main entrance and building of the Alexander Blewett III School of Law seen from above

Alexander Blewett III School of Law

law clinical programs, alexander blewett III school of law, university of montana

Founded in 1966, our clinical program offers three in-house clinics in Indian Law, Veterans Advocacy, and Land Use & Natural Resources, and over 25 external clinics. Under the supervision of faculty and experienced attorneys, third-year students represent clients in a variety of governmental and nonprofit settings.

Montana’s law school trains students for the people-oriented practice of law. An integral part of that training includes experience representing clients. Clinical students litigate civil rights claims; prosecute and defend criminal matters, advise on complex transactions and employment matters; and serve as law clerks to members of the judiciary. Hands on clinical training remains at the heart of our educational philosophy.

The law school’s clinics provide the capstone of its integrated skills curriculum. They are the culmination of our Lawyering Fundamentals program in the first year and transactional and trial practice simulation courses in the second year.  Our school is proud of its close relationship with Montana’s bench and bar, and we are grateful to them for co-supervising our students and future lawyers.

In-House Clinics

  • The primary mission of the Land Use and Natural Resources Clinic is to provide government support on land use and natural resources issues facing our community and state. The clinic assists non-profit organizations that are engaged in studies or educational initiatives related to natural resource issues in the West. The clinic does not represent non-profit organizations in litigation matters. In selecting clinic projects, emphasis is made on the importance of community service, the interdisciplinary nature of natural resources law, and the complex balancing of stakeholder interests and perspectives that is necessary to a land use and natural resources practice.

    Students may work with local government, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations on a range of projects related to land use, water, wildlife, or other natural resources issues. For example, a student may work on a project involving both fish habitat concerns and water rights protection. Another project might involve land use development and wildlife protection. Recent projects have been in collaboration with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (Natural Resources); Center for Biological Diversity, Trout Unlimited, Water Keepers, Great Burn Conservation Alliance, WildEarth Guardians, Western Environmental Law Center, and Montana Water Court. Students work closely with attorneys representing these and other clients.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Public Lands; Wildlife Law; Water Law; Introduction to Environmental Law; or Land Use Planning

    Contact

    Prof. Sandi Zellmer, Sandi.Zellmer@umontana.edu

  • Established in 1980, the Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic provides students with practical experience regarding Indian law issues. The mission of the clinic is to provide support to tribal governments and communities. Indian Law Clinic projects commonly focus on issues and problems affecting tribal governments, justice systems, and Indian people. Students work on a variety of projects promoting tribal sovereignty, cultural preservation, access to justice, and economic development within Indian Country. Students may work on matters in tribal, state, or federal courts.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility, and Federal Indian Law, Tribal Courts/Tribal Law, or comparable Tribal/Indian law courses from the Summer Indian Law Program.

    Contact

    Professor Kekek Stark, Kekek.Stark@umontana.edu and Professor Deb Dumontier, Deb.Dumontier@umontana.edu

  • In 2017, the Veterans Advocacy Clinic was established as an in-house clinic at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law. The Clinic serves a dual purpose: to serve low-income veterans in need of legal services for VA claims or appeals or DoD discharge upgrades; and to give students hands-on experience practicing law in a complex setting. To these ends, students handle veterans’ cases under the supervision of a professor.

    The mission of the Veterans Advocacy Clinic is focused on advocacy: Through legal representation, legal consultation, and outreach, the Veterans Advocacy Clinic will account for long-term impacts of military service on disabled or improperly discharged Montana veterans. By holding systems that are designed to support veterans accountable, the VAC ensures appropriate income support for disabled veterans and their families, ensures adequate and competent healthcare to veterans recovering from physical and mental trauma, and ensures that a veteran has knowledge and control over his or her personal military history. 

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Administrative Law

    Contact

    Prof. Hillary Wandler, Hillary.Wandler@umontana.edu

External Clinics

  • The mission of the ACLU of Montana is to protect and defend federal and state constitutional rights. Students identify constitutional issues, perform legal research, interview prospective clients and witnesses, draft demand letters, motions and pleadings, engage in discovery, meet with government officials, and attend and contribute to court hearings. The ACLU of Montana often collaborates with the ACLU national office.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses:

    Constitutional Law, Trial Practice, Criminal Procedure-Investigative, Criminal Procedure – Adjudicative

  • ASUM Legal Services provides legal services to students at the University. Law students will provide advice, brief issues and provide representation on a variety of matters including dissolutions, negligence, consumer, contracts, landlord/tenant, wills, and other civil issues. Criminal matters are generally limited to misdemeanors.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Alternative Dispute Resolution, Criminal Procedure, Family Law, Consumer Protection

  • Students may intern at the Missoula, Gallatin, or Ravalli County Attorney Offices. County attorney offices represent the State of Montana in criminal, civil, and quasi-criminal cases in the Justice and District Courts. County attorney offices also represent and advise other county departments and boards. Students work in the areas of prosecutions, public health, mental commitments, juvenile justice, child welfare, special victims, and land-use planning.

