For many lawyers in private practice, “pro bono” is not something that is often talked about, but efforts to provide legal services to those who cannot afford is vital to the Wisconsin community.
If you practice in Wisconsin, there is a plethora of opportunities that will enable you to provide these essential services while also developing skills and gaining experience that will assist you in your private practice.
These opportunities include accepting Wisconsin State Public Defender (SPD) appointments at the trial and appellate levels, and taking matters through civil justice clinics (for example, the Eviction Defense Project) and legal aid partnerships (such as Legal Action of Wisconsin and Judicare Legal Aid). These representations deliver life-changing help and, just as importantly, accelerate your development as an advocate.
This article highlights why these types of matters should be a regular part of your practice, how they align with our ethical commitments as attorneys, and the concrete skills they build – often faster than typical private cases.
Why These Appointments Matter
Wisconsin lawyers share an aspirational duty to serve those unable to pay, echoed by ABA guidance and Wisconsin Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 20:6.1(a).
For clients, effective advocacy can preserve liberty, housing, employment, and benefits. That alone justifies the work.
Nate Oesch, Marquette 2018, is an associate with Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee. He focuses on class action defense, insurance coverage, and IP litigation.
But there is another powerful reason: these types of representations often push you out of your comfort zone and the familiarity that you’ve developed with your particular area of law. They provide opportunities to develop things like litigation skills (fact development, motion practice, negotiation, and courtroom advocacy), matter management skills (strategy assessment, managing risk), and client interactions (speaking with individuals who may not be accustomed to the legal world and its structure).
How Trial-Level Appointments Accelerate Growth
Through trial-level appointments with the SPD you will quickly build client skills as you try to establish a connection and build trust with clients who may be skeptical of the legal system; collaborate with investigators and experts; refine case theories; and brief and argue constitutional and evidentiary questions. You will negotiate directly with prosecutors, sharpen risk assessment, and gain experience crafting pragmatic resolutions aligned with client goals.
Appellate-level Appointments Develop Writing and Analytical Skills
Taking on appellate-level appointments will elevate your writing and issue selection. You will gain experience mastering the record, identify preserved and forfeited issues, and decide what not to brief. By potentially taking on issues that are outside your typical practice area you will hone your analytical skills and sharpen your writing skills through grappling with potentially unfamiliar issues. Oral argument, should it occur, provides an opportunity to work on public speaking skills.
Civil Clinics and Legal Aid
Wisconsin clinics and legal aid partners provide comparable development opportunities while meeting urgent civil needs.
You can find opportunities through the State Bar’s Pro Bono Portal. On the portal, you can pick the area and/or organization you want to volunteer with. There are a whole range of opportunities, from brief services to limited scope representation, to litigation or transactional work. Clinic matters, such as those also coordinated by the Eviction Defense Project, immerse you in rapid intake, emergency motions, and live hearings where the goal is immediate: keep a family housed, preserve income, and help mitigate a cascading event of potential issues. You will distill complex facts for busy commissioners and judges, negotiate under tight deadlines, and counsel clients through difficult choices – all directly transferable to commercial and personal-injury practice.
Collaborations with Legal Action of Wisconsin similarly expose you to interdisciplinary problem-solving with social workers and community providers. You will spot legal issues embedded in health and social determinants (housing, safety, employment, debt) and craft remedies that combine legal tools with community resources. The experience builds cultural competence, trauma-informed lawyering, and cross-professional communication – all of which enhance client service in private practice.
Ethics and Practice Gains
These representations sit squarely within your responsibility to improve access to justice, even when compensated. They reaffirm the constitutional promise of counsel and the integrity of an adversarial system that depends on capable defense and civil advocacy.
They also cultivate healthy ethical reflexes: diligence, conflict awareness, client authority on fundamental decisions, informed consent, confidentiality, and thorough communication. The stakes sharpen professional independence and reinforce zealous, client-centered practice.
Practical Upsides
Courtroom time boosts confidence and efficiency and, particularly for younger attorneys, provides a great opportunity to get experiences ahead of when you may otherwise get them in private practice.
You will better assess witness credibility, anticipate evidentiary issues, and draft targeted motions. In addition, relationships with judges, clerks, prosecutors, and defense and legal aid counsel broaden your network.
If you are primarily civil side, criminal and clinic work diversify your docket and keep your litigation muscles active.
For newer lawyers, these matters function as an apprenticeship with real responsibility. For seasoned attorneys, they create opportunities to mentor, lead, and model service – stories that resonate with clients, partners, and recruits.
Getting Started in Wisconsin
Connect with local SPD offices to express interest and complete registration or vendor steps for trial or appellate appointments.
Engage with civil justice clinics (e.g., the Eviction Defense Project) and legal aid partners (e.g., Legal Action of Wisconsin, Judicare Legal Aid) that place discrete matters with private counsel. You can find many of their needs via the State Bar’s Pro Bono Portal website.
The SPD and legal aid organizations offer trainings, resources, and informal mentorship through defense bars and elists.
This article was originally published on the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Public Interest Law Section Blog. Visit the State Bar sections or the Public Interest Law Section web pages to learn more about the benefits of section membership.
