Antoinette (Toni) Tease

I am asking for your vote to serve as President-Elect for the State Bar of Montana.  I have been privileged to practice in the state of Montana for nearly 30 years.  In 1995, my husband and I moved to Montana from Washington, D.C., where Leif was in the U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program, and I was in private practice.  Thanks to Bill Lamdin, I was afforded an opportunity to begin my Montana career at the Crowley law firm, where I made partner and started the Intellectual Property and Technology Law practice group.  In 2001, I joined Rocky Mountain Technology Group as General Counsel, and in 2003, I decided to hang my own shingle.  I practiced from home for nine years, during which time our two sons were in elementary and middle school, and then moved to an office in downtown Billings in 2012.

Since 2003, I have represented inventors, entrepreneurs and business owners in protecting and enforcing their intellectual property rights.  I was a founding member of the State Bar Intellectual Property Law Section and served as Chair of the section from 2018-19.  I have also served on the CLE Institute for several years.  As current Chair of the Board of Trustees for the State Bar, I have attempted to ensure full participation and fairness in the decision-making process.  I believe that open debate and thoughtful deliberations lead to the best decisions.

If elected, I will devote myself to engagement, education and advocacy—engagement of members at all levels of the State Bar with an emphasis on local bar associations, which are the foundation for a stronger and more cohesive State Bar; education of our membership as to how Bar leadership serves our constituency and education of the public on legal issues that affect their daily lives; and advocacy for access to and the improvement of the quality of legal services available to the people of Montana.