Montana Lawyer February/March 2024

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The anticipation (and busy-ness) of spring at State Bar is in bloom Early spring in Montana is a time of anticipation. The mountains still have snow, though this year perhaps not as much as we’d hoped. The first signs of the new season appear, the days grow a little longer and we look forward to a Montana summer (albeit all thrown off by the time change). At the State Bar it is also an opportunity for me as president to take a step back and survey our work, particularly as we look forward to celebrating the 50th anni versary of the State Bar in Missoula at the 2024 Annual Meeting, September 11-14. While my messages here have focused on pressing topics affecting our pro fession (as outlined in our long-range plan) the day-to-day work of your bar continues and warrants mention. By the time many of you read this, the 2023-24 compliance season will be complete. Each year, between January and April 1, over 5,000 State Bar members renew their memberships, complete their mandatory continuing legal education, and make their required filings. Spring is a tremendously busy time for bar staff. In the MCLE department alone, staff process over 60,000 CLE credits annually. With last year’s court ordered delay in reporting and the bar’s software change, that’s approximately 120,000 credits in the last six months! It remains the priority of your officers and trustees to build a true, one-stop online location for all your member information. Change is never easy. We and the bar staff appreciate your patience as we continue to build for the future. And we always value your input and suggestions. Along those lines, I am excited to let you know that, later this spring, we will debut a new online platform for sections and committees. Look for the “Thrive” community platform from Higher Logic in the coming weeks, making your sec tion membership more valuable than ever. Spring also means that bar event staff are busy traveling across Montana to bring you our own continuing legal education programs. This year, with the con tinued evolution of our hybrid programming, we are seeing some of the largest programs ever, meaning we are reaching more of you. We will continue to invest in our remote learning opportunities in the coming year so that you can complete your required education as efficiently as possible, while maintaining excellent programming. Speaking of which, we will hold our 2024 Bench and Bar CLE in Bozeman on Friday, April 12. This year will, again, feature an impressive array of speakers, including on the evolving topic of artificial intelligence and the law. The pro gram also will feature a not-to-be-missed noontime panel with candidates for the Montana Supreme Court. I’ll be there and hope you’ll join me. Finally, spring also brings with it our annual bar elections. This year, our col league and former bar president Randy Snyder will leave us after a second term on the Board of Trustees, and board member Sadie Johnston of Butte will depart. I thank them both for their service. Our self-regulating profession cannot func tion without the dedicated volunteer service. If you are interested in serving as an officer or trustee of the State Bar, I encourage you to participate. Election nomina tion petitions are due April 8. As I step back and survey our bar this spring, I am grateful to work with this dedicated community, whether elected or as staff, as we aim to continually im prove our profession and the quality of the justice system in Montana.

STUART SEGREST

Stuart Segrest is a senior attorney at Christensen & Prezeau, PLLP where he handles a wide range of litigation and appellate matters. Before joining the firm, he worked for the Montana Attorney General’s Office, where his career spanned the terms of four different Attorneys General. He served as Chief of the Civil Services Bureau, which represents the State of Montana in complex constitutional litigation and other cases of state wide importance in both state and federal court. He is currently serving as the President of the State Bar of Montana.

BENCH AND BAR CLE Read more about April’s Bench and Bar CLE, including an article by featured pre senter Damien Riehl on har nessing artificial intelligence as a tool for the modern lawyer, starting on page 16 of this issue.

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