This guide applies AI search for law firms to Montana: the rules that govern your pages, where Montana lawyers should look for AI guidance, and the court detail national content gets wrong. It closes with how Montana's courts are organized and the neighboring states your readers may come from.
Four rules every Montana page has to respect
Results need their disclaimer. Rule 7.1 says a lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services, and lists what a misleading communication includes. Under Rule 7.1(c), that includes proclaiming results obtained for clients, such as a damage award or a record of verdicts or settlements, without stating that past results afford no guarantee of future results and that every case is different and must be judged on its own merits.
Paid testimonials need a label. Rule 7.1(h) covers any paid testimonial about, or endorsement of, the lawyer without conspicuous identification that payments were made. Rule 7.1(k) requires a conspicuous statement that the client may be responsible for costs or expenses, if that is the case, when an ad says services are available on a contingent or no-fee basis.
Say where you are licensed. Rule 7.1(l) treats advertising legal services without identifying the jurisdictions in which the lawyer is licensed as misleading. Rule 7.2(d) requires the name and contact information of at least one lawyer or firm responsible for the content.
Specialist claims are narrow. Rule 7.2(c) bars stating or implying certification as a specialist unless the certifying organization is approved by an appropriate state, District of Columbia, or territorial authority, or accredited by the ABA, and the organization is clearly identified. Rule 7.4 is eliminated, so this language now sits in Rule 7.2.
Why this matters more in AI search: an assistant may quote a result with nothing around it. In Montana, the disclaimer belongs in the same passage as the result, not in a footer. The State Bar publishes the full Montana rules.
Filing and review
Rules 7.1 through 7.3 do not require a Montana firm to file its website or advertisements with the bar or a court. Rule 7.3(c) requires the words "Advertising Material" on certain targeted solicitations, which a practice page is not. The lawyer remains responsible for every statement, which is why an attorney at the firm approves every page we deliver.
What Montana lawyers should look to on AI
The State Bar of Montana's advisory ethics opinions index, checked October 19, 2026, lists no opinion on artificial intelligence. Until Montana speaks to AI directly, the clearest guidance is ABA Formal Opinion 512, "Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools" (July 29, 2024), which covers competence, confidentiality, client communication, fees, and reviewing AI output before relying on it.
Opinion 512 does not change the advertising rules. Your pages answer to Rules 7.1 and 7.2 whoever drafts them. See what Opinion 512 means for law firm marketing.
Montana questions need Montana answers
National content tells families to "go to probate court." Montana has no separate probate court. Under the Uniform Probate Code as adopted in Montana, MCA 72-1-103(9) defines "court" as the district court having jurisdiction in matters relating to the affairs of decedents, and 72-1-103(7) defines the clerk as the clerk of the district court. Under MCA 72-1-202(1), that court has jurisdiction over estates of decedents, including construction of wills and determination of heirs, and over protection of minors and incapacitated persons.
A page that sends a family to the right county's district court clerk reads as local. One that invents a probate court does not.
How Montana's courts are organized
Under MCA 3-5-101, Montana has 22 judicial districts, each assigned a set of counties; Yellowstone County alone forms the 13th. For local pages, the useful unit is the county and its judicial district, and only where you take clients.
What we build for Montana firms
- Practice-area pages written to Rule 7.1, with the Rule 7.1(c) disclaimer next to every result
- County pages that name the district court and judicial district correctly
- Answer posts for the questions Montana clients ask, each linked to the right practice page
For personal injury firms, Rules 7.1(c) and 7.1(k) decide how results and fee language read. For estate planning firms, the district court probate detail above decides whether a page sounds local.
Neighboring states
Montana firms near a state line see readers from Wyoming, Idaho, and the Dakotas, and Rule 7.1(l) already requires saying where you are licensed. See the Wyoming guide, the Idaho guide, and the North Dakota guide.
Common questions
Can a Montana lawyer post case results on their website?
Rule 7.1(c) allows results only with a statement that past results afford no guarantee of future results and that every case is different and must be judged on its own merits. Keep that statement with the result.
Does a Montana firm page have to say where the lawyer is licensed?
Yes. Rule 7.1(l) treats advertising legal services without identifying the jurisdictions in which the lawyer is licensed to practice as misleading.
Can a Montana lawyer call themselves a specialist?
Only with certification from an organization approved by an appropriate state, District of Columbia, or territorial authority, or accredited by the ABA, and the organization must be named. That rule is now Rule 7.2(c).
Keep reading
Sources
- State Bar of Montana, Montana Rules of Professional Conduct (Rules 7.1 to 7.4) (linked above)
- State Bar of Montana, Advisory Ethics Opinions index (checked October 19, 2026)
- ABA Formal Opinion 512, Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools (July 29, 2024)
- MCA 72-1-103, General definitions (linked above)
- MCA 72-1-202, Subject matter jurisdiction
- MCA 3-5-101, Judicial districts