Ñý¼§Ö±²¥

Dear Law School Alumn,

On behalf of the Alexander Blewett III School of Law, I wish you a warm and peaceful holiday season.

It is my privilege as both an alumna and now dean of Montana’s law school to thank you for being part of our law school community.  The law school offers a world class legal education and works to serve Montana communities in meaningful ways.

This fall we welcomed 93 accomplished 1L Ñý¼§Ö±²¥.  We continue to grow our  entering class to meet Montana’s growing needs for legal services.  The law school  admitted an outstanding class with strong and rising academic indicators in comparison to our peer schools.

This year’s 1L class joined 2Ls and 3Ls in pursuing our traditions and building a vibrant community focused on service.  This Fall:

• Montana Law Review Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ addressed issues of affordable housing as part of the Browning Symposium.
• At the law school’s family Advice Clinics, Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ worked with the bar to offer legal advice to those not otherwise able to afford the services of a lawyer.
• Law Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ continued the tradition of collecting cans for the food pantry and avoided cold calls.
• Our community once again celebrated the end of Fall semester with the Barrister’s Ball.

The law school continues its long-time mission of integrating theory and practice.  The law faculty continue to update our curriculum.  This year we add new classes on Professionalism and Generative AI Skills, and plan to add a course in Data Privacy.  The continued enhancement of our curriculum keeps us on the cutting edge.

Montana’s law faculty maintain our tradition of excellence in both teaching and scholarship.  Student outcomes show the strength of our curriculum.  This year, Montana’s law school remains #1 among our peer schools in bar passage and employment on graduation.

• We have an impressive 86% first-time and 97% 2-year bar passage rate.
• Within 10 months of graduation, 96% of our Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ find employment.
• We continue to remain nationally ranked by Princeton Review for placing our Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ in prestigious clerkships.

Our faculty continue to produce nationally recognized research.  Professor Conley’s ground-breaking scholarship won the prestigious Mark Tushnet Prize in Comparative Law.  Professor Stark was recipient of the American Association of Law School’s 2024 Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples Section Early Career Scholarship Award.  As highlighted below, the faculty has published numerous books and articles and been invited to present at national conferences.  Their research and service to the legal community makes a difference.

None of these achievements could have been accomplished without the support of our donors.  Our key fundraising initiatives this coming year include:

• Scholarships for Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ to allow them to attend law school and fully participate in all it has to offer.
• Funds for enhanced experiential learning opportunities, including support of our moot court teams, trial team, and negotiation team and enhanced support for clinical and pro bono opportunities.
• Named faculty professorships and awards to allow us to attract and retain outstanding faculty.

Your engagement, encouragement, and generosity ensure Montana’s law school continues to thrive.  Please enjoy the recent highlights that follow.  

I am deeply thankful that you are part of our community.  On behalf of the Alexander Blewett III School of law, I wish you the best of holiday seasons!

Warmest regards,

Dean Elaine Gagliardi

MONTANA LAW GRADUATES ENJOY STRONG EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS AND HIGH BAR PASSAGE RATES….

96% of ABIII law graduates find employment with ten months of graduation.

“Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ Blewett School of Law is nationally ranked by Princeton review for prestigious clerkship placements. Currently 3 Montana law Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ clerk for judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 8 for Federal District Court judges, and 5 for Montana Supreme Court justices.  We are very proud of our graduate Tori Nickol who recently completed a fellowship for the United States Supreme Court.”

Our Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ pass the bar at impressive rates:

First-Time Bar Passage School Avg 2023

• UM- 86%
• Gonzaga- 66%
• SD- 67%
• ND- 61%
• Seattle U- 69%
• Lewis & Clark- 78%
• Idaho- 75%
• Wyoming- 81%
• Oregon- 77%
• Colorado- 81%
• Utah- 94%

Ultimate Bar Passage 2021 Grads within 2 years of Graduation

• UM- 97%
• Gonzaga- 91%
• SD- 83%
• ND- 91%
• Seattle U- 89%
• Lewis & Clark- 90%
• Idaho- 80%
• Wyoming- 88%
• Oregon- 93%
• Colorado- 93%
• Utah- 97%

Our Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ bring to their jobs solid legal writing, litigation, and transactional skills.   Please contact Asst. Dean of Career Services Katy Stack for more information about on campus interviews and travelling meet and greets.

MEET OUR NEWEST LAW FACULTY….

