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Pro Bono in Wisconsin Whether you are a veteran volunteer or just starting out, this site offers useful information to support your pro bono effort. For half a million Wisconsin residents, one of the fundamental promises of our democracy – equal justice before the law – is simply out of reach. Every day, Wisconsin residents who face complex legal problems are forced to go it alone, in court, before government agencies, in negotiations with their adversaries – that is, if they don’t simply give up. For them, the promise of equal justice is unfulfilled. They cannot afford the professional legal help they need and they cannot effectively represent themselves. They fall into what has been called the “justice gap.” Wisconsin lawyers can provide the expert advice that allows clients to remain in their homes, escape abusive family situations, resolve legal issues blocking the road to self-sufficiency and obtain the resources that allow them to live with dignity. Members of the State Bar who want to learn more or offer suggestions for additional content to add to this website should contact State Bar Pro Bono Coordinator Jeff Brown. If you are a member of the public seeking legal assistance, please click here.
How can you help? Volunteer Your commitment to making pro bono part of your regular law practice can provide access to justice for those most in need. Volunteer lawyers are a critical part of our system for delivering access to justice in Wisconsin. - Legal Action of Wisconsin: Volunteer Lawyers Project needs lawyers to help indigent clients in the 39 southern Wisconsin counties
- Wisconsin Judicare: help indigent clients in the 33 northern Wisconsin counties in return for reduced rates
- State Public Defender: assigned counsel are a critical part of the criminal defense system
- Dane County: Guide lists pro bono opportunities in Dane County
- Milwaukee County: Guide listing pro bono opportunities in the Milwaukee area
- Legal clinics: Regularly scheduled legal clinics that need volunteers:
- Miltary Pro Bono Project: Volunteers are needed to assist active duty servicemembers with a variety of legal issues in Wisconsin
- Just Take Two Pledge: Send in your pledge and we will try to find an appropriate way for you to volunteer
- Contact any of the other Wisconsin legal aid programs listed on the Resources tab
Donate Not all lawyers can represent clients and even those who do volunteer know that we cannot solve this problem without the staff lawyers who do this work full-time. If you can't volunteer, what is the monetary value of an hour or two of your time? You can make a contribution of any amount directly to a legal aid organization near you, or you can donate through one of the following foundations (be sure to designate your contribution for legal aid to the disadvantaged).
Benefits for Volunteers - Professional liability insurance: Free malpractice coverage for volunteers and co-sponsored projects. Projects requesting co-sponsorship simply need to complete an application.
- Expense reimbursement: The State Bar maintains a limited fund for our members to help defray the burden of out of pocket costs incurred on pro bono cases. Contact pro bono coordinator Jeff Brown to learn more.
- Training: Free training, CLE credits, CLE gift cerficates, and other resources for volunteers.
- Grants - The Legal Assistance Committee makes grant funds available through the Pro Bono Initiative for new or expanded projects.
- Advisors on call: Knowledgeable lawyers guide volunteers through unfamiliar legal issues.
- LexisNexis: Free legal research time donated by LexisNexis for pro bono work. Application
 . - Pre-screened pro bono clients: Clients are prescreened for financial eligibility and legal need.
- Pro bono awards: Given by the Legal Assistance Committee each year.
- State Bar pro bono e-list facilitates networking among Wisconsin lawyers interested in pro bono legal services. To join, log in to myStateBar and click on View all e-lists or contact pro bono coordinator Jeff Brown.
Resources
Law firms Model pro bono policies Other resources
Government lawyers
Model pro bono policies Other resources - ABA Government & Public Sector Lawyers Division - resources, including examples, of pro bono projects
- Chapter 19 - governs outside activities, including the private practice of law, by certain Wisconsin state employees
- Labor agreements - collective bargaining agreements for members employed by the state of Wisconsin may address the outside practice of law and use of state resources
Corporate counsel
Model pro bono policies Other resources
Business lawyers
Senior lawyers
Wisconsin legal aid programs
- Centro Legal por Derechos Humanos: Provides bilingual, low cost legal aid to low income residents in the Milwaukee area for family law and misdemeanor criminal matters.
- Community Justice Incorporated: Provides low cost legal assistance to low income Dane County-area residents using a sliding scale fee structure for family, landlord/tenant, and other civil legal problems.
