Montana Lawyer October/November 2025

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Building Bridges Between the Bar and the Public

Chamber of Commerce Foundation study sam pling registered voters across the country found that more than 70% failed a basic civic literacy quiz, including questions on the three branches of government and U.S. Supreme Court make up. 4 When lawyers engage and connect with the public, we help to further public understanding of the work we do. The preamble’s emphasis on lawyers’ role in “further[ing] the public’s un derstanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice system” aligns with the very first commitment attorneys make to be admitted to the Montana Bar: to “support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Montana.” Next year is the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. What better time to take up our mantle as public citizens and promote public understanding of our founding documents and the justice system they protect? The State Bar has already done great work to that end, through programs like Citizens Law School and high school mock trial. Over the next year, I look forward to continu ing that work by helping grow our mock trial program, revamping Law Day, and planning visits with local bar associations across the state. I hope to see you at one of these events. The views expressed in this President’s Message are those of the State Bar President. They do not neces sarily reflect the views of all State Bar members and are not an official position of the State Bar itself. https://www.montanabar.org/Portals/ MONTANA/Regina/Website/10%2013%20 25%20Draft%20State%20Bar%20MT%20 Annual%20Report%20(1).pdf 4 https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/ civics/new-study-finds-alarming-lack-of-civic literacy-among-americans getDocByCTrackId?DocId=192242 2 https://www.montanabar. org/For-Attorneys/Ethics-Resources/ Professional-Conduct 3 Endnotes 1 https://juddocumentservice.mt.gov/

“A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession, is . . . a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.” Montana Rules of Professional Conduct Preamble, Section 2 “[A] lawyer should cultivate knowledge of the law beyond its use for clients, employ that knowl edge in reform of the law and work to strengthen legal education . . . [A] lawyer should further the public’s understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy depend on popular participation and support to maintain their authority.” Montana Rules of Professional Conduct Preamble, Section 7 In welcoming the newest class of Montana lawyers this fall, I had the opportunity to revisit the Oath of Admission 1 and the preamble to the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct, 2 including the sections quoted above. The theme of lawyers as public citizens appears throughout the preamble, but these sections struck me as reflective of the broader conversation our bar, and bars across the country, have been engaging in as we face new challenges. An overarching theme to these conversations is improving pub lic perception of attorneys and the work we do. I was honored to take on the role of State Bar president at the end of our annual meet ing in September. If you were able to attend, you got a glimpse of the future of the bar and priorities in the next biennium. Our strategic plan, adopted this Spring, reflects the national conversation of how to ensure attorneys are meeting the needs of the public and promoting trust in the profession. 3 The four priorities your trustees identified for the next biennium are: (1) Member Education and Engagement; (2) Operational Continuity and Enhancement; (3) Communication and Outreach; and (4) Access to Justice. Underlying much of our conversation in de ciding on these priorities was the important role lawyers have as public citizens. A recent U.S.

Aislinn Brown is the Chief Legal Counsel for the Montana Office of Public Instruction. Before joining OPI, she served as Bureau Chief of the Agency Legal Services Bureau at the Montana Department of Justice, where she pro vided legal advice to state agencies and boards and represented them in state and federal court. She cur rently serves as President of the State Bar of Montana.

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