GOP puts taxpayers on hook for '$550 an hour' lawyers — to defend its use of lawyers

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Republican lawmakers are letting taxpayers foot $500-an-hour attorney fees to defend against a lawsuit challenging them “over that very practice” of “using taxpayer money to hire private attorneys.”

“The lawsuit, which was filed by liberal law firm Law Forward in February, followed a 2025 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation that found the state Legislature had spent about $26 million in taxpayer money on legal fees to private law firms since 2017,” reports MJS.

The paper notes that the lawyer fees really kicked in 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 2018 law passed by Republican legislators, authorizing legislative leaders to hire private lawyers with taxpayer money.

That 2018 law sets no limit to the amount of taxpayer money the Legislature can spend on outside counsel.

Milwaukee-based law firm Fox, O'Neill & Shannon is charging taxpayers $460 and hour to defend Republicans’ new right to hire them. Colorado firm Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell will charge the Senate “a blended rate of $550 an hour for all lawyers who work on this matter," reports MJS.

"It's pretty ironic that the taxpayer will once again be on the hook for the Legislature's inclination to spend, spend, spend on outside lawyers," Jeff Mandell, president and general counsel of Law Forward, said in an emailed statement. "Wisconsin taxpayers are on the hook for a pretty hefty bill, not just from the Assembly, but from the Senate as well."

Neither Assembly Speaker Robin Vos nor Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu responded to requests for an interview.

The Sentinel reports Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill to require a vote by the full Assembly or Senate before either house could hire private counsel at taxpayer expense. That same proposal would require the vote of the full Legislature for a joint appointment.

But Republican leadership killed that bill before a floor vote.

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