that you are using the most current version of the form available.

If you have purchased an individual fillable form, you must save the zipped file to your computer, as the form will only be available to you for download for a short time. You can then open the zipped file and copy the files to your hard drive. If you do not download the zip file to your computer before the expiration date, you will be unable to access zip file.

Files are scanned for all currently known viruses before being made available for download, as well as on a daily basis. However, you should still be sure to scan downloaded files before use.

Forms are created with Word 2003 and also have been tested in Word 2000. As new versions of Word are introduced, the State Bar reserves the right to remove support for older versions.

All Word forms are created unprotected, so that any part of the form, such as document text, may be modified. Unprotecting documents also means that check boxes cannot be checked electronically.

If you would like the ability to electronically fill out a checklist, you can do so by protecting the document. To do this, you'll need access to the Forms toolbar. If you do not already have this available, you can view this toolbar by selecting View > Toolbars > Forms. On the Forms toolbar, select the Protect Form icon (a padlock) to toggle protection on and off.

Alternatively, if you would always like a check box to be checked, you can do so by double-clicking on the check box. You may then change the default status for this box - either checked or unchecked.

Forms are created with WordPerfect 12.0 and also have been tested in WordPerfect 10. As new versions of WordPerfect are introduced, the State Bar reserves the right to remove support for older versions.

Forms are in Adobe Acrobat 7.0. For best results, upgrade your software to 7.0. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, you can use the free Adobe Reader to fill out and print forms.

The note icons next to some of the form fields contain comment text for assisting you in form completion. The notes are visible on the screen only, unless you specifically opt to print them. The tab key will tab through the note icons as well as the form fields.

Select the "Highlight Fields" option located just below the toolbar menus in both the Reader and Acrobat programs. The form fields will then be highlighted on your screen.

Completed form text in a field will not wrap or condense to a smaller font size if your text goes beyond the form field's size limit. Please use an alternative form format if you require more space in a field.

For your convenience, each Adobe Acrobat form contains a reset button on the bottom of each document. Click on the button to remove all of the contents typed in the form fields.

Adobe Reader will not allow you to save Adobe forms. You must own the Adobe Acrobat software to save Adobe forms. Please use an alternative form format if you need to save the information you enter into a form and do not have access to Adobe Acrobat.

The OmniForm Mailable Filler is designed so that you can quickly complete forms in a convenient and easily transferable format. Simply tab through the form fields and save your completed form with a new name.

The OmniForm Mailable Filler format, which requires no additional software downloaded onto your computer, is only compatible with PCs running Windows.

Note that you may not change form text with this format; please use the Word or WordPerfect formats to modify form text.

The red text next to some of the form fields is helper text for completing the form fields. Helper text will not print.

Completed form text will condense to a smaller font size if your text goes beyond the form field's space limit.

When you want to save your changes to a form in OmniForm format, you can save your changes by selecting File, then Save As. At the prompt, browse to the location where you would like to save the new file, and enter a file name. When you save the form, OmniForm will create two files with your file name: one executable file (EXE), and one HTML document, as the window below states.

After completing a form, you will notice that the OmniForm Mailable Filler form is also saved as an HTML file. This feature is to accommodate those e-mail systems that do not allow executable files (*.exe) to be sent through their systems. The HTML document can be used and e-mailed in the same manner as the original version of the form.

The State Bar recommends and supports Internet Explorer 5.5 or above for use with these HTML documents.

When opening an OmniForm HTML file, you may receive a security message at the top of the page. Click on the text and select "Allow Blocked Content" to allow the necessary plug-in to start. If you have not used an OmniForm HTML file before, you will be asked to download and install a small plug-in (OFMailX.cab, from ScanSoft, Inc.). This install is required for the OmniForm file to work. If you are at a law office, and your Information Technology staff does not allow users to install plug-ins or programs, you may want to get their permission or use one of the form's other formats.

Zip files, sometimes called archives, contain one or more compressed files. Zip files make it easy to keep files together and allow a faster download.

To open zip files, you must have a program that can decompress the contents of the file. While newer versions of Windows, like Windows XP, have zip functionality built in, older versions and other systems require a separate program.

PKWARE offers ZIP Reader, a free Windows utility that allows you to open and extract zip files.

WinZip is another popular utility. You can evaluate the product before purchase.