Montana Code Annotated 2021

TITLE 25. CIVIL PROCEDURE

CHAPTER 40. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Part 1. Uniform Collaborative Law Act

Coercive Or Violent Relationship

25-40-114. Coercive or violent relationship. (1) Before a prospective party signs a collaborative law participation agreement, a prospective collaborative lawyer shall make reasonable inquiry whether the prospective party has a history of a coercive or violent relationship with another prospective party.

(2) Throughout a collaborative law process, a collaborative lawyer reasonably and continuously shall assess whether the party the collaborative lawyer represents has a history of a coercive or violent relationship with another party.

(3) If a collaborative lawyer reasonably believes that the party the lawyer represents or the prospective party who consults the lawyer has a history of a coercive or violent relationship with another party or prospective party, the lawyer may not begin or continue a collaborative law process unless:

(a) the party or the prospective party requests beginning or continuing a process; and

(b) the collaborative lawyer reasonably believes that the safety of the party or prospective party can be protected adequately during a process.

History: En. Sec. 14, Ch. 200, L. 2015.