The State Bar of Montana was created by order of the Montana Supreme
Court in January 1974. All persons practicing law in the state are 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
ensure that the responsibilities of the legal profession to the public are more
effectively discharged.
Sixteen trustees, elected by the membership by geographic
district, and four officers elected statewide by the membership, govern the State Bar.
There are over 4,000 active lawyer members of the State Bar currently licensed to
practice law in Montana.