Admission of attorneys to practice in the District of Montana is governed by Local Rule 83.1(b) which provides that, "Only attorneys of good moral character who are active members of the State Bar of Montana and not subject to any pending administrative, disciplinary, suspension, or disbarment orders in any jurisdiction may be admitted as members of the bar to this court."
Detailed step-by-step instructions with screenshots are available here. Below is a general overview of the attorney admission process.
PACER Request
All admissions are handled through PACER and require an upgraded PACER account. Information about how to upgrade a PACER account is available on the PACER website.
|
Step
|
Action
|
|
1
|
Navigate to pacer.uscourts.gov then click Manage My Account at the top right corner of the screen and log in using you PACER username and password.
|
|
2
|
Select the Maintenance tab and click Attorney Admissions/E-File Registration.
|
|
3
|
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.
|
|
4
|
Under "What would you like to apply/register for?" click Attorney Admissions and E-File.
Note: General admission includes Bankruptcy court, but you will have to submit a separate “E-File Registration Only” request. Instructions with screenshots are available in Request Access to Montana Bankruptcy Court-New Attorney pdf.
|
|
5
|
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: A requirement of admission to the bar for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana is active membership in the Montana State Bar. Click the box and use the Add button to add Montana State Bar information. Applicants who are members of other state bars may also add those here.
|
|
6
|
Sponsoring Attorney: Enter the name of your sponsoring attorney. The sponsoring attorney is the attorney that signs the required Character Certificate that you will upload in step 8. The sponsoring attorney must be an active member of this Court's bar and an active member of the Montana State Bar, which should be selected under the Jurisdiction dropdown. Only one sponsoring attorney is required.
|
|
7
|
Respond to each question and check the box acknowledging that you will be charged an admission fee.
Exception: Federal Attorneys (attorneys that are currently employed or retained by the United States or the Federal Defenders of Montana) are exempt from paying the admission fee and should check the box requesting that the fee be waived.
|
|
8
|
Character Certificate: Upload the REQUIRED Character Certificate. This certificate must be signed by an attorney who is both an active member of this Court’s bar and an active member of the Montana State Bar.
Please do not submit a certificate of good standing or any other document as other documents will not be accepted in place of the Character Certificate and your admission will be delayed.
|
|
9
|
Additional Attorney Information Required by Court: Complete the required fields. All questions must be answered truthfully to the best of your knowledge. Answers may be Yes or No, or you may provide an explanation when necessary. Click Next.
|
|
10
|
Complete all Sections of E-File Registration
Under the “Filer Information” section, review the information and make changes, if necessary, and check the acknowledgment that you are submitting the e-filing registration for an individual.
The additional filer information is optional. Do not enter any information for the “Most Recent Case.”
|
|
11
|
Delivery Method and Formatting: Delivery Method and Formatting refers to your method, frequency, and e-mail format preferences for Notices of Electronic Filings (NEF) received from NextGen CM/ECF. If you want your NextGen CM/ECF e-mails delivered to a different e-mail address other than the one you have registered with PACER, enter that e-mail address here. You may receive your NEFs either "Once per Day (Daily Summary)" or "At the Time of Filing (One E-mail per Filing)." The most requested e-mail format is HTML, but you can select Text, if you prefer. Click Next.
|
|
12
|
Payment Information (optional): This screen is used to set up a payment account for PACER fees that you may incur. If you want to set up your PACER payment account at this time, please click Add Credit Card or Add ACH Payment. Please note, this screen is not used to pay any fees owing to the District of Montana.
**Note: if you are interested in central billing for multiple people with PACER accounts, i.e., law firms, please refer to PACER Administrative Account User Manual.
A credit card may be saved to PACER to pay for search fees, filing fees, and admission fees.
To bypass the screen (without saving default payment information) click Next.
IMPORTANT: After you submit your application, you will be required to pay your admission fee online to the District of Montana using the link provided in an e-mail. You will be required to log into PACER. It will ask for a client code, that can be left blank. For instructions on paying the admission fee, click here.
|
|
13
|
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.
|
|
14
|
Click Done.
|