Unauthorized Practice

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment in a matter where a former state senator was found to have engaged in unauthorized practice. He had never been admitted to practice and had not attended law school. In response to the bar’s request for information prior to the filing of charges, he responded “you had better bring along your chains and restraints.” The former senator had been adjudicated in contempt and enjoined from the practice of law for advertising himself as a licensed paralegal under the attorney yellow page listings. He claimed to be duly licensed in the Blackfeet and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Courts. The Blackfeet court had allowed him to participate in proceedings as a lay advocate; the other tribal court revoked his status. (Mike Frisch)