Wisconsin Legislature sued over millions spent on private attorneys

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USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Law Forward, a Madison-based liberal law firm, is suing the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature over its use of taxpayer money to hire private attorneys.

The lawsuit, which was filed last month, comes after a 2025 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found the state Legislature had spent about $26 million in taxpayer money on legal fees to private law firms since 2017.

The investigation found that the vast majority of the spending came after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul won the November 2018 election, defeating Republican former Gov. Scott Walker and Attorney General Brad Schimel.

The sharp increase in spending also followed a law passed by Republican legislators in the December 2018 lame-duck session that authorized the Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader to hire private lawyers with taxpayer money.

“Wisconsin taxpayers deserve to know their money is being spent lawfully to advance a valid public purpose,” Law Forward President and General Counsel Jeff Mandell said in a statement. “This lawsuit challenges the tens of millions in taxpayer funds, most of which is wasted by the Republican-controlled Legislature on private legal counsel in pursuit of private interests.”

He called the practice a “clear violation of the Wisconsin Constitution’s public purpose doctrine and Wisconsin’s system of divided government.”

The lawsuit names as defendants the Assembly, Senate, Department of Administration and legislative leaders, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu.

Vos and LeMahieu defended hiring outside counsel in a statement to the Journal Sentinel.

“The Legislature hires attorneys to defend Wisconsin’s laws because the people of Wisconsin deserve a rigorous defense of the laws on the books,” they said. “Even though the Attorney General can defend our laws, we have seen that the Department of Justice is unable to put politics aside on partisan issues.”

Vos and LeMahieu added, “Hiring outside counsel simply allows the legislature to ensure all sides are presented vigorously so the judiciary can hear all points of view to make the best decision.”

The lawsuit cited a 2023 dispute in which the Senate continued to pay private counsel after it had been removed as a party in a case involving the use of surveillance cameras in Green Bay City Hall. The case cost the Senate more than $1 million in fees, according to records reviewed by the Journal Sentinel.

Assembly leaders also spent $1.8 million on fees related to former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman‘s 2020 election probe, which found no evidence of fraud. The probe ended when Vos fired Gableman in August 2022. The legal fees did not include other investigation-related expenses, like Gableman’s salary.

Much of the spending at issue stems from the 2018 lame-duck session, in which Republicans passed a series of laws stripping Evers and Kaul of various powers a month before they took office. One of those laws allowed legislative leaders to pay for outside counsel with taxpayer money and circumvent the attorney general to intervene in lawsuits that challenge state law.

Since then, the Legislature has spent more than $8 million defending challenges to the lame-duck laws.