    Note that background checks and fingerprinting are required to intern.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Criminal Procedure, Trial Practice

  • The mission of the Federal Defenders of Montana is to ensure that the right to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, the Criminal Justice Act (Title 18 U.S.C. § 3006A), and other congressional mandates are enforced on behalf of those who cannot afford to retain counsel or obtain criminal defense services. In fulfilling its mission, the Federal Defender program helps to (1) maintain public confidence in the nation's commitment to equal justice under law and (2) ensure the successful operation of the constitutionally-based adversarial system of justice by which both federal criminal laws and federally guaranteed rights are enforced.

    Students in this field placement assist the Federal Defenders in providing effective legal representation to individuals accused of federal offenses, under investigation for federal criminal violations, or appealing a federal conviction or sentence, as well as providing representation to federal habeas corpus litigants (including those under a sentence of death).  Students work directly with clients, aid with defense investigations, participate in proceedings in the United States District Court (to the extent permitted by the client, the Court and the attorney supervisor), and research trial and appellate issues, write court memoranda in support of pretrial motions, draft briefs to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and draft writs and petitions to the United States Supreme Court.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Criminal Procedure, Appellate Advocacy

  • Students serve as a clinical judicial intern for a judge or justice on the following courts:

    • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Chambers of Judge Johnstone
    • United States District Court, District of Montana, Chambers of Judges Christensen, Molloy, Mercer and DeSoto
    • United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Montana, Chambers of Judge Hursh
    • Montana Supreme Court, Chambers of Justice McKinnon (Helena)
    • Montana District Court, Fourth Judicial District, Chambers of Judge Vannatta

    Students work on active court cases and receive instruction and detailed guidance from the judges and court staff.  Interns assist in drafting bench memoranda, preparing for oral argument, and drafting dispositions and court documents in pending cases.  Students may also observe a variety of pretrial conferences, settlement conferences, appellate hearings, criminal proceedings, and trials as appropriate to the work of the particular court.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Bankruptcy, if interning for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court

    Recommended Courses

    Criminal Procedure, if interning for a federal or state district court

    Appellate Advocacy, if interning for an appellate court

  • The Max S. Baucus Institute inspires students to “See. Serve. Lead.” Through a series of programs including Baucus Leaders, Baucus Climate Scholars, and study abroad programming. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Clinical interns focus on legal analysis relevant to nonprofit operations and international programs.

    Prerequites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Employment law, Nonprofit Law, Business Organizations

  • The Montana Department of Agriculture supports the state’s agricultural industry through a range of programs from market and business development to licensing and regulation. Students assist the department’s general counsel in providing regulatory advice, reviewing lending transactions, maintaining and opening international commodity markets. The work focuses on planning and advising the client on legal issues before the department.

    This clinic is located in Helena.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Agricultural Law, Administrative Law

  • The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) is a government agency in the executive branch.  It has responsibility for protecting sustainable fish, wildlife, and state-owned park resources in Montana for the purpose of providing recreational activities. The agency engages in law enforcement activities to enforce laws and regulations regarding fish, wildlife, and state parks, and encourages safe recreational use of these resources (such as safety courses for boaters, hunters, snowmobilers, and others). FWP attorneys serve in the role of both advisor and litigator. Interns assist the department’s legal counsel in providing regulatory advice, reviewing and drafting contracts, and preparing litigation documents.

    This clinic is located in Helena.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Introduction to Environmental Law

  • The Montana Department of Revenue oversees the collection and enforcement of Montana’s income and business taxes, cannabis and alcohol licensing, and property tax assessments. Students assist mentor attorneys in providing advice on tax, alcoholic beverage, and marijuana administration. Students also assist with litigation and will appear in court and before administrative boards, communicate and negotiate with opposing counsel and pro se defendants, work with counties and local governments, perform legal research, draft motions.

    This clinic placement is located in Helena.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility; Federal Income Taxation

    Recommended Courses

    Administrative Law, Other tax courses

  • The Montana Domestic Violence placement provides direct holistic legal representation to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault on a pro bono basis. Students assigned to this field placement are provided the opportunity to represent domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in a variety of civil legal matters (family law, housing, estate planning, and immigration).

    Working with their supervising attorney and faculty supervisor, students gain experience in client counseling, drafting, negotiations, and litigation. Students can expect to appear before District Court, Justice Court, Municipal Court, and Administrative law judges. In addition to the opportunity to use litigation skills in a contested hearing, students will gain general practice skills such as client interviewing techniques, negotiation skills, document drafting, and legal research.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility; Domestic Violence

    Recommended Courses

    Family Law, Asylum Law

  • The Montana Innocence Project (MTIP) is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to exonerating the innocent and preventing wrongful convictions in Montana. Using DNA and other evidence, MTIP provides the charitable legal and investigative assistance necessary to pursue credible claims of innocence. Innocence Projects nationwide have helped to free hundreds of wrongly convicted Americans, including three Montanans.

