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About Us

Our Purpose

  • To assume responsibility for leadership and enlightenment of the bench, bar and public regarding the competency, importance and value of paralegals.
  • To promote a broader understanding and acceptance of paralegals as indispensable to the delivery of legal services.
  • To stimulate and encourage the establishment and maintenance of training, educational facilities and programs for persons interested in the profession.
  • To conduct educational seminars, provide a forum for the discussion of subjects pertaining to the profession, and publish information relating thereto.
  • To further the exchange of professional knowledge and to disseminate information with respect to the profession; and to advance the interests and general welfare of the profession.

Paralegal Licensure Petition

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will address the licensure petition in open administrative conference on April 7, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. There will be no further testimony allowed, however additional written submissions may be sent by March 7, 2008. The Court may request comments from those in attendance at the hearing, for the Court's aid.

UPDATE: On April 7, 2008 the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied the petition on a unanimous voice vote, following their administrative conference on petition 04-03, the petition to regulate and license paralegals in Wisconsin. The Court has indicated that they will be sending a memorandum to the Wisconsin State Bar with their decision and alternative opinions. The Court felt that they lacked jurisdiction to enforce a mandatory regulation policy and in addition lacked the financial resources to fund an oversight council. Members of the PAW, the Board of Directors and our contacts with the legislature and State Bar will further review the Court's decision upon receipt of their memorandum.

Paralegal Regulation

In a joint effort with members of the State Bar of Wisconsin, paralegals representing the government and private sectors, paralegal educators and government liaisons, the Paralegal Association of Wisconsin, Inc., have worked diligently to develop a regulatory plan for mandatory licensing of persons in Wisconsin who are employed as paralegals.

The provisions of the regulatory licensing proposal were completed and approved by theWisconsinState Bar Board of Governors in June 2000. Members of the Task Force have continued to refine the proposal and meet with additional entities who will be involved in the regulatory process since that time. The petition filed with the Wisconsin Supreme Court was the subject of a hearing held on October 27, 2004. The Court did not address the petition following the completion of the hearing, due to the amount of materials that were submitted for review, and the number of speakers that presented oral testimony to the Court.

As an update to the current status of the paralegal licensure proposal currently before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, here is some additional information. The hearing before the Court was held on October 27, 2004, at which time several speakers, for and against, the regulatory proposal made presentations. The Court then referred the proposal to the statutory revisor for review and commentary on the structure, language, etc. of the proposal.

That information was received by the State Bar Paralegal Task Force in December 2004 and a meeting has held by the committee to discuss the same in January 2005. The recommendations of the committee were referred back to the Supreme Court's commissioner for inclusion in the memorandum being drafted for the Court.

As of May 2005, we were advised that the Court would likely not take any action on the proposal prior to their summer recess in June, for a variety of reasons. There is also discussion that another hearing will be held in the fall of the 2005 to discuss the recommendations and the additional written materials that were submitted to the Court, following the October 2004 hearing.

Additional information, as it is obtained, will be provided to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact John Goudie at 414-630-1716 , or by e-mail, on any of the members of the State Bar Paralegal Task Force.

Detailed background information of the regulation proposal is at the Paralegal Practice Task Force webpage at the Wisconsin State Bar website.

For more information, comments, or questions, please contact our Task Force members:
John Goudie e-mail me
Marie Koster e-mail me

Our History

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