State Bar of Wisconsin

Unauthorized Practice of Law Policy Committee

Overview

Wisconsin residents seeking legal services will gain additional consumer safeguards if a petition proposed more than two years ago by the State Bar of Wisconsin is adopted by the State Supreme Court. The initiative, called the Legal Services Consumer Protection Act, responds to a directive issued by the court in 2004 asking the Bar to document the consumer impact of unqualified individuals practicing law and to recommend changes.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ordered a public hearing and open administrative conference on the petition at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, March 8, 2010, in the Supreme Court’s hearing room in the Capitol. It is the second public hearing and third administrative conference to be held on the petition over the last two years.

The petition offers dozens of examples of instances where Wisconsin consumers have been hurt when people without proper training or oversight attempt to practice law. In 2008, based on feedback from other interested parties, the State Bar filed an amended version of the petition and supporting comments.

People can get hurt when individuals without proper training or oversight handle their legal matters and Wisconsin needs to do a better job of protecting consumers against bad advice that can result in lost money, lost opportunities, or lost rights.

The petition asks the court, which has jurisdiction over the practice of law in the state, to take two actions: 1) Adopt a new rule to clearly define what constitutes the “practice of law” for consumer protection purposes; and, 2) Create an administrative system to enforce the new rule.

• History of the State Bar's UPL petition

Our Role

With the Wisconsin Supreme Court having failed to adopt the petition since the State Bar originally filed it over two years ago, the Bar’s UPL Policy Committee published a strongly-worded editorial in the October 2008 issue of Wisconsin Lawyer urging the court to act on the petition. As previously noted, the court has scheduled a second public hearing and third administrative conference on the petition for March 8, 2010.

State Bar members who are concerned about the unauthorized practice of law are urged to get involved in persuading the court to adopt the petition as proposed by the State Bar. If you are interested please contact Adam Korbitz at (800) 444-9404, ext. 6140 or (608) 250-6140. Your action is needed today! Thank you.