The Wisconsin State Legislature is being sued over its use of private lawyers by progressive firm Law Forward. The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 19 in Dane County Circuit Court, takes aim at a provision in the lame duck law passed by the Republican majority and signed by outgoing Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2018 before Democratic Gov. Tony Evers took office for his first term. The provision allows the Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader to obtain outside legal counsel.

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation published in July 2025 found that since 2017 lawmakers had spent over $26 million in taxpayer money on legal fees to private law firms, many of which had ties to the national Republican party and the state DOJ under former Republican state attorneys general.

Law Forward President and General Counsel Jeff Mandell said in a statement that Wisconsinites “deserve to know their money is being spent lawfully to advance a valid public purpose.” 

“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, in clear violation of the Wisconsin Constitution’s public purpose doctrine and Wisconsin’s system of divided government,” Mandell said.

The lawsuit argues that the retention of private lawyers using public funds is unconstitutional because it is duplicative of the legal services provided through the Department of Justice that the state already pays for and has been used primarily for private, partisan or political interests. 

The Wisconsin Constitution prohibits spending public funds for purposes that aren’t public.

It asks the court to declare the use of private counsel unconstitutional and to block the state Department of Administration from processing future payments for private counsel for lawmakers. 

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three Wisconsin taxpayers: Daniel Theno, a Brown County Board Supervisor and former state senator, Randy Scannell, a former Green Bay City Council alderman, and J. Drew Ryberg.

The defendants named in the suit include the Assembly, Senate, and the Department of Administration (DOA) as well as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) and other legislative leaders. 

“The Legislature hires attorneys to defend Wisconsin’s laws because the people of Wisconsin deserve a rigorous defense of the laws on the books. 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,” Lemahieu and Vos said in a joint statement. “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.”

One case that the lawsuit cites is Wisconsin State Senate v. City of Green Bay.  The case, which was settled in July 2024, centered on the City of Green Bay and Mayor Eric Genrich alleging that audio recording devices installed in City Hall in 2021 violated state electronic surveillance laws. 

The Senate and its member, Sen. André Jacque (R-New Franken), initially brought the case, but the Senate was dismissed as a party after it was filed. The Law Forward suit alleges that the Senate continued paying for private counsel “with bills sometimes exceeding $150,000 in a month” and argues the Senate and Jacque “initiated and persisted in litigation for no discernable public purpose.” 

Another case cited is the hiring of Michael Gableman by Vos in 2021 to investigate Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential results, which Trump falsely claimed had been rigged to cause his loss. The Assembly paid Gableman over $1.3 million in public dollars for Gableman, other staff and expenses until August 2022 when Gableman was fired.

Referencing a statement made by Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) after the ordeal, the lawsuit argues that “‘nothing’ actually overstates the value to the people of Wisconsin of the services rendered” and that Gableman’s efforts “led to a bevy of litigation, in multiple circuit and appellate courts.” The lawsuit also claims that afterwards the Assembly hired outside counsel to represent Gableman and sometimes the Assembly in circuit and appellate courts in litigation that was the result of the investigation.