Citation Practices of the Montana Supreme Court

This article discusses and analyzes the legal authorities that the Montana Supreme Court relies on in its reported opinions. The article should help Montana lawyers know which authorities are particularly important to focus on in their research and to include in their briefs to the Montana Supreme Court. The article examines how the court’s citation practices have changed over time and should assist researchers in other states who are interested in comparative court citation practices. Finally, the article analyzes the actual citation form the Montana Supreme Court uses and offers suggestions to ameliorate any confusion in the court’s current citation form practices