Irma S. Russell, Dean

Andrew King-Ries, Associate Dean

The Law School is accredited by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools, and offers the degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.). Prerequisites for admission to the Law School are a baccalaureate degree and Law School Admission Test.

For detailed information concerning the Law School’s admission criteria, application procedures, facilities, and official course descriptions, consult the Law School Catalog, which may be obtained by calling (406)243-6169 or visiting the Law School website.

The Law School’s administrative regulations are contained in the Law School Student Handbook, which is on the website. The Law School conforms in most instances to the calendar established for the entire University. There are some differences, however, because the Law School operates on a different (and longer) semester system than the rest of the University.

Academic Year Calendar

Access the Law School Academic Calendar on the Law School calendar weg page.

Required Curriculum

Elective Courses

(Elective offerings vary from year to year)

• Advanced Criminal Procedure (Law 690, 2 credits)
• Advanced Environmental Law (Law 649, 3 credits)
• Advanced Legal Research (Law 615, 2 credits)
• Advanced Legal Issues in Education (Law 686, 3 credits)
• Advanced Legislation (Law 652, 2 credits)
• Advanced Federal Indian Law (Law 617, 2 credits)
• Advanced Public Land and Resources Law (Law 619, 2 credits)
• Advanced Trial Advocacy (Law 685, 1 credit)
• Agricultural Law (Law 656, 2 credits)
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (Law 614, 3 credits)
• American Indian Natural Resources (Law 619, 2credits)
• Appellate Advocacy (Law 616, 3 credits)
• Bankruptcy (Law 621, 2 credits)
• Child Advocacy (Law 670, 2 credits)
• Client Counseling Team (Law 638, 2 credits)
• Conflict of Laws (Law 653, 2 credits)
• Consumer Transactions (Law 645, 3 credits)
• Copyright Law (Law 682, 3 credits)
• Cyber Law (Law 676, 2 credits)
• Disability Law (Law 668, 2 credits)
• Elder Law (Law 620, 3 credits)
• Employment Law (Law 622, 3 credits)
• Environmental Law (Law 650, 3 credits)
• Estate Planning (Law 659, 3 credits)
• Family Law (Law 669, 3 credits)
• Family Law Mediation (Law 672, 2 credits)
• Federal Courts (Law 671, 2 credits)
• Federal Indian Law (Law 648, 3 credits)
• First Amendment Seminar (Law 675, 2 credits)
• Foundations of Natural Resources Conflict Resolution (Law 613, 3 credits)
• Gender and the Law (Law 625, 3 credits)
• Health Care Law (Law 637, 3 credits)
• Independent Study (Law 660/1, 1-2 credits)
• Insurance Law (Law 624, 3 credits)
• International Business & Trade (Law 629, 2 credits)
• Introduction to Environmental Law (Law 650, 3 credits)
• Land Use Planning (Law 687, 3 credits)
• Law & Literature (Law 607, 1 credit)
• Law & Technology (Law 693, 2 credits)
• Law Practice (Law 631, 1 credit)
• Law Reviews I, II, III, IV (Law 564/5, Law 602/3, 1-2 credits)
• Lawyers’ Values (Law 630, 2 credits)
• Legal History (Law 626, 2 credits)
• Local Government (Law 646, 3 credits)
• Moot Courts (Law 666, 2 credits)
• Montana Constitutional Law (Law 618, 2 credits)
• Natural Resource Development (Law 633, 3 credits)
• Negotiations (Law 641, 2 credits)
• Negotiation Team (Law 642, 2 credits)
• Non-profit Organizations (Law 674, 2 credits)
• Patent Law (Law 627, 2 credits)
• Philosophy of Law (Law 664, 3 credits)
• Practicum in Natural Resources Conflict Resolution
• Product Liability (Law 657, 2 credits)
• Public Interest Lawyering (Law 673, 3 credits)
• Public International Law (Law 634, 3 credits)
• Public Land and Resources Law (Law 654, 3 credits)
• Public Regulation of Business (Law 632, 3 credits)
• Real Estate Transactions (Law 658, 2 credits)
• Remedies (Law 628, 3 credits)
• Sales & Leases (Law 692, 3 credits)
• Secured Transactions (Law 636, 2 credits)
• Special Topics in Criminal Law (Law 667, 2 credits)
• Taxation of Business Organizations (Law 639, 4 credits)
• Taxation of Estates & Gifts (Law 655, 3 credits)
• Taxation of Property Transactions (Law 640, 2 credits)
• Trademark Law (Law 693, 2 credits)
• Tribal Courts/Tribal Law (Law 688, 3 credits)
• Tribal/State Relations (Law 694, 2 credits)
• UCC Articles 203 (Law 609, 3 credits)
• Water Law (Law 663, 2 credits)
• White Collar Crime (Law 644, 2 credits)
• Workers' Compensation (Law 662, 3 credits)

