April 2011 THE MONTANA Volume 36, No. 6 awyerTHE STATE BAR OF MONTANA L © Kelpfish - Fotolia.com Important new court orders Civility matters Limited-scope representation given a stamp of approval Rules of civil procedure and conduct are amended to handle ‘unbundling’ Justices define practice of law A fix for those hostile opposing attorneys Three attorneys Bar nomination forms inside are disciplined President-Elect Secretary-Treasurer Trustee Jameson Access to Justice Pro Bono Social media no-no Lawyers doing research shouldn’t disguise themselves as Internet ‘friends’ State Bar of Montana THE MONTANA LAWYER APRIL INDEX 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. Phone (406) 442-7660; Fax (406) 442-7763. Cover Story E-mail: [email protected] The “Civility Matters” venture in Montana 10 STATE BAR OFFICERS President Joseph M. Sullivan, Great Falls President-Elect Features Shane Vannatta, Missoula Secretary-Treasurer When lawyers troll for Internet ‘friends’ 25 K. Paul Stahl, Helena Immediate Past President Cynthia K. Smith, Missoula Chair of the Board Randall Snyder, Bigfork Commentary Board of Trustees President’s Message: new mentoring methods 4 Pam Bailey, Billings Pamela Bucy, Helena Let’s restore freedom of contract to MT Code 27 Darcy Crum, Great Falls Ellen Donohue, Anaconda Vicki W. Dunaway, Billings Leslie Halligan, Missoula Jason Holden, Great Falls Legislature Thomas Keegan, Helena Jane Mersen, Bozeman Bills the Bar is closely monitoring 5 Olivia Norlin, Glendive Mark D. Parker, Billings Ryan Rusche, Wolf Point Randall Snyder, Bigfork State Bar News Bruce Spencer, Helena Matthew Thiel, Missoula Lynda White, Bozeman Nomination forms explained 12 Tammy Wyatt-Shaw, Missoula Office & trustee petition form 13 ABA Delegate Damon L. Gannett, Billings Jameson Award nomination form 14 Karla Gray Access to Justice Award form 15 THE MONTANA LAWYER Publisher Neil Haight Pro Bono Award form 15 Christopher L. Manos, Executive Director Editor Lawyers’ Fund claims for 2010 12 Charles Wood (406) 447-2200; fax: 442-7763 e-mail: [email protected] Winners of Bar survey gift cards 12 SUBSCRIPTIONS are a benefit of State Bar mem- State Bar Calendar 21 bership; others purchase a year’s subscription for $40, pre-paid. Third Class postage paid at Helena MT 59601. Courts ADVERTISING RATES are available upon request. Orders OK limited-scope representation 6 Statements and expressions of opinion appearing here- in are those of the advertisers or authors and do not Order defines practice of law 9 necessarily reflect the views of the State Bar of Montana. Discipline 22 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Montana Lawyer, P.O.Box 577, Helena MT 59624. Regular Features Upcoming CLEs 17 State Bar Bookstore 18 News About Members 28 Deaths 29 Copyright 2011 State Bar of Montana Printed in Billings Classifieds 30 at Artcraft Printers PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE New methods of mentoring The future of the Bar, Part II Joe Sullivan n my last message I did two things. First, I left you in So how does this impact mentoring? suspense as to suggested new and different approaches First, we cannot expect individuals who have grown up I toward mentoring. Second, I asked for input from you listening to, reading, and evaluating multiple sources of as to mentoring – a good or bad idea, suggestions as to what input to be satisfied with a single source of information should be in a program, your willingness to participate. found in a one-on-one mentoring system. This is where, as I I will address the last of these two first. I did not receive mentioned in my prior message, Randy Emelo of Triple a single response to my request for input. That tells me one Creek Enterprise Mentoring Systems politely suggested this of two things: either no one reads the President’s Message traditional type of mentoring is outdated. or mentoring is just not a hot-button issue. If it is not, my Second, we need to present mentoring through a medium focus needs to be letting you know what new ideas are out and via a methodology that accommodates the learning there and see if that creates interest. skills and techniques of that learner. If the learner is accus- That segues back to the first issue – new approaches tomed to collaborative learning, the mentoring program toward mentoring, on current studies on adult learning. should work in a collaborative method. If the learner is Think about how we learn and make decisions. How has accustomed to using Facebook or other social media to cre- that changed over the last 30 years? For most, our news ate collaborative methodology, we should look to see if sources have gone from one local newspaper and three such a medium could be used. national television networks to endless online news