Admission of government attorneys to practice in the District of Montana is governed by Local Rule 83.1(c), which provides that an attorney currently employed or retained by the United States or by the Federal Defenders of Montana may appear in this court in any matter within the scope of the attorney’s employment, provided the attorney: (1) is an active member of another federal bar or of the bar of the highest court of a State, territory, or insular possession of the United States; (2) is not subject to any pending administrative, disciplinary, suspension, or disbarment orders in any jurisdiction; and (3) has completed the E-File registration for federal attorneys on PACER. Detailed step-by-step instructions with screenshots are available here. Below is a general overview of the government attorney admission process.
PACER Request
To apply for admission as a government attorney, attorneys must complete the Attorney Admissions/E-file Request on the PACER website.
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Step
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Action
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1
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Navigate to pacer.uscourts.gov, then click on Manage My Account at the top right corner of the screen and log in.
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Select the Maintenance tab and click on the Attorney Admissions/E-File Registration link.
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On the next screen, under "In what court do you want to practice," select "U.S. District Courts" for Court Type and "Montana District Court " for Court. Click Next.
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Under "What would you like to apply/register for?" click the Federal Attorney button.
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Attorney Bar Information
Select the appropriate check boxes to indicate federal bar or state bar admissions, if applicable.
Federal Bar Information: Members of other federal bars may check the box and use the Add button to add bar information for each federal bar of which they are a member. If you are currently admitted to another NextGen CM/ECF court, it is automatically listed by the system. However, if you are also admitted to any courts that have not upgraded to NextGen CM/ECF, you will need to manually enter this information.
State Bar Information: Click the box and use the add button to add bar information for each state bar of which you are a member.
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Delivery Method and Formatting: Delivery Method and Formatting refers to your method, frequency, and email format preferences for Notices of Electronic Filings (NEF) received from NextGen CM/ECF. If you want your NextGen CM/ECF emails delivered to a different email address other than the one you have registered with PACER, enter that email address here. You may receive your NEFs either "Once per Day (Daily Summary)" or "At the Time of Filing (One Email per Filing)." The most requested email format is HTML, but you can select Text, if you prefer. Click Next.
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Acknowledgment of Requirements and Procedures: Review the Attorney E-Filing Terms and Conditions and the Local Court Policies and Procedures, check the boxes, then click Submit.
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After the review of the applicant's request, the attorney will receive a determination from the Court via PACER that may be found by clicking E-File Registration/Maintenance History in the Maintenance tab under My Account.
Attorneys Who Leave Government Service
Government attorney admission under Local Rule 83.1(c) terminates when the attorney leaves government service. All government attorneys are required to notify the Attorney Admission Clerk at mtd_registration@mtd.uscourts.gov upon leaving government service.