Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The Preamble to the Montana Constitution, implemented in 1972, evokes stunning images of the west and stereotypical views of westerners as independent and freedom-loving, needing open spaces to roam and leading lives intimately connected to the land. The legacies of Ted Kaczynski and the Freeman perpetuate these stereotypes. While these images may be truer in myth than reality, there is no doubt that early Montanans were a hardy bunch, willing to make a life in a harsh climate, farm rocky soil, and explore both physical and metaphorical frontiers.

How does this relate to lawerying? Lawyers know that the practice of law varies from place to place. Many variations in how we lawyer have little, if anything, to do with substantive and procedural law. While scholars debate the relationship between law and community norms, e.g., Engels, Merry, Ellickson, and the differences between the “law on the books” and “law in action,” rarely do they address the genesis of these practice differences.

My hypothesis is that local lawyering cultures are shaped by the broader local culture, and the many factors that contribute to that culture’s development, potentially including topography, ethnicity, economics, and weather, among others. As a lens for exploring these issues, I interview lawyers in one western Montana community about their law practices. Building on the information and perceptions gleaned from those interviews, this piece explores the “why” behind those differences, and lays the foundation for further exploration of this hypothesis and the relationship between local legal culture and lawyering.