Crowley Fleck PLLP is one of the oldest and largest law firms in our region. Our law firm counts over 175 attorneys practicing in the areas of commercial litigation, insurance defense litigation, natural resources, mining and energy law, healthcare, commercial transactions, banking and finance, creditors rights, real estate transactions and development, tax and estate planning and administration, intellectual property matters, employment law, and governmental affairs and lobbying.
Our law firm has offices throughout Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, including offices in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Kalispell, and Missoula, Montana; Bismarck and Williston, North Dakota; and Casper, Cheyenne, and Sheridan, Wyoming.
Crowley Fleck’s Banking and Finance practice group attorneys assist federal and state chartered banks and other regulated lenders on matters affecting their daily operations. Our state capital offices in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming enhance our access to state banking regulators and permit us to provide efficient lobbying services. In addition, we are experienced in dealing with mergers, acquisitions, and sales of financial institutions.
Our extensive group of experienced attorneys routinely handles multi-state and multi-national financing transactions involving commercial property, oil and gas interests, mining interests, raw land, and agricultural property. We serve as bond counsel, as well as counsel to issuers, borrowers, purchasers and letter of credit issuers in connection with the issuance of tax-exempt and taxable bonds and notes.
Our attorneys advise federal and state-chartered banks and other regulated lenders, including thrifts, mortgage banks, brokers and consumer lenders, on a full range of regulatory and compliance matters that affect their daily operations and lines of business; assist with the negotiation and documentation of commercial, agricultural and real estate loan transactions, including complex multi-state loans and energy –related development and project financing; and offer considerable hands-on experience and expertise on trust, employment, data and operational matters, including security issues, product design and implementation, and check and electronic payment processes. Our state capital off ices in Montana and North Dakota enhance our access to state banking regulators and permit us to provide efficient lobbying services.
Our attorneys assist financial institutions, companies, and private investors, in complying with federal, state, and local laws and regulations concerning financing transactions. We also handle multi-state and multi-national financing transactions involving commercial property, oil and gas interests, mining interests, raw land, and agricultural property.
We handle mergers and acquisitions of regulated financial institutions.
We represent clients in connection with the issuance of tax-exempt and taxable bonds and notes, including governmental bonds and qualified 501(c)(3) bonds. In those transactions, we act as bond counsel, as well as counsel to issuers, borrowers, purchasers, and letter of credit issuers.
Intellectual property includes trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. Crowley Fleck attorneys have a wide range of experience helping clients to protect and maximize the value of their intellectual property and technology, as well as assisting clients in purchasing or licensing technology from third parties.
Crowley Fleck attorneys are experienced in handling a wide range of commercial matters involving intellectual property and technology, including:
Crowley Fleck attorneys assist clients in protecting their trade secrets and other confidential information through the use of appropriate nondisclosure agreements, employee manuals/policies, and employment/independent contractor agreements (including customer non-solicitation provisions).
Crowley Fleck’s Intellectual Property and Technology Group has extensive experience representing clients in a variety of matters involving intellectual property and technology issues. Our attorneys have successfully prosecuted and defended matters involving allegations of:
We are prepared to try any intellectual property or technology case to a verdict, but we also help our clients evaluate alternatives that may lead to resolution of disputes more efficiently, within the context of the client’s overall business goals and objectives.
Employment Practice Group lawyers assist employers in understanding their rights and obligations under a broad array of federal and state employment laws, including ERISA and other matters involving employment benefits. Attorneys in this group are dedicated to helping employers develop and implement sound employment and benefits policies, follow best employment practices and maintain stable and dedicated workforces. We strive to help our clients avoid claims and disputes, but when litigation or other contested matters arise, we provide vigorous and capable representation. We also defend workers compensation insurers and advise on a broad variety of workers compensation issues.
Attorneys in this group have successfully represented employers in federal and state courts, administrative investigations and contested federal and state administrative hearings. They regularly speak on, and publish articles related to, a broad variety of employment topics, including new developments in the law.
A few of our services include:
General Employment
Crowley Fleck Employment Law Webinar – Oct 15, 2021 – Passcode: KQ?x2@&v
Sound employment policies are key to every successful business. Crowley Fleck attorneys help employers develop policies that comply with the law, establish and communicate expectations, and reflect the unique nature of an employer’s business.
Making good hiring decisions is not a matter of chance. If your business needs to develop uniform, effective and legally compliant hiring standards and practices, we can help.
Some employment relationships are best handled through written contracts. We can help you make those determinations and, when appropriate, define the rights and obligations of both employer and employee in written contracts.
When an employment relationship isn’t working, a well-crafted separation agreement can be an alternative to the risks of a messy and contentious discharge. Our practice group attorneys have experience preparing separation agreements that will protect employers from liability and litigation expenses, while helping employees transition to new employment.
Federal and state wage and hour laws are complex and even the most well-meaning employers can incur liability without realizing it. This is an area of law where an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure.
