Jan. 14, 2026 – The new year began with Wisconsin’s two largest civil legal aid firms, Judicare Legal Aid and Legal Action of Wisconsin, merging with the vision of strengthening their capacity to serve people in need.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House recently passed a proposed appropriation that would provide $540 million to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). LSC provides funding to civil legal aid providers nationwide – including Judicare Legal Aid and Legal Action of Wisconsin.

The proposed appropriation represents a 3.6% cut to FY 2025 funding levels, but LSC faced potential elimination in a White House budget proposal presented last May.

Although the funding challenges experienced by LSC, a critical source for civil legal aid funds, did not drive the Wisconsin merger, “we very much recognize that this point in time is a crucial point in time,” said Deedee Peterson, Legal Action’s Chief Executive Officer.

“This is a choice that we made,” Peterson explained. “It puts us in the best position to really handle challenges that we have known about for a long time.

“And that’s what’s exciting about it to us is positioning ourselves, positioning our work in just a better, more positive light. It just feels like it strengthens us.”

Beth Ann Richlen, Legal Action’s Chief Strategy Officer and former Executive Director of Judicare, sees those same benefits in strengthening services in offering one stop for people seeking civil legal aid in Wisconsin.

“I feel like we both have very big goals for the future because we’re doing our jobs right,” Richlen said, “and in order to accomplish those goals, we definitely looked around and said we would be stronger together.”

Ronald Flagg, LSC president, noted that the two Wisconsin civil legal aid organizations “are an example of LSC grantees who worked closely together in the past and well over the years, and so they’re really in an ideal position to formalize the partnership.”

“In the long run,” Flagg added,” they should realize some cost savings and can use those cost savings to provide even greater service to all the people in their service area. We’re very excited for the programs and the service areas that they serve.”

A New Model

In 1966, with the State Bar of Wisconsin’s support, Judicare launched a new model for civil legal aid. People could qualify to obtain reduced cost legal services and take their Judicare card to participating lawyers.

Individuals are eligible if their household income falls below 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

That basic model remains, although Judicare has added staff attorneys to address the shortage of rural attorneys in its service area in 33 northern counties, Richlen said.

Legal Action began in 1968 as a Milwaukee-only service, a complement to the already strong Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Peterson said.

The firm then expanded its geographic reach, and in 2001, Legal Action merged with three other LSC-funded regional organizations, leaving Wisconsin with two large civil legal service firms, Peterson said.

It “made sense at the time” to stay separate, Peterson said, based on the “thoughtful process” that went into that earlier merger.

The combined firm offers free service to eligible clients in areas including housing law, family law, public benefits, consumer protection, legal barriers to employment, reentry, veterans’ benefits, elder rights, victim rights, and tribal courts.

The organizations’ collective experience has refined the best means to deliver their legal services while they expand the ways they reach out.

The Judicare model works well in rural areas, and with Judicare’s staff attorneys, in the smaller cities in their region, Richlen said.

Legal Action’s offices worked well in serving urban clients, Peterson said.

In rural areas of southern Wisconsin, the Judicare model may expand under the new organization. It’s one of the options as the merged organization integrates.

“The grand experiment of ’66 lives on,” Richlen said.

‘Natural Next Step’

“There was rarely a week that went by that I wasn’t talking to Beth about something,” Peterson said. “We talk all the time because we saw ourselves as very much side-by-side partners, sister organizations.

“So for us, the conversation about a more, deeper partnership, really very much felt like a natural next step in our relationship.”

It was a step necessary for both firms, which were “reaching our capacity of growth where it’s going to be very hard for us to grow much larger,” Richlen said.

Synergy comes from more people. What drove the merger is a vision to increase service capacity.

Judicare enters with 34 staff members. Legal Action had 103 staff members. All of them will work in the merged organization, Peterson said.

Although Judicare laid off four attorneys in its Wausau office before the merger, that reduction wasn’t because the merger was forthcoming, Peterson said.

More lawyers in one organization mean the larger firm can confidently take on more cases.

“When you build a pool of those folks who are providing the direct legal services, you have more people available,” Peterson said.

“So, the more people that you have available, the more likely that you’re able to take a case, the more likely that you have somebody within that field.”

For example, if you have ten housing attorneys instead of five, Peterson explained, “you double your chance that somebody’s available to go handle that eviction hearing on that particular day.”

