Montana Dissolves Its UPL Commission, Proposes Rules on Who May Practice Law

The Montana Supreme Court April 20 abolished its unauthorized practice commission and announced that the state attorney general’s consumer protection office will now handle complaints of unauthorized legal practice by nonlawyers (In re Dissolving the Comm’n on the Unauthorized Practice of Law).

The court approved a pact worked out during the past year between the consumer protection office and the Montana State Bar. Under the new arrangement, UPL complaints against lawyers who are not licensed in Montana will be sent to the state bar rather than to the attorney general’s office.

State bar staff spoke enthusiastically about the ...