Office of Lawyer Regulation

Wire transfer scams targeting lawyers

The State Bar published an article entitled “Will I Be Disciplined if I Fall for a Wire Transfer Scam?”, discussing a recent Wisconsin matter in which a Supreme Court referee imposed a private reprimand against a lawyer for failing to safeguard client funds. Read more.

OLR Ethics School

Coming to a location near you! OLR staff will be presenting to discuss the Rules of Professional Conduct relating to the following topics:

• OLR procedures and an overview of SCR Chapter 22
• Connections between communication and other ethical obligations under the SCRs, including communicating with clients, staff and third parties
• Disciplinary sanctions: rules and precedent
• Read more for dates, times, locations and additional information.

See registration form here.

Upcoming Trust Account seminars

Annual OLR Trust Account Update, Friday October 10, 2025

OLR Trust Account Program Administrator Travis Stieren and OLR Investigation Manager Emily Kokie will be joined by Attorney Kathleen Selzler Lippert of the Kansas Office of the Disciplinary Administrator, Kari Kronenberg of PaymentsFirst, and Tehmina Islam of the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation.

• Flyer
• Agenda
• Register here

New Trust Account procedures take effect July 1, 2023

On March 30, 2023, the Supreme Court issued an order amending SCR 20:1.15, SCR 20:1.0, and SCR 20:1.5(g), focusing on more freely allowing lawyers to use electronic transactions in their client trust accounts. The amendments become effective July 1, 2023. For more information on the rule changes, read more .
InsideTrack - Trust Account Rule Changes

OLR offers online payment option

OLR is now offering an electronic payment option for trust account seminar registration fees, assessed discipline costs, and reinstatement fees. Visit the Office of Lawyer Regulation electronic fee payment page for additional information and to use the payment feature.

Guidance on paying eFiling fees

Circuit court eFiling is available throughout the state and is mandatory in many Wisconsin counties. However, the Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules relating to e-banking in trust accounts will impact how lawyers manage the payment of filing fees. For guidance from OLR on the payment options, Read more .

SPD payments, including direct deposit:

In order to receive payment at the conclusion of a representation, lawyers appointed by the State Public Defender's Office (SPD) must submit their hours and expenses to the SPD. If the expenses include fees owed to a 3rd party, such as an investigator, Wisconsin's trust account rules come into play. Read more .