The challenge now is to bring everyone together, an integration process that Peterson and Richlen hope will take about three to six months.

The merged firm has offices in Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Racine, and Wausau.

Even during this transition period, “we are providing services at the same level that we were,” Peterson said. Legal Action is taking on new cases and “available to clients who need us.”

The Present Opportunity

Technology made the merger more achievable, Peterson noted. The merger “feels more possible because of the way the world has changed, especially since 2020,” she said.

“I think we still could have done the merger. But it would have taken a lot longer and required a lot more resources,” she said.

“Yeah, I definitely think we could have done it,” Richlen said, “but I feel like the technology is going to make it far more successful as well, just to be able to collaborate.”

Where once attorneys could walk down the hall to discuss a legal issue – “hallway advocacy,” Peterson called it – Zoom offers that option to the firm statewide.

‘One Statewide Law Firm’

“Access to technology for our clients is a big factor as well,” said Richlen. Judicare had an online application process since 2007, and “pre-merger, the vast majority of our applications came in online.”

One firm, instead of two, will make it easier for potential clients, who don’t have to worry about artificial boundaries and will know where to call, walk in, or apply online.

Judicare’s website now refers people to Legal Action’s website.

Judicare’s Indian Law Project, providing legal services to members of Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribes, will continue – and be clearly available to Native Americans throughout the state, Richlen said.

The opportunity to serve clients in tribal courts is itself drawing enthusiasm among Legal Action attorneys for the new challenge.

The service shows another point of similarity between the organizations.

“We very much value attention to groups of people who have been traditionally underserved and underrepresented,” Peterson said.

“That is a very strong part of why the merger makes sense to us. We’re merging with a law firm that is both culturally competent and is committed to serving Native Americans in tribal court.”

The firm now appears as one for clients and for potential donors.

“This is one of the most exciting things about the merger for us,” said Peterson, who has a background in fundraising.

“When you’re making asks of donors who really do care about you and they care about a whole lot of things, I want to get right to the ask,” Peterson said, instead of having to explain differences between organizations that “are in it together.”

“We think that it is clearer … to donors and to funders on who we are when we are as one statewide law firm.”

$540 Million for LSC

LSC, which faced a federal budget proposal of $21 million to shut down the organization, has fared better in the appropriation process.

H.R. 6938, the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environmental Appropriations Act of 2026, passed the U.S. House Jan. 8 on a 397-28 vote. It faces a Senate vote perhaps as early as this week.

The bill provides $540 million to LSC, compared with previous funding levels of about $560 million.

It’s a 3.6% cut, explained Flagg, who is grateful for Congress’s support.

“At a time when many federally funded programs have faced cuts of 40%, 50%, or even 60%, or have been wiped out entirely, LSC’s funding reflects really rare bipartisan agreement that helping everyday Americans solve legal problems is essential,” Flagg said.

“I think what played out for LSC is in a deeply divided political climate, Legal Services Corporation stands out as a bipartisan success story.”

The vote shows that “members of Congress actually see firsthand how legal aid helps their constituents in their districts, in their states, regardless of party or ideology,” Flagg said.

“We’re hopeful the Senate will move swiftly to pass the same funding package.”

Politico announced the compromise bill released Jan. 5 as the result of House and Senate negotiations in complying with agreed upon overall budget totals.

Although the agreed numbers are nowhere near the cuts proposed by the Trump Administration, conservatives supported the bill because it’s a return to normal – small bills on specific spending areas, Catie Edmondson reported in the New York Times on Thursday.

The bill seeks to prevent another government shutdown. Without an approved budget, the government will shut down Jan. 30.

‘Working With Congress’

“We’re holding two thoughts at the same time,” Flagg elaborated. “One, we’re grateful for the funding we’re getting, but we’re looking forward to working with Congress going forward to generate more funding for civil legal aid so that the justice gap can be closed.”

Even under previous funding amounts, “LSC funding recipients turn away half the eligible applicants for service who make it to their door,” Flagg said.

The 3.6% cut means turning away, due to funding, another quarter million more people, LSC estimates.

“We throw around these numbers in terms of dollars and people served or not served,” Flagg said, “but each of those individual numbers are real lives disrupted and problems left unresolved.”