Aug. 12, 2026 – Can you help a longtime client with a contract in another state? What about sending a demand letter or negotiating a dispute for a family member who lives elsewhere?

As Wisconsin businesses expand their operations, attorneys increasingly face questions involving out-of-state employees, contracts, vendors, and customers.

For solo and small firm lawyers, these issues can arise quickly, sometimes before the attorney realizes that a routine request may involve multijurisdictional practice.

Madison-based attorney Erin E. Rome discussed how lawyers can continue serving clients while complying with professional rules and managing risk.

Rome described the central question this way: “In the increasingly mobile and virtual world, how can you make sure that you as a lawyer are complying with the ethical rules and doing what you need to do to manage risk and make sure that you’re representing your clients competently?”

Rome presented on this topic at the 2025 Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference.

A Growing Issue for Business Lawyers

The issue has become more common as businesses operate less traditionally. A company may be organized in Wisconsin but have employees, contractors, clients, and agreements throughout the country.

“You may have a Wisconsin LLC, but they are entirely virtual in their practice … employing employees in multiple states,” said Rome. The clients may “want you to review contracts that they’re entering into in Minnesota or California.”

That can put a trusted Wisconsin lawyer in a difficult position. The client may expect its regular attorney to serve as its one source for legal advice, even as the company’s activities cross into jurisdictions where that lawyer is not licensed.

Rome said attorneys need to examine more than Wisconsin’s requirements.

“If I have a client who wants me to send a demand letter about an Illinois matter to someone in Illinois, and I’m doing that in the capacity as a lawyer, I need to know what Wisconsin’s rules say about that and also what Illinois’s rules say about that because both are going to apply,” she said.

It Can Arise Outside Your Regular Practice

Multistate practice questions are not limited to attorneys representing companies with national operations. They can arise when friends or relatives ask for what appears to be a small favor.

“It’s very common to have friends and family that are in Illinois or Minnesota and have them call you up and want you to provide advice on an employment dispute they have or negotiate something with their landlord,” Rome said.

Because these requests may feel informal, lawyers may not analyze them as carefully as they would a paid client matter. Rome cautioned that the absence of a fee does not necessarily change whether the activity constitutes the practice of law.

“It’s something that we all are encountering probably more often than we think,” she said.

When Helping Family Led to Discipline

One of the most striking examples from Rome’s session at the Wisconsin Solo & Small Firm Conference involved a Colorado attorney whose in-laws lived in Minnesota. After a condominium association obtained a judgment against them, the in-laws asked the attorney to help negotiate with the association’s Minnesota lawyer.

Over approximately three months, the attorneys exchanged about 20 emails concerning the judgment and a possible settlement. The Minnesota attorney later reported the Colorado lawyer to disciplinary authorities.

The Minnesota Supreme Court concluded that the Colorado attorney had engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.

“It was not a court appearance,” Rome said. “It was just emailing back and forth from Colorado to Minnesota, but they held that that was unauthorized practice of law, and he was reprimanded for that.”

The case illustrates how easily a lawyer can cross a professional boundary while trying to help someone.

“Whether it’s a family member or a friend, even if it’s in that context, you’re not being paid for it, you still need to be very cautious about what the rules say and if you’re authorized to do that,” Rome said.

Demand Letters and Settlement Discussions

Attorneys should also be cautious when a business client asks for assistance with an out-of-state dispute. A demand letter may seem like a limited step, particularly when no lawsuit has been filed, but it can still qualify as practicing law in the other jurisdiction.

“Pretty routinely, the ethical advisory committees and courts that have looked at that have said that sending a demand letter or engaging in settlement discussions, even if there’s not a pending lawsuit, is the practice of law,” Rome said.

That means a Wisconsin attorney should not assume that pre-litigation work falls outside another state’s licensing requirements.

Exceptions May Allow the Representation

The rules do contain exceptions that may permit a Wisconsin lawyer to continue helping a client with out-of-state activities.

For example, a representation may be permissible when it grows out of an existing relationship with a Wisconsin client or is reasonably related to the lawyer’s Wisconsin practice. In other situations, associating with a lawyer licensed in the other state may provide a path forward.

“If you are doing something in another state on a temporary basis, like negotiating an asset purchase or something like that, you can engage local counsel in that state to assist you with that matter,” Rome said.

However, attorneys need to identify the applicable exception before relying on it.

“You’ve got to figure out what you’re doing and then take a close look at the rule and the comments to that and figure out what exception applies for what you’re trying to do,” she said.

Working Remotely from Another State

Remote work presents a related but distinct question. A Wisconsin lawyer may want to spend part of the year in another state while continuing to represent Wisconsin clients in Wisconsin matters.

Rome said ethics authorities have generally permitted that arrangement when the lawyer does not establish an office, solicit local clients, or suggest that the lawyer is licensed in the other state.

“If you’re not setting up an office in that other state … you’re just doing it in Wisconsin, and the only difference is that you’re in a condo in Florida versus in a condo in Wisconsin, then that’s okay,” she said.

Small Firms Should Use Available Resources

Large firms may have attorneys licensed in several states. Solo and small firm lawyers are less likely to have that resource down the hall.

Rome encouraged smaller firms to contact colleagues, ethics resources, and malpractice carriers when uncertain.

“Seek out help from your colleagues and from resources like the State Bar ethics hotline,” she said. The program is “super helpful.”

She also emphasized that lawyers should not feel they need to solve every unfamiliar issue alone.

“It’s a hard job, and you can’t know everything,” Rome said. “But there are usually people who know more and are willing to help. So, make sure you seek out those resources.”

Begin with the Rule

Rome concluded with direct advice for any lawyer considering work that crosses state lines: “Read the rule. Always read the rule. Read the statute.”

Although that may sound basic, she said attorneys sometimes move forward without first reviewing the governing language. “I think that’s really where you need to start to figure out if what you’re doing is permissible,” Rome said.

As clients become more mobile and their businesses extend into new jurisdictions, Wisconsin lawyers will encounter these questions more frequently.

Recognizing when another state’s rules may apply, reviewing the available exceptions, and seeking guidance early can help attorneys serve their clients without unintentionally crossing professional boundaries.

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