Wisconsin Ethics Opinions

The 2025-2026 supplement includes a number of changes such as:

• A new formal ethics opinion that provided guidance on an attorneys responsibilities when representing a criminal defendant with dimished capacity.
• Recent Ethical Dilemmas column written by the State Bar ethics counsel on various ethics-related concerns.

The 2024-2025 supplement includes a number of changes such as:

• A new formal ethics opinion that addresses the general prohibition against attorneys testifying as witnesses and the exceptions to the rule of disqualification
• A new formal ethics opinion that discusses the ethical responsibilities that arise when a lawyer leaves a firm
• A revised ethics opinion concerning ethical considerations relating to guardians ad litem
• Recent Ethical Dilemmas columns written by the State Bar ethics counsel and a past ethics committee chair on various ethics-related concerns

2023-2024 supplement includes a number of changes such as:

• A new formal ethics opinion that addresses lawyers’ options for responding to online criticism, considering the ethics rules’ duty of confidentiality
• A new formal ethics opinion that discusses various ethics rules as they apply to conflicts of interest that can arise for a guardian ad litem
• A new formal ethics opinion that discusses matters relating to recording others without disclosure or consent
• Recent Ethical Dilemmas columns written by the State Bar ethics counsel on various ethics-related concerns

The 2022-2023 supplement includes a number of changes such as:

• The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s adoption of new ethics rules, effective July 1, 2023, to permit electronic transactions in lawyer trust accounts
• Recent Ethical Dilemmas columns written by the State Bar of Wisconsin’s ethics counsel on various ethics-related concerns
• The State Bar of Wisconsin ethics committee’s withdrawal of a formal opinion that had addressed an attorney’s ethical obligations when asked to serve as an intermediary in a divorce case

The 2021-2022 supplement includes a number of changes such as:

• A new formal ethics opinion that outlines the ethical responsibilities of lawyers in criminal practice who migrate from defense to prosecution or prosecution to defense
• A new formal ethics opinion that addresses the responsibilities of an attorney with a fugitive client
• Several revised formal opinions and memorandum opinions that discuss conflicts of interest that might occur in various scenarios, such as those involving part-time employment as an assistant district attorney or corporation counsel and concurrent or subsequent employment as a lawyer in a private firm
• Recent Ethical Dilemmas columns written by the State Bar ethics counsel on various ethics-related concerns

The book’s subject index and areas of practice index have been updated to incorporate the new and revised material. Also included in this year’s supplement is the updated text of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys (and comments) as revised by the Wisconsin Supreme Court through orders effective January 1, 2022

The 2020–21 supplement includes a number of changes such as:

• New formal ethics opinions that provide guidance about (1) the potential conflicts of interest that might arise from cross-examining a current or former client; (2) whether the ethics rules allow an attorney to attempt to gain an advantage for a client in a civil matter by threatening criminal prosecution or a professional misconduct complaint; and (3) attorneys’ ethical responsibilities when working remotely
• Several revised formal ethics opinions and memorandum opinions that discuss matters such as conflicts of interest, attorney fees, and the duty of an attorney to inform the court of an error
• Recent Ethical Dilemmas columns written by the State Bar ethics counsel on various ethics-related concerns

The book’s subject index and areas of practice index have been updated to incorporate the new and revised material. Also included in this year’s supplement is the updated text of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys (and comments) as revised by the Wisconsin Supreme Court effective January 1, 2021.

The 2019-20 supplement includes a number of changes such as:

• A new formal ethics opinion that addresses the potential conflicts of interest that might arise when an attorney, while working for one firm, pursues prospective employment with an opposing firm or party
• A new formal ethics opinion that provides guidance on a lawyer’s ethical responsibilities when a client or third party has filed a grievance against the lawyer
• A new memorandum ethics opinion that discusses three scenarios that arise in the context of a “syndicated” loan
• A revised formal ethics opinion that addresses whether an attorney may represent both spouses in a divorce proceeding
• Revised Ethical Dilemmas columns written by the State Bar ethics counsel on various ethics-related concerns

Also included in the supplement is a redlined version of draft amendments by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys (and comments).

The 2018-2019 supplement includes a number of changes such as:

• A new formal ethics opinion that discussed potential ethics-related concerns arising from in-house counsel’s provision of legal services to the customers of the attorney’s non-law-firm employer
• A new formal ethics opinion that addressed whether a conflict of interest might arise out of an attorney’s preparation of a form contract for a client
• Revised ethics opinions concerning (1) an attorney’s duty to be candid with the court about the number of a defendant’s prior convictions and (2) ethical duties relating to metadata
• Recent Ethical Dilemmas columns written by the State Bar ethics counsel on various ethics-related concerns

The 2017-18 supplement includes new and revised formal, informal, and memorandum opinions discussing topics such as:

• When a lawyer may interact with a person represented by another lawyer
• Clarification on the interaction between a local court rule and the Wisconsin Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys
• A lawyer’s responsibilities when a client gives a third party a lien on settlement proceeds
• The ethical obligations of attorneys using cloud computing

This edition includes recent Ethical Dilemmas columns from the InsideTrack enewsletter published since the 2016-2017 supplement. In addition, a number of opinions have been withdrawn and will be designated as such in this printing.

The 2016-17 revision includes recent formal and informal ethics opinions on the following topics:

• Duty of confidentiality regarding disclosure of the identities of current and former clients
• How long closed client files should be kept and steps to take before destroying closed client files
• Surrendering a client’s file upon termination of the representation
• Ethical obligations when using cloud computing
• Accepting employment from clients of a firm’s financial planning and counseling business
• Whether two law firms jointly pursuing a claim for monetary recovery on behalf of two separate clients may charge a contingency fee to be divided by the two firms
• Possible ethical violations of a public defender serving on a crime prevention funding board
• Whether certain payments from a firm constitute retirement benefits that can permissibly be conditioned on non-competition provisions
• Referring to advanced fees and retainers as “nonrefundable,” in client communications

In addition, this revision includes “Ethical Dilemmas” columns from the State Bar of Wisconsin’s electronic newsletter, InsideTrack, that are written by the State Bar ethics counsel. It also contains the full text of the Wisconsin Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys, SCR ch. 20, as updated since 2011.