When an employment dispute can’t be avoided, Crowley Fleck attorneys are experienced in defending employers accused of wrongful discharge and discrimination in state and federal courts and before administrative tribunals. We routinely help employers meet allegations of wrongful discharge and various theories of discrimination, including claims under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII and their state law counterparts.
Employees are privy to sensitive information. When they leave, a properly drafted non-compete or non-disclosure agreement can protect your business from harm.
Workers Compensation is the exclusive remedy for work-related injuries. But some claims simply are not meritorious. Crowley Fleck’s work comp attorneys routinely defend work comp insurers and advise employers on their rights and obligations within this system.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) is an important and required benefit for employees who work for larger employers. Sometimes it’s difficult for an employer even to know whether it is subject to the requirements of the FMLA and, if so, what the employer needs to do to meet its responsibilities under very detailed and technical regulations. We can help.
Does the law regard the person performing services for your business as an independent contractor or employee? It’s not a question of how you label the person. As an employer, your obligations and liabilities under these two types of relationships is very different. Our firm’s attorneys can help you make reasonable and considered decisions that will help protect your business from the liability that arises when your “independent contractor” is actually an employee.
Union organizing efforts, negotiating collective bargaining agreements and arbitrations of employment disputes are all matters that can have a major impact on your business. Crowley Fleck attorneys can help you develop and implement strategies and sound business decisions when issues arise under the NLRA.
When your business is faced with an OSHA investigation, administrative penalties for alleged violations of workplace safety laws, or whistleblower complaints under Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Crowley Fleck attorneys are available to help you through the process.
Employee discipline and termination involves financial risk. Before you take the step of terminating an employee, it’s generally a good idea – and far less expensive than defending a lawsuit – to consult with a qualified employment attorney and fully understand your rights and obligations.
Does your business need a drug testing policy? Do you know whether your drug testing policy is legally compliant? We’re here to help you navigate this difficult and complicated area of law.
Crowley Fleck has one of the largest and most experienced Employee Benefits practice groups in the region. While most of our clients are headquartered in Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, many conduct business on a national level. Our clientele include multiple employer associations, banks, hospitals, state and local government entities, church-affiliated organizations, for-profit and non-profit entities, tax-exempt entities, and publicly traded companies.
Our attorneys are knowledgeable advisors on the full array of benefit plans and challenges facing this ever-changing and complicated area of law. They also regularly speak on and publish articles about hot topics trending in employee benefits, including the Affordable Care Act, US Supreme Court decisions, and other new developments that arise when regulations are issued.
The assortment of employee benefit plans requiring legal advice includes: self-funded health insurance plans, welfare benefit plans, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, profit sharing plans, cafeteria plans, health reimbursement arrangements, supplemental executive retirement plans, executive bonus plans, medical expense reimbursement plans, stock or equity-based incentive programs, group health plans, “top hat” plans, deferred compensation arrangements, money purchase pension plans, union pension plans, defined benefit plans, cash balance plans, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Our benefits attorneys have a mastery of the many and complicated laws impacting plans, including the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, Medicare, and other state mandates. Whether a plan requires compliance maintenance, business-driven changes, representation in an audit, corrections for mistakes, creation or termination, or assistance in a litigation setting, our attorneys offer the highest quality service in the region.
Hundreds of thousands of pages of regulations have been issued under the ACA in recent years, so it is no wonder employers are confused. Our Employee Benefits attorneys keep current on all of the laws impacting employer responsibilities under the ACA. Our Employee Benefits attorneys team with the Healthcare Practice Group to keep health providers and other impacted clients up-to-date on all aspects of Health Care Reform.
If your employees can pay for benefit plans through salary adjustments then you are in the world of cafeteria plans. Cafeteria plans are an amazing workplace benefit that can have a lot of bang for their buck, but they are often misunderstood. Cafeteria plans can complement health insurance or self-insurance programs, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), “Flex Accounts” and more. The Employee Benefits attorneys advise clients about the pitfalls of employee-paid benefits in the workplace and the best way to use cafeteria plans under current law.
Discriminating in favor of the higher-paid employees in your workforce with respect to health benefits can have significant tax consequences and potential penalties under the Affordable Care Act. Our Employee Benefits attorneys are intimately familiar with the laws restricting discrimination and how to structure benefits programs to avoid compliance issues. The Employee Benefits group teams with the Labor and Employment Practice Group to guide employers through all aspects of workplace discrimination.
Retirement plans operate in a virtual minefield of non-discrimination rules, meant to prevent highly-compensated employees from unfairly gaining better retirement benefits. Failing non-discrimination tests can result in greater tax consequences to those higher-paid employees or it can impact the maximum level of tax deferrals achieved for those individuals. Our Employee Benefits attorneys can provide creative recommendations for performing tests or for changing plan designs. We are also experienced with analysis required to determine controlled groups, commonly controlled groups, and affiliated service groups, including requirements for Qualified Separate Lines of Business (QSLOBs).
