LIFT Wisconsin

Background

Founded in 2019, LIFT Wisconsin is a program offered by the University of Wisconsin (UW) Law School’s Economic Justice Institute and was formerly named LIFT Dane. In 2024, the Economic Justice Institute reported $345,048 in total expenses related to the program on its tax returns, which constituted 76 percent of the Institute’s total expenses. ^{1 3} The Economic Justice Institute also reported receiving $710,009 in government grants, making up 96 percent of its total revenue. ⁴

Through the Economic Justice Institute, LIFT Wisconsin provides subsidized legal services to individuals in the Madison, Wisconsin area with the help of UW Law School students and is reported to be a joint venture with Legal Action of Wisconsin and the Employment and Training Association. ^{1 3} In 2019, LIFT Wisconsin, then named Legal Intervention for Transforming Dane, was awarded a $1 million grant by Schmidt Futures’ DreamUp Wisconsin initiative to provide legal services to low-income people. ⁵

Legal Tune Up

In 2021, LIFT Wisconsin launched its virtual legal services platform, Legal Tune Up. It is a centralized database of legal records that allows users to verify if they have a criminal record, an eviction record, a pending small-claims case, an outstanding child support order, or a driver’s license suspension in Wisconsin. If an issue is identified, Legal Tune Up provides digital resources for individuals to attempt to resolve the issue on their own if possible, and it refers users to legal clinics or makes a referral to another source to pursue resolution. ²

Advocacy

LIFT Wisconsin advocates for issues it claims disproportionately impact low-income people, including child support orders, criminal records, eviction records, debt claims, and driver’s license reinstatement. The organization promotes the idea that low-income individuals are victims of these legal processes because legal representation is disproportionately burdensome compared to higher-income individuals. ^{6 7 8}

Funding

LIFT Wisconsin reports receiving support and funding from Jefferson County in Wisconsin, the Evjue Foundation, UW Credit Union, the Schleight Family Foundation, the Roots and Wings Foundation, the Madison Community Foundation, WisTAF, the American Bar Association Endowment, the Nimick Forbesway Foundation, Adams Outdoor, Schmidt Futures, Alliant Energy, and the University of Wisconsin Partnership Program. ⁹

Leadership

University of Wisconsin clinical professor of law Sarah Davis is a founder and advisor of LIFT Wisconsin. Davis also works as the director of UW’s Center for Patient Partnerships. ¹⁰

Erica Nelson is the executive director of LIFT Wisconsin. She previously worked as an attorney for the Center for Family Representation in New York City. In 2010, Nelson founded and directed Race to Equity in Wisconsin and then worked as advocacy director for Kids Forward. ¹¹