WHERE I STARTED
Like many Montana families who came to Montana three or four generations back, I had my start back east in New York City.

As a boy I spent summers on my grandparents’ farm in rural New Hampshire. We knew everyone in the valley. Our closest neighbor was a mile away, but the distances between us and our neighbors belied how close we were: everyone would drop whatever he was doing to help out in a pinch.

It is why I felt at home when I first came to Montana.

WHAT WORK IS
Between my years at Harvard and law school, I did everything from putting up hay, slaughterhouse, and railroad work to custom house painting, moving households, and traffic engineering.

I discovered what work was while working in the sand hills of northwestern Nebraska on railroad tie and siding gangs. I learned early that everyone counts.

FROM LAW SCHOOL TO MY FIRM
I went to law school in Colorado. I was an Articles Editor on Law Review, but instead of seeking a big firm job after graduation, I chose work in which everyone counts.

I was a law clerk for Chief Judge Joseph Bellipanni in Colorado’s Boulder District Court and then I clerked for Justice W. William Leaphart on the Montana Supreme Court.

I had a stint as a deputy public defender in Missoula.

For six years I was an associate with the firm of Hoyt and Blewett PLLC in Great Falls. Hoyt and Blewett is a plaintiffs’ firm with national recognition for its trial work. My cases included

> automobile negligence
> underinsured motorist claims
> oil pipeline spills
> insurance bad faith
> product liability
> wrongful death and
> illegal radiation exposure

I have tried cases to juries in state and federal district court. I have argued cases on appeal before the Montana Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

I opened my own office in Bozeman in 2008 and I’ve practiced there as a Bozeman attorney since then. Over time my practice has diversified somewhat to accommodate the needs of clients. I now have three principal areas, real estate and land disputes,
will, trust & estate disputes, and personal injury.

While my practice areas have evolved, my core belief remains the same as when I began the practice of law. 

EVERYONE COUNTS