Virtual data rooms in Wisconsin

Virtual data rooms for Wisconsin firms

Wisconsin has 2,071 real estate offices, 1,855 accounting and tax firms, 1,716 law offices and 2,108 securities and investment firms with paid employees. Its breach notice rule runs on forty-five days. ShareAndGo is a virtual data room for the documents these firms share during deals, audits and legal matters.

The firms that share confidential documents in Wisconsin

County Business Patterns counted 144,774 employer establishments in Wisconsin in 2023. Set against the other states and DC by population, Wisconsin places 21st for securities and investment firms, at 35.5 per 100,000, 37th for offices of real estate agents and brokers, at 34.9, and 44th for accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms, at 31.3. For law, 1,716 offices make 28.9 per 100,000 and a rank of 51st.

These are mostly small businesses. 1,123 of the state's law offices and 1,663 of its securities and investment firms have fewer than five employees.

  • Offices of lawyers: 1,716
  • Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services: 1,855
  • Securities and investment firms: 2,108
  • Corporate and regional managing offices: 843
  • Offices of real estate agents and brokers: 2,071

Where those firms are

By county, Milwaukee County leads with 425 law offices, ahead of Dane County (226), Waukesha County (152) and Brown County (70). Those four hold 51 percent of the state's total.

Our Milwaukee page goes through its figures in detail.

What sets Milwaukee apart

Milwaukee's business mix leans furthest toward machinery manufacturing, with 333 establishments at 3.2 times the national share; fabricated metal products (569, 2.2 times) and nursing and residential care (819, 1.8 times) come next.

How Wisconsin compares

The Census Bureau estimated Wisconsin's population at 5,960,975 in July 2024, up 1.1 percent from the April 2020 base of 5,894,170.

On law offices per 100,000 residents, Wisconsin sits next to Tennessee at 31.6, against 28.9 here. Across the 50 states and DC the combined rate is 49.1.

Small offices make up 65 percent of the state's law offices, against 72 percent across the 50 states and DC.

Wisconsin's forty-five-day breach clock

Wisconsin's notice of unauthorized acquisition of personal information is Wis. Stat. § 134.98.

  • Individuals: "within a reasonable time, not to exceed 45 days after the entity learns of the acquisition of personal information."
  • Regulator: § 134.98 as published names no Attorney General or other regulator notice.
  • Consumer reporting agencies: told without unreasonable delay when 1,000 or more individuals are notified.
  • Exception: none needed where the acquisition does not create a material risk of identity theft or fraud.
  • Form: personal information in any form, not only computerized.

Material risk

No notice is needed where "The acquisition of personal information does not create a material risk of identity theft or fraud to the subject of the personal information."

The clock starts when the entity "learns of the acquisition", which is the moment to note in any incident file.

Our Wisconsin breach notification page sets out the data elements and the rule in full, and says which text we checked. This is general information, not legal advice.

What a ShareAndGo room gives a Wisconsin team

For documents you share through ShareAndGo, the activity log records every view and download, and watermarked view-only pages carry the reader's email address and the date.

In Milwaukee and Madison, labs and HR teams sharing biometric enrollment forms or account files with vendors can give each vendor a group that sees only its own folders.

The watermark is a per-room setting, on by default. Vendors verify a six-digit code sent to their email, with no account, and the chained activity log exports as CSV.

The courts and regulators behind Wisconsin paperwork

Federal cases from Milwaukee are heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. CPAs practicing in Wisconsin are licensed by the Wisconsin Accounting Examining Board.

At state level, securities offerings and investment advisers in Wisconsin come under the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Securities.

Wisconsin FAQ

How many law offices are there in Wisconsin?
County Business Patterns 2023 counted 1,716 offices of lawyers with paid employees in Wisconsin, 1,123 of them with fewer than five employees. Milwaukee County has the most, 425.
Is DNA data covered?
Yes. A deoxyribonucleic acid profile is a listed element.
Does Wisconsin require a report to the Attorney General?
§ 134.98 as published has no Attorney General or regulator notice. Consumer reporting agencies are told at 1,000 or more.
Do people I share documents with need an account?
No. Readers confirm their email with a six-digit code, with no account to create.