Ozaukee County Family Law Assistance Center is staffed by local attorneys every Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The center is located in Room 211 of the Justice Center. Availability is based on first come, first served. The center does not accept appointments.

The attorneys cannot give legal advice. They are available to provide the following help to people who have, or want to start, family law cases, or file for a restraining order:

• Information about the process, such as:
  • How to file a case or request a hearing
  • How to notify (serve) the other person
  • What happens when you get to court
• Referrals to the State Bar Lawyer Referral and Information Service for someone who wants to speak to an attorney to get legal advice
• What information needs to be provided on the forms to be filed

Note that forms and instructions will be provided to you free of charge if you obtain them at the Family Law Assistance Center. (You may still need to pay a filing fee or fee for serving papers on the other person.) You may also obtain forms from the Clerk of Court's Office, although there will be a charge for those forms. Forms and instructions are also available online at the Wisconsin Court System.

Volunteer Restrictions

• Apply the law to the facts of a given case, or give directions regarding how an individual should respond or behave in any aspect of the legal process
• Fill in a form, unless required by ADA
• Interpret the meaning or implications of statutes or appellate court decisions as they might apply to an individual case
• Perform legal research
• Provide legal advice or recommend a specific course of action for an individual
• Recommend phrasing for or specific content of pleadings
• Recommend specific people against whom to file petitions or other pleadings
• Recommend specific questions to ask witnesses or litigants
• Recommend specific techniques for presenting evidence in pleadings or at trial
• Recommend specific types of claims or arguments to assert in pleadings or at trial
• Recommend what types or amount of damages to seek or the specific individuals from whom to seek damages
• Recommend when or whether an individual should request or oppose an adjournment
• Recommend when or whether an individual should settle a dispute
• Recommend whether an individual should appeal a judge's decision
• Recommend whether to file a petition or other pleading
• Recommend which objections to raise regarding an opponent's pleadings or motions at trial or when and how to raise them