Before it will act, the Wisconsin Supreme Court wants the State Bar of Wisconsin to gather demonstrable evidence that additional regulation of the unauthorized practice of law is needed. The court recently asked lawyers for quantifiable evidence not only of the harm inflicted on the public when nonlawyers practice law but also of the nature and extent of the harm. Members should submit data by Dec. 31.

The author looks at issues of fairness and advocacy when lawyers deal with unrepresented people and discusses the related Ethics 2000 Committee recommendations that are pending before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

In Everson v. Lorenz, the Wisconsin Supreme Court restated that insurance policies are not "one-size-fits-all" documents, providing coverage for every type of damage. Everson makes clear that misrepresentations in the sale of real property are not accidents, and thus are not occurrences, so that misrepresentations fall outside the scope of coverage provided by occurrence based insurance policies.