Washington, DC— Today the nation's first comprehensive study of the out-of-court programs that resolve lawyer-client fee disputes ranked Montana's fee arbitration system 8th in the nation and issued the state's system a C+ grade. To spur reform of these important but under-utilized forums, legal consumer watchdog group HALT - An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform released its 2007 Fee Arbitration Report Card, analyzing programs in all 50 states and D.C.

Montana's lawyer-client fee arbitration system would have been ranked higher, but the program has been severely backed up, experiencing delays of several months. "Given that the most pervasive complaint about lawyers is that their fees are too high for the work done, it's critical that Montana have an efficient system in place for resolving these kinds of everyday disputes between attorneys and clients," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder. "Unfortunately, the current system lacks the resources it needs to meet the demands of Montana's client population."

Once the system addresses this delay, Montana will be a model for the nation. If a client wishes to settle a fee dispute through arbitration, the State Bar of Montana will hear evidence and issue a ruling even if the attorney does not consent. If the attorney agrees in advance then the parties will be bound by the arbitration decision, but if the attorney refuses to participate, the decision is non-binding. At that point, the losing party has 30 days to file a lawsuit or the decision becomes binding.

HALT gave the Montana bar high marks for its user-friendly online resources about the fee arbitration program. The watchdog group also praised Montana for being one of the few states that requires the input of non-lawyers in deciding all fee disputes.

The top five states - D.C., Maine, New Jersey, New York and California - scored no higher than a B average on the Report Card. Three states - New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia - flunked. Another eight received Incompletes because they do not offer statewide systems to settle lawyer-client fee disputes.

"In an era of skyrocketing lawyer fees, we hope Montana officials will reform the state's fee arbitration program because all Americans should be able to challenge a lawyer's bill in an efficient forum," stated Blonder.