Montana State Bar of Montana LawyerFebruary 2016 | Vol. 41, No. 4 42% of Montana legal professionals who responded to survey say they have been targets of work-related threats or violence Also in this edition: > ABA TECHSHOW 2016 — State > Former longtime Lake, Silver Bow Bar of Montana members eligible for county attorneys pass away — page 27 heavily discounted registration — > Matt Thiel reflects on Magna Carta’s See page 20 for details 800th anniversary — page 3 > Montana Supreme Court orders committee to study decline in bar > Supreme Court set oral arguments exam passage rates — page 11 in Bozeman and Missoula — page 12 Montana Lawyer 1 The official magazine of the State Bar of Montana published every month except January and July by the State Bar of Montana, 7 W. Sixth Ave., Suite 2B, P.O. Box 577, Helena MT 59624. 406-442-7660; Fax 406-442-7763. INDEX E-mail: [email protected] State Bar Officers February 2016 President Matthew Thiel, Missoula President-Elect Bruce M. Spencer, Helena Feature Stories Secretary-Treasurer Survey: Threats, violence against attorneys common ................. 14 Jason Holden, Great Falls Immediate Past President Supreme Court Summaries ................................................................... 18 Mark D. Parker, Billings ABA TECHSHOW 2016 ............................................................................. 20 Chair of the Board Leslie Halligan, Missoula Essential Data Backup Practices for Your Office ............................. 21 Board of Trustees Optimize Your iOS Devices for the Enterprise ................................ 23 Elizabeth Brennan, Missoula Marybeth Sampsel, Kalispell Liesel Shoquist, Missoula Ellen Donohue, Anaconda Shari Gianarelli, Conrad Regular Features Paul Haffeman, Great Falls Kent Sipe, Roundup Member News ...............................................................................................4 Luke Berger, Helena Kate Ellis, Helena State Bar News ...............................................................................................7 J. Stuart Segrest, Helena Jane Mersen, Bozeman Court News .................................................................................................. 12 Lynda White, Bozeman Ross McLinden, Billings Law School News ....................................................................................... 24 Eric Nord, Billings Juli Pierce, Billings CLE .................................................................................................................. 25 Obituaries ...............................................................................................27-28 ABA Delegates Damon L. Gannett, Billings Job Postings/Classifieds ....................................................................29-31 Shane Vannatta, Missoula Montana Lawyer Staff Publisher | Christopher L. Manos Also Inside Editor | Joe Menden 406-447-2200; fax: 442-7763 State Bar Election Nomination Petition ................................................9 e-mail: [email protected] Subscriptions are a benefit of State Bar membership. From the cover As part of an ongoing series of surveys around the country Utah Advertising rates are available upon attorney Stepen D. Kelson asked Montana legal professionals if they request. Statements and expressions of have been the target of violence and threats, number of threats re- opinion appearing herein are those of the advertisers or authors and do not neces- ceived, the nature of the threats and more. The survey, conducted in sarily reflect the views of the State Bar of the fall of 2015, found that threats and violence are more common Montana. than some may think. Postmaster: Send address changes to Montana Lawyer, P.O. Box 577, Helena MT 59624. Page 2 February 2016 President’s Message | President Matt Thiel Magna Carta’s spirit still strong after 800 years his past June, I, along with three other Montana at- torneys and ABA members (Bob Carlson, Peggy Probasco Tand Cindy Thiel) traveled to London to participate in The 2015 London Sessions. This ABA program featured substantive programs and social events designed to commemorate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta and to the rededication of the ABA memorial at Runnymede. The program was excellent and allowed for study of Magna Carta and its continu- ing influences as well as visits to some of the important historical sites associated with Magna Carta, to include the Inns of Court, Knights Church and Westminster. We were also privileged to attend a TOP: Bob Carlson, ABA Board reception at the U.S. Ambassador’s of Governors, Current State residence and a reception at the Royal Bar President Matt Thiel, Courts of Justice. These events provided and Peggy Probasco , State remarkable opportunities to interact Bar