Legal Advice
We are happy to help you if we can. However, since we must remain impartial to all court users, we are only allowed to help you in certain ways. Here is a list of what court personnel can and cannot do for you.
| We can explain and answer questions about how the court works. | We cannot recommend whether you should file a case or what actions you should take. |
| We can provide you with the number of the lawyer referral service, legal service program, and other services/resources. | We cannot tell you what words to use in your court papers or what to say in court. |
| We can give you general information about court rules, procedures, practices, and terms. | We cannot research or interpret the law for you. We cannot apply the law to the facts of your case. |
| We can provide court schedules and information on how to get a case scheduled. | We cannot give you an opinion about what will happen if you bring your case to court. |
| We can provide you information in a case file as long as the case is not confidential. | We cannot let you talk to the judge outside of court or talk to the judge for you. (This is called ex parte’ communication.) |
| We can provide you with court forms and instructions that are available, and check your forms for completeness. | We cannot take sides in a case or provide assistance that would be unfair to the other side of your case. |
| We can give information about court deadlines, but we cannot compute deadlines for you. | We cannot change an order signed by the judge. |
Navigating through the court system can be difficult and we understand this. Court rules, procedures, and practices can be very complex. Because we don’t want to provide you with wrong information, we have been instructed not to answer questions if we do not know the correct answers. For additional information, please refer to:
The State Bar Lawyer Referral & Information Service (Phone) 1-800-362-9082, (Website) https://www.wisbar.org
The Wisconsin Court Self-Help Center (Website) www.wicourts.gov
The Wisconsin State Law Library (Phone) 1-800-322-9755, (Website) https://wsll.state.wi.us