Professor Diana Garrett serves as Clinic Director and supervises external clinics.  She is a graduate of our law school and served as Chair of the Clinical Board of Directors.  Prior to joining the law faculty, Professor Garrett practiced with Montana Legal Services.

Professor Cody James serves as Director of the Jameson Law Library and teaches legal research courses.  A graduate of the University of Colorado Law School, he began his legal career as Deputy District Attorney.  He thereafter obtained his Masters in Library Science and served as a librarian at University of Michigan School of Law.

Professor Peter Marchetti teaches Contracts, Business Transactions, and Business Organizations.  A graduate of Suffolk University Law School, Prof. Marchetti joins us after serving on the faculty of Thurgood Marshall School of Law.  He brings substantial legal experience to the classroom having served as legal counsel for an international bank and practiced at the New York firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

Professor Rebecca Stursberg serves as Director of Academic Success and teaches legal writing.  Professor Stursberg is a graduate of the Blewett School of Law.  Following graduation she clerked for the Honorable Beth Baker, Montana Supreme Court. Thereafter she practiced with the Missoula firm of Boone Karlberg.

Professor Karen Van Essen teaches Professional Responsibility, Trial Practice, White Collar Crime, and International Trade and Business.  Prof. Van Essen earned her J.D. and Ph.D. from University of Oregon and clerked for the Honorable Milan Smith Jr, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Formerly a partner at the Los Angeles firm of ArentFox Schiff, she returns home to Montana and brings her civil litigation experience to the classroom.

Professor Constance Van Kley teaches Constitutional Law and Appellate Advocacy.  A graduate of Montana’s law School, she clerked for the Honorable Sidney Thomas, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and for the Honorable Dana Christensen, United Stated District Court for the District of Montana.  As founding director of Upper Seven Law, she brings a wealth of experience in litigating state and federal constitutional matters.

THROUGH SCHOLARSHIP AND SERVICE OUR NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FACULTY CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAW….

Through their scholarship, our faculty make significant contributions to development of the law.   Following is a recent sample of the many works each has published:

• Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor Pippa Browde published Sacrificing Sovereignty: How Tribal-State Tax Compacts Impact Economic Development in Indian Country, 74 Hastings L. J. 1 (2022)

• Professor Michelle Bryan, whose scholarship focuses on water law, published The Power of Reciprocity: How the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Water Compact Illuminates a Path Toward Natural Resources Reconciliation, 25 Water L. Rev. 227 (2022)

• Professors John Byington and Elaine Gagliardi published a course book, Deal Drafting Foundations: A Transactional Lawyer’s Role in Deals and Contract Drafting (Carolina Academic Press 2024)

• Professor Anna Conley published Comparing Essential Components of Transnational Jurisdiction: A Proposed Comparative Methodology, 31 Tulane J. of Int'l & Comp. L. 1 (January 2023)

• Professor Craig Cowie focuses his research in the area of consumer law and recently published Creating Compliance Climates, 75 Hastings L.J. 601 (2024)

• Associate Dean of Professionalism and Community Engagement and Professor Andrew King-Ries co-authored ABA Standard 303(c) and Divisive Concepts Statutes and Regulations: Challenges and Opportunities, 73 Wash. U. J.L.& Pol’y  247 (2024)

• Professor Paul Kirgis’s article, Arbitrating with Indian Tribes: Separability, Tribal Sovereign Immunity, and Exhaustion of Tribal Remedies, 55 New Mexico Law Review ___ (2025) is forthcoming

• Professor Kekek Stark has several articles forthcoming including Tribal Court Jurisdiction and the Exhausting Nature of Federal Court Interference 92 U. Cin. L. Rev. ___ (2024)

• Professor Hillary Wandler has written a chapter entitled “Do What Has to Be Done”: The Codes We Live By and How They Shape Relationships and Justice in Positionality in Rural Access to Justice Research: Global Reflections (Hart Publishing forthcoming 2025)

• Professor Sandi Zellmer published Conservation as Multiple Use, 66 Ariz. L. Rev. 467 (2024)

Congratulations to our faculty who have been nationally recognized for their work:

Professor Anna Conley received the prestigious Mark Tushnet Prize awarded to the author of the best paper in comparative law in 2024.

Professor Kekek Stark received the the Association of Law School’s 2024 Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples Section Early Career Scholarship Award and the 2024 Early Career Teaching and Public Service Awards. 

Professor Zellmer was honored by The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law as the recipient of the Clyde O. Martz Teaching Award.

Happy Holidays from AB3!