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History of the Bar
The voluntary Montana Bar Association, established on January 8, 1885, had by 1889, the year Montana's first constitution was adopted, a standing committee on legal education and admission to the Bar.
The State Bar of Montana was created by order of the Montana Supreme Court in January, 1974. In it's Order, the Court provided that all persons practicing law in the state were obliged to be members of the State Bar.
The purposes of the State Bar are to aid the courts in maintaining and improving the administration of justice; to foster, maintain and require on the part of attorneys high standards of integrity, learning, competence, public service and conduct; to safeguard proper professional interests of the local bar associations; to provide a forum for discussion of and effective action concerning subjects pertaining to the practice of law, the science of jurisprudence and law reform, and relations of the Bar to the public; to provide for continuing legal education of members of the Bar and to insure that the responsibilities of the legal profession to the public are more effectively discharged.
Governance
The State Bar is governed by a Board of Trustees. Seventeen members of the Board are elected by the Active members of the Bar to two-year terms from the State Bar areas. State Bar areas are made up of one or several judicial districts. The other four Board members are the President and the President-Elect, who are elected statewide to one-year terms, the Secretary-Treasurer, who is elected statewide to a two-year term, and the Immediate Past President. The State Bar has two ABA delegates.
Activities & Programs
Major activities and programs of the State Bar include:
Membership Data
As of March 18, 2009, State Bar membership totaled 4,458. Of this number, 3,245 were in-state members and 1,213 were out-of-state members. Of the same total, 3,3419 were Active members, 790 were Inactive members, 102 had Judicial status, 110 were Senior members, 2 were Emeritus members and 31 were Active Military members.
Financial Information
Annual dues are $200 for Active members, $125 for Inactive Members and $50 for Senior members. Judicial members do not pay dues while serving on the bench. (These assessments are in addition to the $25 paid by Active and Inactive members to the Clerk of Court for the statutory lawyer license fee). Assessments of $125 and $20 are also paid by Active and Active Military members only to fund the Montana Supreme Court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. Section dues for the Bar’s 12 sections range from $0 to $20.
Dues revenue constitutes the major source of income to the State Bar. Other revenue sources include income from State Bar continuing legal education programs and the sale of publications and affinity programs.
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