When the court decides that a prisoner does not have the capacity to litigate a case on his or her own, the court will make efforts to find a volunteer attorney to represent the prisoner. First, the court posts a summary of the case on its website to make attorneys aware of current opportunities. Then, at the beginning of each month, the court emails a list of opportunities to attorneys who have recently appeared in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. 

If the court is unable to recruit an attorney through these efforts, the court may refer the case to the Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association (EDWBA) for assistance. EDWBA volunteers cannot effectively assist the court if their efforts to identify a volunteer attorney are subject to future discovery, so all EDWBA volunteers’ work product and communications are confidential, regardless of whether their efforts are successful.  

If you have questions about the court’s recruiting efforts, you may contact the court’s pro se staff attorneys at ProSeStaffAttorneys@wied.uscourts.gov.