Judicial Branch
Oral Argument Schedule
The majority of cases before the Montana Supreme Court are decided based upon the written briefs submitted by the parties. However, the Court may decide that a case requires further discussion, in addition to what the parties have argued in their written briefs. In such cases, oral arguments are scheduled in open session before the Court. Approximately 30 cases a year are scheduled for oral argument.
Oral arguments are tightly structured and timed. The counsel for each party is allowed limited time to make an argument. The times typically range from 20 to 40 minutes and are set forth by the Court in the order setting oral argument.
While this format allows the counsel brief opportunity to further develop their arguments, it also gives the Court an opportunity to ask questions of the attorneys on points which the Court needs clarification.
A majority of oral arguments take place in the Montana Supreme Court Courtroom, located at 215 N. Sanders, Helena, Montana. The Court does schedule a few arguments to be heard in different cities around the State.
All of the oral arguments are open to the public.
Click Here to see list of previous Oral Arguments
List of Audio Files
2012
May 2012
This action was filed in 1999 by various owners of property on the shores of Flathead Lake and a section of the Flathead River north of the lake. The landowners seek damages for erosion and land loss they claim to have suffered as a result of the defendants’ practice of using Kerr Dam to hold the level of Flathead Lake high through the summer months and into the fall. The action has come before this Court twice before.
On the most recent remand from this Court, the District Court decertified the case as a class action and ordered that the claims must proceed on an individual-by-individual basis. The court ruled, under M. R. Civ. P. 23, that there is no question of law or fact common to the class and that individual issues predominate. The landowners appeal, arguing that the common question is whether the defendants acted reasonably in holding the lake at full pool into the fall season.
ORAL ARGUMENT has been set for Wednesday, May 9, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. in the Courtroom of the Montana Supreme Court, Justice Building, Helena. Oral argument times shall be 30 minutes for the Appellants and 25 minutes for the Appellees.
Watch Live Here
DA 11-0626 MONTE GIESE, STEVEN KELLY, and WILLIAM REICHELT, Petitioners and Appellants, v. LEONARD BLIXRUD in his capacity as former Water Commissioner for the Perry v. Beattie Decree, Cause No. 371, Montana Ninth Judicial District Court; BEN HOGE in his capacity as current Water Commissioner for the Perry v. Beattie Decree, Cause No. 371, Montana Ninth Judicial District Court; and JOHN DOES 1 through 5, Respondents and Appellees.
Appellants are water users on the Teton River. Upstream irrigators have diverted the river into an irrigation ditch (the Bateman Ditch) at a point where the river would normally go underground for 4 or 5 miles. The appellant downstream users claim this diversion damages their access to water and use of their water rights. The District Court dismissed Appellants’ petition for relief, ruling
- it is without power to issue a writ of prohibition to stop the water commissioner from diverting water,
- the decreed upstream irrigators have preference in distribution over the Appellant non-decreed users, and
- Appellants failed to state a question that could be certified to the Water Court.
Appellants maintain the District Court was wrong on all three counts. An important underlying issue is the relative powers of the district courts and the water court over water distributions controversies.
ORAL ARGUMENT has been set for Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. in the Courtroom of the Montana Supreme Court, Justice Building, Helena. Oral argument times shall be 30 minutes for the Appellants and 25 minutes for the Appellees.
Watch Live Link Here
DA 11-0340 CHARLES E. FELLOWS, an Individual, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. THE OFFICE OF WATER COMMISSIONER for the Perry v. Beattie Decree Case No. 371, and all JOHN DOE WATER USERS, Defendants and Appellees.
The District Court dismissed Charles E. Fellows’ dissatisfied water user complaint based on lack of standing, and Fellows appeals.
Fellows has a water right on Spring Creek, which he claims is tied to the Teton River via an underground aquifer. He claims the Water Commissioner on the Teton River illegally changed the point of diversion for the senior water rights holder on the Teton River to avoid the Springhill Reach--a gravelly section of the Teton River that feeds an underground aquifer. Fellows claims that this aquifer, in turn, feeds Spring Creek.
The District Court determined it could not grant relief to Fellows without tinkering with the water decree for that portion of the Teton River. The court instead directed Fellows to seek relief from the Water Court as part of the final adjudication process. Fellows claims that the adjudication process could take years and he could be out of business by then due to the loss of his water.
ORAL ARGUMENT has been re-set for Wednesday, May 23, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. in the Courtroom of the Montana Supreme Court, Justice Building, Helena. Oral argument times shall be 30 minutes for the Appellant and 25 minutes for the Appellees.
ORAL ARGUMENT has been re-set for Wednesday, May 30, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. in the Courtroom of the Montana Supreme Court, Justice Building, Helena. Oral argument times shall be 30 minutes for the Appellants and 25 minutes for the Appellees.
