State Bar of Montana Ethics Resources

Ethics resources provided on the State Bar of Montana website are intended to provide general legal ethics guidance only.

Lawyers confronted with specific questions or controversies should carefully research and consider all applicable authorities, as they would with any legal question, and confirm whether a case, rule, statute or other authority mentioned within this site is current law.

Neither the State Bar of Montana, nor its attorneys, employees, Officers or Trustees, make any warranties, either expressly or impliedly, that the law, cases, statutes, and rules discussed on this website have not been subject to change, amendment, reversal, or revision or that this website is free from error.

In utilizing the information on this website, attorneys must depend upon their own experience, judgment, expertise, and knowledge of the law as well as the careful application of information provided to the specific facts of the lawyer’s question or controversy.

Rules of Professional Conduct

Ethics Opinions

Rules of Judicial Conduct

Ethics Inquiry to General Counsel’s Office

Montana attorneys with questions regarding their prospective conduct and responsibilities under the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct may contact the State Bar of Montana General Counsel’s office for informal guidance at ethics@montanabar.org. Questions should be stated in the form of a hypothetical. Communications are neither privileged nor confidential, however, are permitted under Rule 1.6(b)(4) of the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct. Please provide your contact information, including daytime telephone number.

By contacting the General Counsel’s Office, you are representing and warranting that the specific question on which you are seeking guidance is not pending before a court or other tribunal, that it does not involve a disciplinary matter against you pending in the Montana Office of Disciplinary Counsel or in a legal malpractice claim, and that your communications with General Counsel’s Office will not be offered in evidence nor will General Counsel’s Office will be called to testify in any pending matter.

Please allow for 24-48 hours for us to respond, excluding weekends and holidays.

The General Counsel’s Office can help you identify applicable disciplinary rules, point out relevant formal ethics opinions and other resource material. No attorney-client relationship is established between inquiring lawyers and the lawyers employed by the State Bar of Montana as a result of your communication. The guidance provided is informal advice only, and attorneys are urged to read the rules and exercise their own judgement.