This attorney has more than 17 years of experience in civil litigation with a concentrated practice in insurance law, including insurance coverage, bad faith, duty-to-defend issues, and compliance with Montana insurance law. The attorney currently serves in a shareholder-level leadership role and regularly advises insurance carriers on coverage obligations and defense-related issues. Their broader litigation background includes personal injury, construction defect, premises liability, product defect, professional liability, governmental liability, and other civil disputes, with a consistent emphasis on insurance defense.

Litigation experience spans matters from initial case intake through final disposition and appeal. Responsibilities have included taking and defending depositions, working with expert witnesses from medical and engineering disciplines, handling written discovery and discovery motions, preparing pleadings and appellate briefs, and participating in oral argument, hearings, and trials. This background provides direct experience with the procedural, evidentiary, and coverage issues that arise in contested insurance matters.

Professional qualifications include a Juris Doctor, earned magna cum laude, with additional distinction in legal writing and oral advocacy. The attorney has also served as President of the Gallatin County Bar Association and President of the Montana Defense Trial Lawyers, reflecting leadership within the legal profession and the insurance-defense community.

The source does not document service as an expert witness, independent expert reports, or testimony given in an expert capacity. It documents substantial litigation and insurance-law experience, but deposition and trial activities were performed as counsel. I therefore did not characterize the attorney as an expert witness or imply expert testimony. Also, the “Washington state educator standard of care” language in the prompt is not supported by this source; the supported primary discipline is Insurance Law.

This equine industry professional and attorney has more than 29 years of experience spanning horse training, riding instruction, breeding, ranch operations, equestrian safety, and equine law. The expert’s hands-on equine background includes ownership and operation of a breeding program focused on barrel futurity horses, selection of horses for training, breeding, and resale, and domestic and international horse sales. Earlier work as a wrangler and riding instructor involved trail operations, rider instruction, horse-and-rider matching, horse care, equipment oversight, young-horse training, and supervision of other wranglers.

Equine training and horsemanship experience also includes teaching riders of varying skill levels, preparing riders for shows and fox hunting, starting young horses, rehabilitating horses with training issues, and preparing horses for sale and competition. The expert has competed in open equitation, qualified for national, regional, and state finals, captained a collegiate equestrian team, and later served as a guest clinician for a university equestrian team.

Legal experience adds a distinct litigation-related dimension to the equine practice. The attorney has represented clients in civil litigation with a strong emphasis on equine law, including representation of farms and ranches, while also handling matters involving insurance coverage, personal injury, premises liability, product defect, professional liability, construction defect, bad faith, land use, governmental liability, real estate, and transactional disputes. Litigation responsibilities have included case management from intake through final disposition and appeal, taking and defending depositions, written discovery, discovery motions, legal briefing, oral argument, and hearings.

Professional qualifications include a Juris Doctor, earned magna cum laude, and admission to practice in Montana and the United States District Courts. Leadership within the legal profession includes prior service as President of the Gallatin County Bar Association and current service as President of the Montana Defense Trial Lawyers.

The source supports multiple areas of expertise—particularly equine operations, horsemanship, horse training, breeding, and equine law—but it does not document independent expert witness retention, expert reports, deposition testimony given in an expert capacity, or trial testimony as an expert. I therefore did not characterize the attorney as an expert witness or imply expert testimony.