sources This is already happening. It has been developed and and multiple dedicated TV news channels. Many businesses refined in some of the world’s largest corporations. The have shifted from a top-down military type chain of com- challenge is adapting current mentoring technology to legal mand to a more collaborative group approach to problem mentoring, and, more specifically, to the needs of Montana solving and development. How many of us have watched a attorneys. The approach is subject-based and is not limited student work on three subjects while researching and com- to just new attorneys. municating both on their laptop and their smart phone in a As an example, you start with deciding on several areas collaborative effort with multiple fellow students? Today, of legal practice in which attorneys have expressed a need – when a student is deciding on an important issue such as how to take a better deposition, how to deal with difficult college, he often receives input not only from mom and opposing attorneys, what district courts would prefer to see dad, but from stepmom, stepdad, four grandparents, and occur before them, client-control techniques, best billing potentially four stepgrandparents. practices, what makes for the best professional atmosphere Our learning processes have shifted as our sources of and why it is important, etc. Similar to a CLE presenter, a information have increased. In general, the younger the person with knowledge and willingness to share that knowl- individual the more skilled they are at absorbing, sorting, edge (high intellectual capital) is chosen to address each and prioritizing input. This is not to say that the decision issue. Attorneys are invited to review the list and choose made as a result is better, but there tends to be a shift from one or more topic in which they have an interest. A web finding the “right” answer to finding the best answer out of page is set up with a structure similar to Facebook (a famil- multiple choices. iar medium), is run by the person with the high intellectual A consequence of this shift to greater information is the capital and is participated in by those who have chosen that value given a person as a quality information source and topic. An ongoing discussion is conducted which allows one’s ability and willingness to share that information. If participants to ask questions and discuss specific issue as a you have ever been on a blog, you have seen how regular group over time. This allows participants to join in at times contributors have a rating given to them by others who read which are convenient. It also allows those spread over a the contributor’s material. This is referred to as intellectual large geographic area like Montana to participate without capital, and is foreseen as one of the key future factors in having mileage as a factor. Further, although there is one evaluating the worth of any individual to a business, person assigned to lead the ongoing discussion, often others whether as an employee or an outside contractor. have insights. The result is everyone learns. The discus- PAGE 4 THE MONTANA LAWYER APRIL 2011 2011 LEGISLATURE The status of Bar-watched bills As of March 25, the State Bar was still following 17 bills in cies procure the services of private attorneys. The bill was the Montana Legislature. Two of the bills, supported by the passed by House and sent to Senate. State Bar, recently were passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor. They are: HB 601, revising business and labor law to limit the use of SB 21, authorizing a district court to dismiss a civil credit history in employment, was tabled in a House commit- action for lack of prosecution after a period of time. State Bar tee. The State Bar is interested because credit history is part of supported this bill. lawyer character and fitness checks. SB 41, allowing a city to establish a city court of record; providing that appeals from a city court of record are on the HB 634 generally revises laws relating to data privacy. A record and not de novo. Bar supported. hearing was held in a House committee. The bills closely followed by the Bar benefit the judicial system and/or the practice of law as a whole. They are tracked Senate Bill 175 would ask Montana voters to amend the daily on the Bill Watch List at www.montanabar.org. Links to State Constitution to change the selection of Supreme Court each bill’s text and other details can be found on the list. and district court judges to a merit-based appointment system, As of March 25, here is how other Bar-watched bills fared: from the current election system. Appointments would be fol- lowed by judicial performance evaluations and retention elec- House Bill 2, that funds state government, including the tions.