The most useful questions for a first meeting about a partner or family member assault (PFMA) charge fall into four groups: the case itself, the court orders you are under, how the lawyer works, and the fee. This page lists fourteen and explains why each matters, so you can compare answers and not just impressions. It is part of our Montana Domestic Violence Guide.
Before the Meeting
Write your questions down and bring your paperwork. A lawyer can tell you far more with the charging document and the order in hand than from memory. If you have not decided whether to hire anyone, start with do I need a lawyer for a PFMA.
Questions About Your Case
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which subsection am I charged under, and what does the State have to prove? | PFMA can be charged as causing bodily injury, negligently causing injury with a weapon, or causing reasonable apprehension of bodily injury (MCA § 45-5-206(1)). The defenses and the consequences differ. |
| Does anything on my record count as a prior? | The minimum penalties rise with each conviction, and out-of-state convictions and some other assault convictions count (MCA § 45-5-206(3)(b)). The answer changes what you are facing. |
| What evidence have you seen, and what is still missing? | At a first meeting the lawyer usually has only what you bring. A careful answer separates what is known from what discovery will show. |
| What are the realistic ways this case could end? | You want the range, not a prediction. No lawyer can promise an outcome, and you should be cautious of one who does. |
Listen for whether the lawyer separates facts from assumptions. Early in a case, "I need to see the discovery before I can answer that" is often the accurate reply.
Questions About the Orders You Are Under
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What exactly does my no contact order prohibit? | Orders can bar contact in person, by phone, electronically, in writing, and through a third party, and can set a distance of up to 1,500 feet (MCA § 45-5-209(1)). You need to know your own terms. |
| Can the order or my release conditions be changed, and how? | Only a court can change them. Ask what a motion would involve and what you must do in the meantime. |
| How do I handle my home, my belongings, and my children while the order is in place? | These are the points where people violate orders without meaning to. Get specific instructions before you act. |
| Could this conviction affect my right to have firearms? | Federal law bars possession after a conviction that meets its definition of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)). The Ninth Circuit held in United States v. DeFrance, 124 F.4th 814 (9th Cir. 2024), that the bodily injury subsection of PFMA does not meet it. Ask how that applies to your charge and subsection. |
The order is the most immediate risk in a pending case. Each contact or attempted contact with each protected person is a separate offense, and the protected person's consent is not a defense (MCA § 45-5-209(8)(b)). Clear instructions from your lawyer on day one are worth more than anything else you take from the meeting. For background, see what counts as contact.
Questions About How the Lawyer Works
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Who will work on my case and appear with me in court? | In some offices the lawyer you meet is not the one who appears. You are entitled to know. |
| How will I be kept informed, and how quickly do you return messages? | A lawyer must keep a client reasonably informed and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information (Rule 1.4(a)). |
| Do you handle cases in the court where I am charged? | Justice, city, municipal, and district courts each have their own schedules and practices. Familiarity with yours is useful. |
| Do you also handle order of protection hearings and family cases? | If a civil petition or a parenting case is running alongside, you need to know whether one office can coordinate them. |
Notice that none of these asks whether the lawyer is the best or a specialist. Those labels tell you little. Direct answers about who does the work, how often you will hear from them, and what they have handled in your court tell you more. For the work itself, see what a PFMA defense lawyer does.
Questions About Fees
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What is the fee, what does it cover, and what does it not cover? | The scope of the work and the basis or rate of the fee and expenses must be communicated in writing in most matters (Rule 1.5(b)). Ask whether trial is included. |
| What expenses should I expect beyond the fee? | Investigators, experts, and records cost money. Ask which are likely and whether you approve them first. |
A lawyer may not charge a contingent fee in a criminal case (Rule 1.5(d)(2)), so the fee will not depend on the outcome. Our page on what a PFMA lawyer costs explains flat and hourly fees.
Questions the Lawyer Should Ask You
A careful lawyer will have questions too. Expect to be asked about:
- your relationship to the other person, and whether you share children or a home;
- any earlier arrests, convictions, or orders of protection, in any state;
- whether you own or have access to firearms;
- your citizenship or immigration status, and any professional license or military service;
- whether you were injured, and whether you gave a statement to police; and
- any other case involving the two of you, such as a divorce or parenting matter.
If a lawyer does not ask about firearms, immigration status, or children, raise those subjects yourself. They are where a PFMA conviction reaches beyond the sentence. On firearms, read does a Montana PFMA count under federal law before the meeting. If you have a family case as well, see one lawyer for criminal and family cases.
This page explains Montana law and the Montana Rules of Professional Conduct in general. It is not legal advice about your specific case.