Legal Services

Wisconsin Professional Police Association Member Legal Services Benefit

As a WPPA member, you and your family can enjoy ready and affordable access to experienced legal professionals in a wide range of areas under the WPPA Member Legal Services Benefit arrangement. The WPPA has arranged with Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP, attorneys who have been working with the WPPA and law enforcement professionals for more than 20 years, to provide legal services to WPPA members on uniquely favorable terms.

You are eligible to participate in the WPPA Member Legal Services Benefit if you are an active, life or retired member of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. If you are eligible, you and, at your request, your spouse or life partner and any person considered to be your dependent for federal income tax purposes (“family member”), is also entitled to legal representation from Cullen Weston Pines & Bach on the following terms.

If you are a WPPA member in good standing, you or your family member can receive an initial one-half hour interview or consultation with a Cullen Weston Pines & Bach attorney or paralegal on any legal matter (with the exceptions described below) without charge to you. You can use this Initial Consultation to describe your situation and seek advice on any subject of a legal nature.

In addition, for most legal matters, if you require legal services beyond the Initial Consultation, those services will be provided to you at hourly billing rates which are 20% less than Cullen Weston Pines & Bach’s regular hourly charges for attorneys, paralegals and law clerks. Also, for some legal matters, Cullen Weston Pines & Bach may provide services based on a contingent fee arrangement rather than at hourly rates. Hourly rates vary depending on the legal professional you are working with. A statement comparing Cullen Weston Pines & Bach’s regular hourly rates and rates for WPPA members can be provided to you upon request.

WPPA members and their families may seek the services of Cullen Weston Pines & Bach as they need. Taking advantage of the Benefit will not alter or govern in any way the usual and customary attorney-client relationship between you, as client, and your Cullen Weston Pines & Bach attorney. The confidentiality of the information you exchange with Cullen Weston Pines & Bach will be preserved except as required to represent you. The WPPA will not infringe the independent exercise of professional judgment by your attorney who will be rendering legal services to you, the client.

You recognize, however, that periodically, Cullen Weston Pines & Bach may provide statistical information to the WPPA about the number of its members who take advantage of the WPPA Member Legal Services Benefit. No personally identifying information about you or your legal matter will be provided.

If you use Cullen Weston Pines & Bach’s services, a file will be opened under your name with the law firm and you will be billed directly by the law firm for services. You assume responsibility for all charges for services you request or authorize. Neither the WPPA nor any person or entity connected with it shall directly or indirectly derive a profit from or retain any part of the consideration you pay CWPB for rendering legal services to you.

If you request services by a specific Cullen Weston Pines & Bach attorney, the law firm will attempt to accommodate your request. Generally, however, the type of legal matter and scheduling will determine which professional Cullen Weston Pines & Bach directs to work with you.

Cullen Weston Pines & Bach offers representation under the WPPA Member Legal Services Benefit in the following areas of practice:

  • Personal Injury. Gaining compensation for injuries due to vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, defective products, or employment related accidents.
  • Other Civil Litigation. Representation in such things as contract and property disputes.
  • Real Estate. The purchase or sale of residential, agricultural or commercial property; disputes between landowners or between a tenant and landlord; rezones, conditional use permits or variances; and joint agreements for ownership by non-married persons, for driveways, wells or other improvements.
  • Personal Relations. Marital dissolution, annulment, divorce, separation, maintenance; paternity, custody, child support, and adoption; guardianship; and name changes.
  • Estate Planning. Living trusts, wills, living wills, durable powers of attorney, estate tax avoidance, making gifts, or charitable donations.
  • Probate. Assistance in administering a deceased person’s affairs whether under no-will, will or trust.
  • Consumer Protection. Collection disputes; fair debt reporting complaints; small claims actions.
  • Administrative Proceedings. Representation before state, county or municipal administrative agencies.
  • Small Business Matters. The formation of a business entity (corporation, limited liability company or partnership); the purchase or sale of a business; tax advice; financing transactions; copyrights, trademarks, licenses, trade secrets and licensing; succession planning; and employment contracts and employee benefits.
  • Employment. Disputes regarding wages, disciplines and terminations not covered by a collective bargaining agreement; discrimination claims; and for individual employment contracts and severance agreements.

In addition, although not included in the WPPA Legal Services Benefit, Cullen Weston Pines & Bach can provide legal services:

  • In matters involving a criminal offense;
  • To larger businesses involving acquisitions, additional owners, complex litigation, intellectual property, accounts receivable management, employees and employee benefits, and contracts; and,
  • Advising and acting to influence legislation.
  • Cullen Weston Pines & Bach cannot offer legal services under the WPPA Legal Services Benefit in the following areas:
  • Preparation of income tax returns
  • Bankruptcy
  • Traffic violations
  • Representation provided pursuant to a policy of insurance and the member does not have to pay from his/her own funds.
  • Disputes with the WPPA. The law firm will not provide services in any matter where the WPPA is an adverse party.

Additionally, Cullen Weston Pines & Bach must, under the professional rules of conduct for attorneys, decline representation which presents a conflict of interest with the interests of any client it has previously represented or is presently representing. In rare instances, conflicts of interest may be waived by the parties. In any matter where the interests of a WPPA member and his or her family member are opposed, representation under the WPPA Legal Services Benefit will be available to the WPPA member but not to the family member unless the WPPA member consents in writing to the representation of the family member with the opposing interest.

There is no limit on the number of Initial Consultations you can receive, but each such consult must be an initial consultation on a legal matter. In other words, to gain another Initial Consultation you must have a “new” legal matter. Cullen Weston Pines & Bach reserves the right to decline to provide services on any matter it deems to be without merit, unethical, or where the client has previously failed to cooperate with the law firm’s attorneys or failed to pay for services.

If a dispute, difference or disagreement arises under this WPPA Member Legal Services Benefit, CWPB will attempt to resolve the dispute in a fair and amicable manner. If the dispute cannot be resolved voluntarily by the parties, the dispute, difference or disagreement shall be referred to a single arbitrator agreed upon by the parties, or if no single arbitrator can be agreed upon, an arbitrator shall be selected in Dane County, Wisconsin, in accordance with Wisconsin Statutes Section 788.04. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.

To contact Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP call: (608) 251-0101; Fax: (608) 251-2883; or e-mail to: info@cwpb.com or (attorney’s last name)@cwpb.com or visit at: Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP, 122 West Washington Avenue, Suite 900, Madison, WI 53703; web site: www.cwpb.com.

The above information about the WPPA Member Legal Services Benefit is current as of July 1, 2007. If you are reviewing this information more than 24 months from this date, please check with the WPPA or Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP for updated information.

Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP Attorneys at Law

Cullen Weston Pines & Bach LLP is a Madison-based law firm founded in 1979. Since that time, our firm has steadily grown to include labor and employment, energy and telecommunications, governmental relations, family law, civil and criminal litigation, and business and commerce. We serve hundreds of clients each year, both organizations and individuals. We measure our success by our high level of client retention and satisfaction. Many of our clients have been with us since the beginning.

Our partners and associates are some of the most respected attorneys in their fields, regularly appearing on lists of the best lawyers. We believe this is a reflection of our progressive philosophy: Be a creative problem-solver, not just a lawyer. Provide good counsel. Care about our clients’ well-being. Fight hard on their behalf. And do so with as little bureaucracy and as much value as possible.

122 West Washington Avenue, Suite 900 # Madison, WI 53703-2718
(608) 251.0101 # FAX: (608) 251.2883
www.cwpb.com