    Students in this placement assist in the initial screening, research, development and litigation of innocence claims. Where appropriate, students are assigned to further investigate and address two key questions: 1) whether the innocence claim is credible and provable; and 2) whether there are legal avenues through which to pursue the innocence claim. Instruction addresses the laws and procedures governing attempts to reopen cases, including state and federal habeas practice, claims of new evidence, and ineffective assistance of counsel. It also includes other essential components of criminal appellate practice, including review of trial documents and transcripts, evaluation and research of legal issues, brief writing, and skills in oral argument. Students will gain a broader understanding of wrongful convictions and how to address and prevent them.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Indian Law, Habeus Corpus

  • The Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) provides access to justice for low-income clients in civil cases. Students assigned to this field placement are provided the opportunity to represent and provide legal advice to persons in a variety of civil legal matters including family, landlord-tenant, and consumer law. MLSA has a holistic approach to its clients and attempts to meet all of their legal needs, which may include additional areas of practice such as public benefits, civil rights, and others. Students can expect to represent and advise low- income people in other areas of Montana through the use of video conferencing technology and other methods.

    Students are fully integrated members of MLSA practice. Cases are assigned to the student and each student is expected to handle a variety of cases as if she/he were an associate. Students work under a supervising attorney but are given significant responsibility for their cases. They can expect to appear before District Court judges, Standing Masters, and Administrative Law Judges. In addition to the opportunity to use civil procedure, evidence, and litigation skills, students gain general practice skills such as client interview techniques, negotiation skills, document drafting, and legal research.

    In addition, MLSA also offers a consumer protection internship focusing on consumer law issues.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Family Law, Consumer Protection

  • Students intern with the General Counsel to the Governor. The General Counsel addresses a range of issues that arise in the administration of government. Interns assist the Governor’s office with legal research and review of legal topics as they arise.  Work includes document review, legal analysis, and memorandum preparation. 

    This clinic is located in Helena.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

  • The primary mission of the statewide public defender system is to provide effective counsel to indigent persons accused of crime and other persons in civil cases who are entitled by law to the assistance of counsel at public expense. In addition, a conflict office manages cases where conflicts exist between represented parties in the same legal action. As the court appointed attorney, the Montana Office of Public Defender (OPD), the office provides representation in misdemeanor criminal cases in the municipal and justice courts.  It also provides representation in felony criminal cases, juvenile proceedings, mental commitments, and dependent and neglect proceedings.

    Interns in this field placement participate in investigations, client meetings, entry or changes of pleas; hearings on motions; jury trials; and bench trials. They research and write pre-trial suppression motions, motions to dismiss and other pre-trial motions.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Criminal Procedure – Investigative, Criminal Procedure – Adjudicative, Trial Practice

  • The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) provides students with the opportunity to work with a Missoula-based international conservation organization, and specifically to participate in many aspects of non-profit corporate law, which include employment law, real estate law, conservation easement issues, charitable contributions, planned giving and tax issues, individual state gaming compliance and tax issues, trademark law, copyright law, water law, and various types of contracts (sales, personal service, consultants, etc.). Students are asked to provide the organization with assistance in the following areas: document preparation, legal and factual research, correspondence and pleadings, legal analysis and problem-solving, and work product deadline control methods.

    RMEF is a non-profit, conservation organization whose mission is to conserve and protect habitat for elk and other wildlife. Since its inception in 1984 in Troy, Montana, RMEF has generated millions of dollars for habitat conservation, and has conserved or enhanced more than 6.2 million acres, including more than one million of land acquisitions and conservation easements.  RMEF has funded more than 7,000 conservation projects in 49 States and eight Canadian Provinces.

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Business Organizations, Intro to Environmental (Environmental

  • UMLCC represents the University of Montana and its affiliated campuses. The legal matters vary widely in such a complex institution. They involve the intersection of higher education law and substantive areas of law, including regulatory compliance, contracts, torts, constitutional issues, intellectual property rights, and occasional real property transactions.  UMLCC provides proactive legal advice, defense in litigation matters, and other legal services such as contract and policy review and drafting. Interns assist in litigation matters, complete legal research, draft contracts and policies, and interview clients. Clinic interns participate in weekly roundtable discussions to explore student projects, pertinent cases, and pending legislation. 

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

  • Sponsored academic research at the University of Montana by UM faculty, staff, and students generates new inventions and businesses that contribute to the state and local economies. The UM Office of Technology Transfer (UMTTO) supports the commercialization of intellectual property developed at UM through management of its intellectual property portfolio and cultivation of partnerships with new or established private companies. Clinic interns draft intellectual property agreements, licenses, material transfer agreements, and non-disclosure agreements; participate in securing, perfecting, and maintaining trademark, copyright and patent rights; advise the University, faculty and staff on UM’s intellectual property rights policies, advise the best course of IP protection, and draft new UMTTO policies. 

    Prerequisites

    Professional Responsibility

    Recommended Courses

    Introduction to Intellectual Property, Advanced Problems in Intellectual Property