Over 60 Years Of Combined Experience
Tipp & Buley client Richard Raugust was freed from custody for the first time in over 18 years on Friday, December 4, after Judge Jim Wheelis overturned his conviction and life sentence for deliberate homicide in November. Richard is represented by Tipp & Buley Shareholding Attorney Brett D. Schandelson, in cooperation with the Montana Innocence Project. Brett was asked by the…
Montana law specifically recognizes that a lawsuit may be brought for fraud. As in most states, fraud in Montana may be “either actual or constructive.” In oversimplified terms, actual fraud requires an intent to deceive someone, a “lie.” Constructive fraud, on the other hand, does not. To prevail in a case of actual fraud in Montana, a party must prove…
Personal injury cases are most always premised on an act of negligence on the part of one person that resulted in an injury to another. Negligence, in a tort case, means that a person or entity had a legal duty to act in a certain way but failed to do so. If another person suffered an injury as a result,…
If you’ve suffered a personal injury for which there are multiple potential causes, joint and several liability may come into play. Although the terminology may sound complicated, joint and several liability is a fairly simple concept. It’s based on two ideas: (1) the notion that everyone who might have been involved in an accident or injury should be in the…
Outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing are important to Montana’s tourism industry as well as to state residents. Unfortunately, there are those, both residents and visitors, who take advantage of the state’s abundant wildlife and rural setting by poaching. Poaching is the illegal killing of fish or wildlife. It is mostly the killing of animals out of the regular…
A highly publicized, tragic shooting in Billings has highlighted Montana law on homicide and self-defense. In May, 15-year-old MacKeon Schulte and another teenage boy went to surprise their friend Seth Culver by knocking on his bedroom window. It was well after midnight, and when they got no initial response, Schulte retrieved a cinder block on which to stand. Schulte stepped…
In Montana, the legal definition of rape is “sexual intercourse without consent.” As inferred by the name, it simply means that one person was subjected to intercourse without being a willing participant. But what is meant by statutory rape? It is not a term found in the state code governing sexual assault. Statutory rape occurs under certain circumstances that also…
Facebook and other social media sites became off limits to employers in Montana as of April 23, 2015 when House Bill 343 was signed into law by the Governor. The bill prohibits employers from making applicants for employment, or employees, provide information from their social media sites, or provide their logon information for those sites. It also prohibits employers from…
When employers are conducting investigations into employee or company wrongdoing, it is standard practice for interviewees to be instructed not to talk about the case while it is being investigated. Many employers go so far as to use a standard form that employees are asked to sign agreeing to maintain confidentiality regarding the investigation. The National Labor Relations Board recently…
In July, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a decision in a federal government discrimination case in which it was stated that discrimination based on sexual orientation is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Perhaps because the EEOC’s statement on the issue followed so closely after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision on same-sex marriage, legal…