The following laws have not been verified as actually existing. But that almost makes them more fun because you can wonder, “Is this for real?” A web site says they’re real so that makes it legitimate, right? It is illegal for a horse to enter a bar in Montana. It...

Everybody loves hearing about weird Montana laws. My previous article about having the legal right to an easement to your favorite seat in church was very popular, so I thought I’d tell you about more of them. Let’s jump right in. In Billings, it’s illegal to sell pet...

If you’re like the vast majority of Americans, you don’t like changing the clocks twice a year and you’d like extra hour of daylight all year round. (Well, it’s not truly an “extra” hour but it’s an extra hour in the evening at the expense of an hour of darkness in...

“If we win, I can get my attorney’s fees from the losing side, right?” This is a question I hear all the time from clients. The answer is almost always “No.” Clients can’t believe that they have to spend money for a lawsuit where the other side is clearly at fault,...

I remember my Grandpa emphatically saying, “There are too many lawyers.” That might have been true in the past or in other places, but it is not true in Ravalli County. Many people are probably glad there are so few attorneys here. But they shouldn’t be. A lack of...

“AI,” which stands for “artificial intelligence” is all over the news. AI is essentially computers that automatically learn and become super computers. For example, AI is creating songs that sound remarkably similar to human-created music. AI is taking out the need...

A Helena ordinance makes it illegal to play “folf” (the term for Frisbee golf) at night. If you think I’m making this up, it’s Helena Municipal Code Title 5, Chapter 13. Why do weird laws like this exist and why aren’t they cleared off the books? Politicians and...

Most people have heard about “citizens arrest,” which basically lets a citizen, as opposed to a law enforcement officer, arrest people committing a crime until the police arrive. TV shows and movies about crime often portray citizens arrests – usually very...

Let’s say you are handed a lawsuit and summons by a process server. It’s a BS case filed by your crazy neighbor for something you clearly didn’t do. You can ignore the suit, right? Wrong. You most certainly cannot ignore it. Once you’ve been served with a lawsuit, the...

Many people have heard of “adverse possession.” This is a common legal rule where, if you use your neighbor’s land for five years or more, you can go to court and get a deed to the portion of your neighbor’s land that you have been using. What most people are...