Attorney Admissions

Note: The Western District of Wisconsin upgraded to NextGen CM/ECF on April 25, 2022. To apply for full admission or pro hac vice admission to practice in this court, please select the appropriate tab, below.

Any lawyer licensed to practice before the highest court of any state or the District of Columbia is eligible to practice in the Western District of Wisconsin.

The clerk's office independently confirms the attorney's standing with the appropriate state supreme court.  Submission of a certificate of good standing is not required.  Once your application to practice in this district is approved, a certificate of admission will be mailed to you.  Admission to practice in the Western District of Wisconsin is permanent. Pro hac vice admission occurs on a case-by-case basis.

Attorney Lookup Feature

Attorneys can now check the date of their admission to practice in the Western District of Wisconsin by using the attorney lookup feature in ECF. 

Attorney Full Admission and E-filing

To apply for admission to practice in the Western District of Wisconsin, you must have an individual PACER account. Please visit https://pacer.uscourts.gov/ to register for PACER. Once you have a PACER account, follow these instructions to apply for admission and e-filing in the Western District of Wisconsin.

Pro Hac Vice

In order to appear in a particular matter without becoming a member of the bar of this court, attorneys must have an upgraded individual PACER account. Login to PACER, follow the instructions here, and register for pro hac vice filing in the Western District of Wisconsin. Once your application has been processed, file a Motion to Appear pro hac vice in ECF. A fee of $100 for each pro hac vice motion is required at the time the motion is filed, and is paid through pay.gov.

To appear pro hac vice in the District Court:

1.  Register for pro hac vice electronic filing;
2.  File a motion to appear pro hac vice; and
3.  Pay the $100 fee when prompted.

Changing Your Contact Information

On April 25, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin upgraded its electronic filing system to NextGen CM/ECF. Please follow these steps to update your contact information with the court:

  1. Obtain an individual PACER account or upgrade an existing PACER account;
  2. Link your PACER account to your old Western District of Wisconsin CM/ECF account;
  3. Go to pacer.uscourts.gov and select Manage Your Account > Manage My Account Login;
  4. Click on the "Maintenance" tab and update your contact information. Be sure to apply any updates to all cases and all courts with which your account is associated.

If you have any questions, please write to ecfregistration@wiwd.uscourts.gov

Maintaining Your Email

The primary email address is added and updated through PACER. To update a primary address, refer to the instructions above under "Changing Your Contact Information."

To add, delete, or modify a secondary email address, click on the Utilities menu in CM/ECF and select Maintain Your E-mail. Click "add new e-mail address" under Secondary addresses. Enter the address and choose configuration options. To remove a secondary address, click on the address you wish to remove and delete it. Click Submit to save your changes.

If you have any questions, please call (608) 264-5156 or write to ecfregistration@wiwd.uscourts.gov

Certificate of Good Standing and/or Duplicate Certificate of Admission

If you are an attorney already admitted to the Western District of Wisconsin and would like to request a certificate of good standing and/or a duplicate certificate of admission, click here to complete our online request form and electronically pay the associated fee.  Please refer to the Court's fee schedule for the appropriate payment amount.  Once the form is submitted, your request will be completed within three to five business days. 

If you have any questions, please contact Jaime at 608-261-5713.

Use of Attorney Rooms During Trial

Rooms are randomly assigned the Wednesday before trial.  A room may be requested by calling 608-261-5731. If one party requests a room, the clerk's office will assign a room to each party in the case. However, the court cannot guarantee that rooms will be available, nor can the court provide a separate space for attorneys to eat lunch.