- Legal Action of Wisconsin: Serving indigent clients with civil legal problems in the southern 39 counties in Wisconsin using both staff attorneys and a volunteer lawyers project. Offices in Milwaukee (main), Madison, La Crosse, Green Bay, Oshkosh and Racine.
- Legal Aid Society of Door County: (920) 743-3934
Legal Aid Society of Door County
131 S. 3rd Avenue
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235 - Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee: providing free civil legal aid to indigent clients in the Milwaukee area since 1916.
- Neighborhood Law Project: From an office on Madison's South Side, law students from the U.W. Law School's Remington Center, supervised by faculty, provide free legal aid to low-income clients, community legal education, and other services principally in the areas of housing, workers' rights, and consumer credit.
- Portage County Legal Aid Society: (715) 343-7100
CAP Services
1608 W. River Drive
Stevens Point, WI 54481 - Wisconsin Judicare, Inc.: Serving indigent clients in northern Wisconsin from its office in Wausau, Judicare provides civil legal aid to eligible clients through private attorneys who handle cases for low-income people at reduced hourly rates. Judicare additionally provides legal assistance to the 11 federally recognized Wisconsin Indian nations and to eligible American Indian clients through its Indian Law Office. Wisconsin Judicare invites attorneys and tribal court lay advocates to participate in the Judicare program. Judicare's website includes links to Internet legal resources.
- ABC for Health: A nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to ensuring health care access for children and families, particularly those with special needs or who are at risk.
- AIDS Network: Since 1985, AIDS Network has provided care, prevention and legal services in South Central Wisconsin. Legal information and advice is given to people affected by HIV and AIDS or to people with questions about the legal issues surrounding HIV and AIDS. Potential clients with legal issues are interviewed by telephone or in person to determine the nature of their question or problems and their financial situation. Eligible clients are helped by the legal staff or matched with a volunteer attorney.
- AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin: Free representation and counseling to people with HIV/AIDS on a wide array of legal matters, including confidentiality, disability benefits, power of attorney for health care, bankruptcy, wills, and guardianships.
- American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin Inc.: Advocates for civil rights and civil liberties of Wisconsin residents through litigation, public education, community activism, public policy analysis, and governmental lobbying.
- Catholic Charities Legal Services for Immigrants: Provides free legal services to low income people living in the ten counties of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on issues related to immigration, asylum, self petitions and asylum petitions for immigrant victims of domestic violence. The office also conducts community outreach in its office and at area jails and immigration detention facilities. Some telephone support is also provided to criminal defense attorneys who have questions on immigration consequences of criminal convictions.
- Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups: Along with the Elder Law Center and its other services, CWAG provides information and advocacy for older Wisconsin residents and their families.
- Consumer Law Litigation Clinic: U.W.-Madison Law School program uses law students supervised by clinical faculty to handle individual and class action lawsuits in state and federal court covering a variety of consumer protection issues, including misrepresentation and fraud, credit scams, bad faith denial of insurance claims, antitrust violations, unfair debt collection practices and "fringe banking" abuses by rent-to-own and payday lending companies.
- Disability Rights Wisconsin: DRW is an independent nonprofit designated by the Governor to provide protection, information and advocacy for people with disabilities throughout the state.
- Family Court Assistance Project: FCAP is a project of the UW Law School's Remington Center and provides assistance to unrepresented people seeking a divorce in Dane County. Law students are supervised by a clinical law professor. The project does not provide legal representation but does offer information on forms and procedures as well as help organizing information for the divorce.
- Kids Matter Inc.: Focuses on children who are being cared for by someone other than a parent. They provide assistance to children and caregivers who have been the victims of abuse, neglect or some other crime. The agency connects clients with pro bono attorneys and provides training and technical assistance to advocates and attorneys on child welfare issues.
- Senior Law project of Legal Action of Wisconsin: Provides information and free legal assistance on public benefits issues to seniors (age 60 and over). There are no income or asset limits for seniors.
- State Public Defender: Provides legal representation at the trial level to indigent persons in adult criminal, civil commitment (including sexually violent persons commitment), probation or parole revocation, contempt of court, and termination of parental rights cases. It also represents juveniles who are the subject of delinquency, commitment, paternity, children in need of protection, and termination of parental rights proceedings.
- UW Law School Frank J. Remington Center: Combines a variety of programs at the law school for education and assistance in the areas of family law, consumer law and corrections.
- Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence: Provides training and technical advice to advocates and court personnel issues related to domestic violence.
Pro bono links - Modest Means Panel - State Bar referral service for moderate income families.
- State Bar Pro Bono Surveys: Summary reports on the pro bono contributions of Wisconsin lawyers.
- Legal Assistance Committee Information about State Bar Pro Bono Initiative grants and pro bono awards.
- ABA Center for Pro Bono is a project of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. It offers a library of materials for pro bono program administrators and volunteers as well as technical assistance, news, and training resources.
- Equal Justice Works - founded by law studens and collaborating with the nation’s leading law schools, law firms, corporate legal departments and nonprofit organizations to organize resources and programs that enable law students and attorneys to serve vulnerable populations
- Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center provides information, training, and consulting to large law firms and corporations interested in pro bono service.
- Badgerlaw.net Wisconsin gateway with a library of decisions, briefs, and other resources organized by subject matter, volunteer links, and a searchable list of legal services providers by geographic area.
- Poverty USA - a multimedia explanation of why families living in poverty can't hire lawyers and need your help
- Litigation Assistance Partnership Project of the ABA's Litigation Section helps to create links and provide referrals between private lawyers and legal services providers seeking help with large or complex litigation.
- Legal Services Corporation, established by Congress to fund civil legal services to the poor, LSC has a library of with models and forms for projects.
- National Housing Law Project national support center for housing related legal issues affecting low income households.
- Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law national support center for mental health law issues.
- Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law provides an extensive online library that includes a growing collection of more than 500,000 case pleadings and other documents, analytical articles from Clearinghouse Review, more than 1,000 research links, and more.
- Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Project - trains and recruits volunteer attorneys to handle appeals in the Court of Veterans Appeals in Washington, DC.
Disasters - State Bar Disaster Resources: gathers resources for the public and members of the Bar.
- FEMA: Information regarding disaster declarations, individual benefits available and the National Flood Insurance Program.
- Wisconsin Emergency Management: News, preparedness information and disaster relief information specific to Wisconsin
- WI Dept. of Health & Family Services: Provides information on emergency food assistance for displaced families.
- WI Dept. of Transportation: Information about replacing a driver's license, vehicle registration, license plate, sticker or title.
- USA.gov: Find links to information on how to replace other vital documents such as Social Security cards, Medicare cards, immigration papers, savings bonds and passports.
- Office of the Commissioner of Insurance: In addition to information on insurance claims, complaints, and companies, OCI also provides a National Flood Insurance Program FAQ and information about claims under that program.
- American Red Cross: National disaster assistance information and links to Wisconsin chapters.
Self help resources - Wisconsin Court System Self-Help Center offers resources for the general public with information on representing yourself, online divorce forms, and contact information for court officials.
- Legal Help Milwaukee provides searchable, up-to-date information for social service providers, legal professionals, and the community regarding legal resources to low-income people in and around Milwaukee.
- Milwaukee Family Justice Clinic volunteers offer self-represented litigants one-on-one assistance with forms and procedures and referrals to community resources.
- Dane County family court forms available for download.
- Waukesha County Court Family Court Self-Help Center is an outstanding site with information specific to that county as well as good general information and resources (including links to attorneys who are willing to help).
- Tenant Resource Center offers free information for tenants and landlords interested in learning more about their rental rights and responsibilities. Information on state and local rental laws and regulations and lease screening services are available at the TRC.
- "Moving On," video series produced by the Dane County Bar Association Delivery of Legal Services Committee to educate unrepresented litigants about the divorce process.
- SelfHelpSupport.org - a national collection of resources for legal system professionals (lawyers, judges, clerks, law schools) to help with the development of programs that help pro se litigants. It includes model documents, a listserv, newsletter and much more. Some of the participating organizations (listed on the right) also have a good selection of resources for courts and others who want to expand tools for the unrepresented litigants. If you are an unrepresented ("pro se") litigant, you should visit LegalExplorer.com, the Wisconsin Court System's self-help site, or one of these national resources -- LawHelp.org or here -- to find appropriate resources.
- Legal Services Corporation provides materials concerning pro se projects in its online library.
- Wisconsin State Law Library provides links to a wide variety of legal resources and forms (statewide and county-specific).
- Wisconsin Lawyer December 2000: Going Pro Se: Article discusses how self-represented litigants present multiple challenges and opportunities to the justice system.
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