ÁÔÆæÖØ¿Ú

Season's Greetings

As the law school closes 2025 and looks forward to an exciting start to 2026, I’m struck by the deep pride students and alumni share in the work of our law school community. I am grateful for the efforts of students, faculty, and alumni in building a vibrant community that embraces space for robust sharing of perspectives and a deep respect for the rule of law.

This past fall, the law school and student groups hosted more than thirty-five speakers on a broad range of issues and viewpoints. A highlight of fall semester, the 41^st Public Land Law Conference brought to the law school the current chief of the U.S. Forest Service and the immediate past directors of the federal Bureau of Land Management and of Fish Wildlife and Parks. The law school looks forward to an equally robust spring semester.  Spring lectures will include the Browning Lecture, the Cliff Edwards Lecture, and the ÁÔÆæÖØ¿Ú Supreme Court hearings. The Law School invites you to attend these lectures.

The law school’s Student Bar Association and thirteen active student groups continue long-time traditions and create new ones. The Veteran’s Law Group, the law school’s newest student group, has especially inspired us. The group kicked off the fall semester with a well-attended golf tournament. During the semester the Veteran’s Law Group has successfully worked to raise public awareness of veteran accessibility issues. The Student Bar Association ended the semester by “stealing” Bertha from the Forestry School, a tradition of more than 80 years.

I am especially pleased to report the Law School successfully completed two tenure-track faculty searches.  Brianne Holland-Stergar and Forrest Graves will join the law faculty Fall 2026. Prof. Holland-Stergar will teach Legal Writing courses and Prof. Graves will teach Contracts and Transactional courses. They join an outstanding faculty with significant practice experience in the areas they teach. ÁÔÆæÖØ¿Ú’s law faculty are dedicated teachers and scholars. Highlighted below is recently published scholarship of the law faculty.

ÁÔÆæÖØ¿Ú’s law school hopes you will join for our many events. This coming summer the law school is sponsoring three educational opportunities and hope you will register for some fun, community, and CLE credit:

• Celtic CLE, co-sponsored by the State Bar, in Cork, Ireland, May 25-29, 2026
• 31^st Advanced Trial Advocacy School in Missoula, June 1 – 6
• Indian Law Summer Program in Missoula, with weekly courses throughout summer 2026

With Warmest Holiday Wishes,

Elaine Gagliardi

Dean, Alexander Blewett III School of Law

Register Today

Can the Cats Food Drive

Can the Cats Food Drive Shatters Expectations

This year’s Student Bar Association food drive delivered big results, with students collecting 4,021 food items for Can the Cats. Classes competed for the top spot, earning “Canned Immunity” by donating items to skip being called on in class.

The 1L class led the way with more than 1,900 donations, earning a celebratory pizza party courtesy of Dean Gagliardi.

Special thanks to 2L Gerald Giebink for organizing and leading this year’s successful competition.

From Pre-Law to JAG: UM Grad Finds Path Through Public Service

After serving in the 3rd Army Ranger Battalion right out of high school, Alex Butler of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, wasn’t sure what would come next. He used his GI Bill benefits to attend the ÁÔÆæÖØ¿Ú, but hadn’t yet settled on a career path.       

Butler immersed himself in campus life while continuing to serve in the National Guard. He also served as president of the Associated Students of UM Senate.

“I was really busy in undergrad,” Butler said. “But that was from everything else I was doing outside of the classroom.”

He majored in philosophy, which connected him with Professor Soazig Le Bihan, UM’s Pre-Law Program manager.

“Soazig and I would meet all the time to discuss philosophy,” Butler said. “I joined Pre-Law because I enjoyed my time with her and wanted to learn as much as I could.”

Although Butler’s father was an attorney, he initially dismissed a legal career.

“I spent most of my time engaging with her about how I didn’t want to become a lawyer,” he said. “I thought I would end up going for my doctorate in philosophy.”

Conversations with Dr. Le Bihan eventually led him to consider public service through law. Click Here to Read More

Supreme Court Ruling Opens Door for Veterans at UM Law

A U.S. Supreme Court decision expanding GI Bill benefits is helping more veterans pursue law school at the ÁÔÆæÖØ¿Ú, where a growing student-led group supports the transition from the combat zone to the courtroom.

Disabled Veterans and former non-commissioned officers, Remington Prochaska, of Everett, Washington, and David Ley, of Missoula, recently founded the Veterans Law Group at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law.

“We’re building a network of veterans bound by shared experience,” Ley said. “The nation has already invested in shaping us into capable, caring leaders. Now we’re putting that investment to work by strengthening and uplifting our communities.”

The Veterans Law Group is an active and ambitious student organization. Their initial efforts have centered on fundraising and laying the groundwork for larger goals:

• Tackling veteran accessibility issues through policy reform, legislation and public awareness.
• Creating statewide legal assistance services for veterans.
• Offering skill-building opportunities that prepare members to engage in lobbying and the legislative process.
• Representing veterans in Washington, D.C., by 2026.

The Army’s leadership actions of influence, operate and improve are a driving force in steering of the Veterans Law Group.

“I feel like I have soldiers again,” said Prochaska, who served eight years in the Army, including tours in Italy, Ukraine, Estonia and Africa. “My goal is to create something we can use as support now, and we are building something future veterans will continue to use after we leave.”

Ley, who served nine years on active duty, including two years leading soldiers in Afghanistan, recalled the difficulty of pursuing education while on active duty.

“I started college in a tent in Afghanistan, sneaking away to finish assignments after missions,” Ley said. “I would study flashcards in the bunker during rocket attacks.” Click Here to Read More

Faculty Scholarship and Media

Anna Conley

Associate Professor; Cliff Edwards Professor of Excellence in Trial Advocacy

• Navigating Personal Jurisdiction Based on Social Media Activity - Tips for Practitioners, 12 Belmont Law Review 405 (2025)
• The Inevitability of Adaptability - Comparative Contributions to Understanding Originalism, 39 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 467 (2025)

Sandi Zellmer

Professor

• Co-Author, Legal Control of Water Resources: Cases and Materials (7th Ed. 2025)  
• Conservation as Multiple Use, 66 Ariz. L. Rev. 467 (2024); republished in Land Use & Environmental Journal 2025 (top ten environmental law articles published in 2024)
• Co-Author, Legal Control of Water Resources: Cases and Materials (7th Ed. 2025)  
• Co-Author, Property Clause Power Play: The BLM’s Conservation Rule and Loper Bright, 45 Pub. L. Resources L. Rev. 1 (2025) 

 

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