Past President, attend with fellow members and leaders of the the opening of the London American and UK Bars. Sessions at Westminster Central The seminal event was the UK com- (Methodist) Hall. memoration of Magna Carta on June 15, 2015, featuring Prime Minister LEFT: Thiel at the ABA David Cameron and the Archbishop of Memorial at Runnymede, Canterbury, and attended by members England. of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince William. This event was followed by the rededication of King John within weeks of its seal- ground was given to the United States of the ABA memorial at which Attorney ing, it remains one of the earliest known of America by the people of Britain in General Loretta Lynch spoke. The event records of the principles of due process, memory of John F. Kennedy President was also remarkable for its location, access to justice and supremacy of the of the United States 1961-63. Died by an the sight of the meeting and sealing law and the most cited record of those assassin’s hand 22 November 1963. Let of Magna Carta on June 15, 1215, at principles around the world. (“To no one every nation know whether it wishes us Runnymede, England. This meadow by will we sell, to no one deny or delay right well or ill that we shall pay any price bear the River Thames was the meeting place or justice.” Clause 40, Magna Carta 15 any burden meet any hardship support (approximately halfway between London June 1215.) any friend or oppose any foe in order and Windsor Castle) where King John More than one scholar at the sessions to assure the survival and success of negotiated terms with his barons to avoid noted that Magna Carta is, in many ways, liberty.” A fitting memorial to America’s civil war and placed his royal seal on the more important to Americans, than legacy to Magna Carta. articles of the barons, to become known to the British, and particularly so in its symbolism. This is evidenced by the fact State Bar of Montana President Matt as Magna Carta, or the Great Charter. Thiel is an attorney in Missoula whose King John did not actually sign the docu- that the monument at Runnymede was practice focuses mostly on personal injury ment, as is often repeated by contempo- erected by the ABA in 1957. Notably, the and labor law. He is an appointed member rary American speakers on the subject. only other monument at Runnymede is of the Montana Facility Finance Authority Even though Magna Carta was invali- for President Kennedy. The simple stone and the Montana Insurance Guarantee dated by Pope Innocent III at the request monument reads: “This Acre of English Association. www.montanabar.org Page 3 Member and Montana News Law Office of Katharine Leque Doctorate and an environmental law and n From the Cheyenne, Wyoming, of- opens in Bozeman natural resources certificate in 2000 from fice – Jenifer Scoggin and Joanna Vilos; Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, n From the Las Vegas office – Joe Katharine E. Leque has announced Oregon. Before joining Worden Thane, Went. that she has opened the Law Office of Hupp clerked for the Honorable Kenneth Holland & Hart is a full service, Katharine E. Leque PLLC in Bozeman. Neill of the 8th Judicial District (Cascade national law firm that today has more Leque, originally from Juneau, Alaska, County) and worked in the Solicitor’s than 500 lawyers in 15 offices across the graduated with honors from Montana Office for the federal Department of the Mountain West and in Washington, D.C. State University in 2009. Interior. For more information, visit www.hol- She attended the University Hupp has extensive knowledge in the landhart.com. of Montana School of Law evolving practice of electronic discovery, where she earned her Juris in addition to experience in commercial Conner joins Great Falls firm Doctorate in May 2012. litigation, insurance defense, and envi- as associate attorney While in law school, Leque ronmental and natural resource law. Leque served as executive editor of You can reach Hupp at 406-721-3400. Conner & Marr, PLLP, is pleased to the Montana Law Review. announce that James Robert “JR” Conner She also interned at Phillips Haffey P.C. Monson elected partner has joined the firm as a new associate. and prosecuted misdemeanor crimes for at Holland & Hart JR grew up in Great Falls and gradu- the Missoula City Attorney’s Office. ated from C.M. Russell High in 2003. He After graduating law school and pass- Holland & Hart LLP has announced received his Bachelor of Arts in Political ing the Montana bar exam, Leque prac- that 15 attorneys were elected into the Science from Montana State ticed at the law firms of Phillips Haffey firm’s partnership, including Michael University in 2012 and P.C. and Berg, Lilly & Tollefsen, P.C. as Monson of the Billings office,