Montana Lawyer June/July 2025

PRO BONO CHRONICLES

Helena’s Order of Protection Project Shines a Light on the Value of Community-Based Pro Bono Partnerships SUBMITTED BY MORGAN DAKE (SENIOR PRO BONO COUNSEL FOR CROWLEY FLECK PLLP AND CO-CHAIR OF THE

JUSTICE INITIATIVES COMMITTEE) The magic ingredients necessary for a successful pro bono initiative can be hard to find. For a Helena-based Order of Protection Project that connects survivors of domestic violence to attorney volunteers, there are two magic ingredients: (1) The Friendship Center—a safe haven organiza tion that provides wrap around services to survivors; and (2) Mike Talia—a volun teer attorney coordinator who conducts a preliminary legal analysis before actively recruiting other attorney volunteers to rep resent survivors in court. While attending The Friendship Center’s (“TFC”) 2024 annual Hope Benefit Luncheon, Mike’s longtime interest in serv ing survivors of violent crime collided with the perfect opportunity. Mike left the lun cheon asking whether anyone was doing pro bono work to help survivors navigate the legal system. His law partner recalled that something similar may have existed in the past. That was it. Mike became determined to find a way to do more. Mike was put in touch with TFC’s Executive Director and, after just a few months, they got a program up and running. TFC is a community resource for ad dressing and preventing domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. It achieves its goals through advocacy, education, and outreach in Lewis and Clark, Broadwater, and Jefferson counties. In 2024 alone, TFC served 729 known individuals through 8,792 services and provided 16,948 nights of safe shelter for 190 people fleeing violence. Mike Talia is a shareholder with JMG Attorneys based in Helena. Mike’s practice focuses on real estate litigation, trust litigation, estate litigation, and entity (corporation, LLC, partnership) litigation. Prior to entering private practice, Mike worked in the public sector as an Army Judge Advocate where he saw firsthand the benefit of the military’s special victims’ counsel program. Today, the Order of Protection Project is simple in method but robust in effective ness: (1) TFC’s direct services advocates

identify clients who are seeking orders of protection under particularly complex or severe circumstances; (2) TFC helps the client fill out and file a petition for an order of protection; (3) TFC coordinates with Montana Legal Services Association (“MLSA”) to conduct a separate intake ap pointment for additional legal and conflict screening; (4) TFC sends the party informa tion, court pleadings, and hearing date to Mike; (5) Mike sends the court date to his listserv of volunteer attorneys, connects an available attorney to TFC staff, and notifies MLSA; (6) TFC connects the attorney to the client and continues to provide wraparound support to the client; (7) the attorney meets with and prepares the client for the hearing; (8) the attorney represents the client at the hearing and reports the outcome to MLSA; and finally, (9) the attorney withdraws, and TFC continues to provide wrap around services to the client. The program has been successful in se curing extended orders of protection but for Maggie Hanzel and Jaime Gabrielli, TFC’s Direct Services Advocates, the real value of the program is less about the success rate of the orders than the impact on survivors simply not being alone. The legal system, by its very nature, does not avail itself to a trauma-informed process. The client must face their abuser at a time when the prefron tal cortex is offline, when they are dys regulated, when their fear may be the most visceral. Everything about the system leans into the imbalance of power that comes with domestic abuse. Having an attorney gives the survivor added credibility, weight, strategic support, and a steady voice. Before the start of the Order of Protection Program, Maggie and Jaime committed substantial time trying to recruit attorneys for any given case, cold calling The real value of the program is less about the success rate of the orders than the impact on survi vors simply not being alone.

Morgan Dake serves as Crowley Fleck PLLP’s Senior Pro Bono Counsel. In this role, Morgan leads the firm’s pro bono program across its 11 offices. She works closely with the firm’s pro bono practice group to encour age and facilitate pro bono participation throughout the firm and to manage the firm’s relationship with legal aid providers and nonprofit organizations. In addition, Morgan regularly represents indi vidual pro bono clients on a wide variety of legal issues. Prior to assuming her cur rent role, Morgan worked as a senior deputy county at torney for Montana’s most populated county, where she prosecuted domestic violence and sex crimes. That work provided her valuable insight in serving survivors of family violence.

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