On December 18, 2024, the Montana Supreme Court ruled in the case of Held v. Montana, finding that the Montana Environmental Policy Act ("MEPA") violated the state's constitution. In the midst of great change to the federal...more
Throughout 2024, young Americans from states like Oregon, California, and Hawaii turned to litigation, arguing that court intervention is necessary to protect them from climate change. The young plaintiffs spearheading these...more
On Friday, January 3, 2025, the Montana Supreme Court issued a decision in MEIC v. DEQ (Laurel Generating Station), its second major decision on the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) in the last few weeks that affects...more
The January 2025 Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 5.2%, an increase from the December 2024 rate of 5.0%. The January applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use with...more
Proponents of more comprehensive climate regulations who are frustrated by the federal government have increasingly turned their attention to state litigation....more
One week before Christmas, the Montana Supreme Court delivered a landmark gift to sixteen youth plaintiffs in Head, et al., v. State of Montana, et al., 2024 MT 300 (Mont. 2024), holding that the State of Montana violated...more
On December 18, 2024, the Montana Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding a lower state court's decision that, under Montana's constitution, there is a “fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment...more
Earlier this week, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of plaintiffs in a climate case based on certain provisions of the Montana constitution. Specifically, the court ruled that: - The...more
In a 6-1 ruling yesterday, Montana’s Supreme Court upheld a landmark decision finding that a 2011 state law making it illegal to consider environmental impacts (including greenhouse gas emissions) when issuing permits for...more
Introduction - “No one has a vested interest in any rule of common law.” Meech v. Hillhaven W., 776 P.2d 488, 494 (Mont. 1989). Luckily the Montana legislature has codified the common law rule of after-acquired title as a...more
In a momentous decision last week, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's (MDEQ) issuance of a mine operating permit to Tintina Montana for the Black Butte Copper Project,...more
Posting on social media about businesses located in another state could give rise to personal jurisdiction in that state, according to a recent landmark opinion by a sharply divided Montana Supreme Court. In Groo v. Montana...more
Last week, in Held v. State of Montana, the First Judicial District Court of Lewis and Clark County issued a groundbreaking decision in favor of sixteen youth plaintiffs who challenged a Montana environmental review law that...more
On August 14, 2023, a Montana state court found that a Montana environmental review statute (the Montana Environmental Policy Act or MEPA) that limited (and as amended in May 2023, precluded) consideration of greenhouse gas...more
Yesterday, the plaintiffs prevailed in the Montana climate litigation. Time will tell whether the decision will end up being seen as a watershed moment or just a blip. In trying to answer that question, it does seem worth...more
This week, the Court addresses the availability of a Bivens cause of action against federal officials and certifies two insurance law questions to the Montana Supreme Court. The Court holds that a Bivens cause of action...more
The meeting’s focus suggests the Multistate Tax Commission intends to address special industry regulations before general sourcing regulations. A new Multistate Tax Commission work group held its first meeting to discuss...more
A few years back, we discussed the Montana Supreme Court’s Parker decision, which interpreted an earth movement exclusion in a first-party claim under a homeowner’s policy. There, a boulder dislodged from a hillside and...more
Many Montana employees can claim the protection of Montana’s unique Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act, which generally bars an employer for terminating an employee without “good cause” after the employee has completed a...more
On November 23, 2021, the Montana Supreme Court issued an almost unanimous decision in National Indemnity Company v. State of Montana, a ten-year-old coverage dispute arising from claims against the State of Montana alleging...more
The Montana Supreme Court has held that there was no coverage under a lawyers professional liability policy for a client’s malpractice claim because the lawyer knew of and failed to disclose, prior to the insured law firm’s...more
In our March Insurance Update, we discuss four state supreme court cases and four cybercrime cases. The state high courts address: •From whose perspective should a consent-to-settle provision be judged? •What standard...more
Courts ended 2020 with a flurry of insurance decisions. Our January 2021 Update highlights some of these decisions, including several by state supreme courts. We begin with a new twist on pandemic-related claims. ...more
On August 24, 2020, the Montana Supreme Court ruled that the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) failed to properly justify changes it approved for the standard-offer rates and contracts for small renewable energy...more
Prior to April 2020, it seemed clear under prevailing federal case law that a disgruntled person could not use a state court lawsuit to change an environmental remedy approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...more