Michelle Bryan

Professor of Law / Co-Director, Land Use & Natural Resources Clinic

Contact

• Office: Law 110
• Phone: (406) 243-6753
• Email: michelle.bryan@umontana.edu

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Personal Summary

Professor Michelle Bryan teaches in the Natural Resources & Environmental Law Program and is Co-Director of the Land Use & Natural Resources Clinic, which works on behalf of Montana governments and is among only a few such clinics nationwide. She has been honored to receive the Garlington, Lohn & Robinson Faculty Teaching Award and the Margery Hunter Brown Faculty Merit Award for her professionalism in the classroom, her research, and her public service.

Growing up in farming and ranching communities in the West, Professor Bryan was drawn to the fields of natural resources and environmental law.  Before joining the law faculty, she worked in private practice representing a variety of clients including local governments, private landowners, non-profits, developers, and affected neighbors and community groups. She brings this diversity of perspective to her scholarship, her teaching, and her work with government clients. Her current research interests include the relationship between land and water use, planning in an age of climate change, the balancing of environmental and land use rights, and the role of public trust in water use.

Outside of teaching, Professor Bryan has served as board member and past president of the Montana Justice Foundation.  She enjoys hiking, fly fishing, and exploring the vast spaces of Montana.  Professor Bryan graduated from The University of Montana School of Law with high honors and served as an editor of the Montana Law Review. Prior to law school she was a policy specialist for the Water Resources Center in Bozeman, Montana.

Courses Taught

• Introduction to Natural Resources & Environmental Law
• Land Use & The Environment
• Land Use & Natural Resources Clinic
• Water Law

Selected Publications

Toward Engaged Scholarship (forthcoming in Pace Law Review 2014) (with John R. Nolon and others).

 A Next, Big Step for the West: Using Model Legislation to Create Water-Climate Elements in Local Comprehensive Plans,

32 Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy 1 (2013).

 Hitching Our Wagon to a Dim Star: Why Outmoded Water Codes and “Public Interest” Review Cannot Protect the Public Trust in Western Water Law, 32 Stanford Environmental Law Journal 283 (2013).

Montana v. Wyoming: An Opportunity to Right the Course for Coalbed Methane Development and Prior Appropriation, Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal (2012).

 Montana Chapter, The Law of Eminent Domain (ABA Publishing 2012), maintained atwww.abanet.org/litigation/committees/condemnation/compendium.html.

A “Constant and Difficult Task”: Making Local Land Use Decisions in States with a Constitutional Right to a Healthful Environment, 38 Berkeley Ecology Law Quarterly 101 (2011).

The Role of Fish and Wildlife Evidence in Local Land Use Regulation, 30 Pub. Land & Res. L. Rev. 107 (2009) (with students DarAnne Dunning and Melissa Hayes).                 

Was the Big Sky Really Falling? Examining Montana’s Response to Kelo v. City of New London, 69 Mont. L. Rev. 79 (2008).

Professional Experience

Natural Resources Law Section, Association of American Law Schools (Executive Committee Member 2012-Present).

Montana Justice Foundation (Board Member 2005-2012, President 2010-2012, Ex Officio Member 2013).

Member, Montana Small Business Compliance Assistance Advisory Council (Gubernatorial Appointment 2010-Present).

Technical Advisory Panel Member for the Montana Department of Transportation online website – Montana Transportation and Land Use Resources for Growing Communities (2008-2010).