MEMBER NEWS

Joel Henry

Henry joins Missoula’s Goodrich & Reely law firm

Dr. Joel Henry has joined Goodrich & Reely in Missoula.

Henry’s practice includes intellectual property, corporate and transactional work, private placement securities, and all things technology law. He also serves as an expert witness on litigation matters involving technology challenges, electronic Henry discovery, and digital forensics. He enjoys the complexity at the intersection of law, business, and technology, given he earned two computer science degrees from Montana State University, a Ph.D. in computer science from Virginia Tech, a J.D. at the University of Montana, and started his own software company.

He enjoys the complexity at the intersection of law, business, and technology, given he earned two computer science degrees from Montana State University, a Ph.D. in computer science from Virginia Tech, a J.D. at the University of Montana, and started his own software company.

Erik Anderson

Anderson joins Missoula office of Brown Law Firm

Brown Law Firm, P.C., with offices in Billings and Missoula, has announced that Erik M. Anderson has joined the firm in Missoula.

Anderson is a fourth-generation Montanan and was born and raised in Missoula before graduating from the University of Montana in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. After earning his undergraduate degree, he worked for his family’s business and in information technology before attending the University of Montana School of Law where he earned his Juris Doctorate in May of 2018. While in law school, Erik served as co-Editor-in-Chief of the Montana Law Review, receiving the Justin Miller Award for outstanding leadership.

Anderson completed his clinical work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Following law school, he clerk for the Honorable Sam E. Haddon, United States District Court for the District of Montana.

He is an avid traveler and student of history and spends his free time at Flathead Lake.

Katharine Hamilton

Hamilton Law Firm rebrands as Embaby Fertility Law, PLLC

Bozeman attorney Katharine E. Hamilton proudly announces that she has refocused her firm to specialize exclusively in assisted reproductive technology (“ART”) law, also known as “fertility law.” Hamilton represents those pursuing surrogacy, embryo and egg donation in Montana by drafting contracts and representing her clients in legal proceedings to establish parentage. Hamilton is one of Montana’s leading fertility law experts, Hamilton having assisted with over 50 fertility law matters.

Her decision to rebrand as “Embaby Fertility Law, PLLC” stems from the idea that the majority of ART law consists of “embabies,” which is a term of endearment combining the words “embryo” and “baby.” The term reflects the investment of those who have undergone IVF and cherish their remaining embryos as potential future children. Hamilton’s mission is to make parents’ dreams come true, one embaby at a time.

Embaby Fertility Law, PLLC, aspires to provide peace of mind during the legal process, allowing everyone involved the ability to focus on what matters most: creating and growing families. Her new website can be found at embabylaw.com.

HONORS

Hannah Wilson

Wilson to research EU privacy issues as a Chancellor Fellow

Montana lawyer Hannah Wilson will spend the next year in Germany researching European Union data privacy laws as a German Chancellor Fellow, supported by the Humboldt Foundation. The Foundation selects up to 10 prospective leaders from the United States each year to pursue socially relevant research projects anywhere in Germany.

A 2017 graduate of the Alexander Blewett III School of Law, Wilson previously worked as a judicial law clerk to Justice Dirk Sandefur of the Montana Supreme Court before traveling to Serbia on a Fulbright teaching grant at the University of Niš. Now her research interests lie in investigating privacy issues under the landmark EU privacy legislation: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Wilson sees data privacy as one of the most important social issues facing her generation. During her grant, she will examine the balance between the free speech rights of artists and privacy rights of individuals in the context of portraiture in street and documentary photography in Germany. She hopes her work can help inform the development of privacy legislation in the United States.

Wilson became interested in working abroad during law school while serving as an intern at what is now the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague, Netherlands. Her work there piqued her interest in the Balkan region and ultimately inspired her to apply for the Fulbright award to Serbia. She studied the Serbian language and led workshops at the local judicial academy and embassy-funded American Corner. During that time she photographed the streets of her host city, Niš, and discovered that even though Serbia is not a member of the EU, the GDPR affected many aspects of photography in the country. This raised many questions about consent and the reach of EU privacy laws, which ultimately set her on the path to the German Chancellor Fellowship looking for answers. Wilson’s grant includes a threemonth intensive German language course followed by a one-year period to conduct research. Based in Berlin, her research host is Mr. Maurice Weiss, a documentary photographer at the renowned Ostkreuz Photography Agency.

“This grant is a crucial step in my career towards working as a public servant to solve issues I care about. Data privacy is a bipartisan issue and I want to learn as much as I can about it to help develop balanced and well-researched laws to protect and serve all of us in the digital age. I am grateful to the Humboldt Foundation and my recommenders for this huge opportunity.”

Missoula County Attorney’s Office gets national award for diversion program

The National Association of Counties has recognized the Missoula County Attorney’s Office with an Achievement Award for a new pretrial diversion program. The award honors innovative, effective county government programs that enhance services for residents. The program, Calibrate — Missoula’s Prosecution-led Pretrial Diversion, was recognized in the category of Criminal Justice and Public Safety as an innovative new program worthy of sharing with other counties.

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office created and implemented the groundbreaking program as part of its Smart on Crime commitment to meaningful criminal justice reforms.

“We are deeply honored that NACo recognized the value of Calibrate to divert first time, non-dangerous offenders off of the criminal justice track,” said Missoula County Attorney, Kirsten Pabst. “The program has been hugely successful and has resulted in cross-systems costs savings.”

Calibrate Coordinator Ray Reiser said, “Our program provides some individuals facing criminal charges with the opportunity to address the root causes of why they are in trouble. When a diversion participant completes an individualized treatment plan, the collateral consequences of a conviction are avoided, and fewer people are put into our corrections and criminal court systems. It’s a win-win-win.”

This was the third time in five years that NACo has recognized the Missoula County Attorney’s Office. In 2017, the Missoula County Attorney’s Office received two national awards for its innovative work in addressing Secondary Trauma and Organizational Resilience in prosecution.

Started in 1970, NACo’s annual Achievement Awards program is designed to recognize county government innovations. The county attorney’s office will receive the recognition at NACo’s 2021 Annual Conference and Exposition July 11.

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