Our ERISA Litigation practice is an integral part of the Crowley Fleck Employee Benefits team. Our ERISA litigation lawyers understand the procedural rules peculiar to ERISA lawsuits, including ERISA preemption of state laws, exhaustion of administrative remedies, deferential standard of review, limitations on discovery, the restrictions on remedies such as punitive damages, and the limitations on jury trials. Such knowledge can help end suits early and successfully. Drawing on substantial skills and in-depth knowledge of ERISA’s substantive provisions, our ERISA litigation group has been successful in making both threshold motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, thus avoiding or minimizing costly and disruptive discovery and trials.
Attracting and retaining a top quality management team is vitally important for the success of any business. Our Employee Benefits lawyers are adept at designing or reviewing existing executive incentives that utilize the advantages of some of the most complicated tax code sections, including 409A and 457(f). We regularly advise on a variety of non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements, including severance pay, “top hat” plans, bonus deferral plans, excess benefit plans, and supplemental plans. We team with the Taxation Practice Group to assist with stock options, stock appreciation rights, and other equity-based incentives.
Nearly all health benefit plans carry with them fiduciary and other responsibilities that fall on the employer. Most plans are subject to ERISA fiduciary duties, which impose high expectations and steep financial consequences and personal liability for breaches of fiduciary duties. Fiduciary/trustee education and awareness are particularly important for self-funded health plans. The Employee Benefits attorneys have decades of experience resolving fiduciary and prohibited transaction issues and providing fiduciary education to numerous boards of directors and trustees.
Retirement plan fiduciaries are held to a higher “expert” standard of care and prudence. Fiduciaries must be knowledgeable about the precise fees and costs that plan service providers are charging against plan assets. Over the past five years plan fiduciaries have witnessed ever-increasing duties to request, monitor, evaluate, and disclose plan fees, including hidden fees and indirect fees. In addition, fiduciaries must exercise care and prudence when determining retirement plan investment options. If retirement plans have co-fiduciaries and allow brokerage-type investing, our Employee Benefits attorneys can assist with legal strategies to minimize liability exposure. Generally, fiduciary exposure includes joint, several, and personal liability.
The intricate nature of benefit laws often gives rise to errors and mistakes that carry enormous risks for employers, plan participants, and plan fiduciaries. There are three main voluntary correction programs that might apply: (1) IRS correction; (2) DOL correction; and (3) delinquent filer correction. The IRS correction program primarily addresses retirement plans and IRAs that suffer mistakes borne of operational failures, document failures, and tax-qualification failures. The DOL correction program is offered to a very finite set of fiduciary breaches, relevant to any benefit plan subject to ERISA. The delinquent filer program handles delinquent Annual Reporting errors regarding DOL/IRS Form 5500. All correction program submissions involve a significant degree of legal strategy, which our attorneys have developed from the numerous filings with IRS and DOL in our region.
Employer sponsored health plans are subject to a wide range of complex laws including the Affordable Care Act, ERISA, COBRA and HIPAA, as well as federal tax and discrimination laws and Montana insurance mandates. Fiduciary and trustee education and tax law awareness are particularly important for self-funded health plans, including Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Associations (“VEBAs”). Our Employee Benefits attorneys have extensive experience addressing all types of employer plans and advising employers about which rules they need to worry about and how to take the steps needed to stop worrying.
HIPAA Privacy and Security requirements impact virtually any business that has access to individual health information. Employer-sponsored health plans have unique hurdles when it comes to HIPAA compliance. The Employee Benefits lawyers team with the Healthcare Practice Group to offer cutting-edge training and compliance tools, as well as necessary personalized advice, to help clients easily navigate the HIPAA maze.
Qualified retirement plans, such as 401(k), 403(b), and profit sharing plans, operate in a unique tax-advantaged environment. Our Employee Benefit lawyers assist employers in finding the best plan designs that maximum business goals, personnel goals, and value for the costs of benefits provided. Our firm maintains an IRS pre-approved retirement plan document with maximum flexibility and customization within the bounds of applicable laws. If your plan is individually-designed, we are experienced with IRS determination letter requirements for approval of its tax-qualified status. If your plan has not been properly maintained, we can provide you with any required “good faith” remedial plan amendments and, if necessary, correct your plan with the IRS.
Standard 401(k) Plans do not allow owner employees to maximize their tax deferrals. However, with an in-depth understanding of IRS compliance rules, we are able to redesign 401(k) plan so that management employees can meet or exceed their tax deferral goals on a cost effective basis by adding IRS safe harbors that allow maximum salary deferrals, Federal Social Security integration with employer contributions, and employer contributions that are allocated by employee groups. However, if management tax-deferral goals exceed what can be done within a 401(k) plan, a hybrid cash balance defined benefit plans can be established as a companion to the 401(k) plan, allowing for significantly greater tax deferrals while maintaining benefit transparency. Once the design phase is completed, we are available to prepare the necessary plan documents to put the program in place.
Our immigration attorneys help large and small businesses, nonprofit organizations, individuals, and families navigate the complex system of U.S. immigration laws. We work closely with our clients, giving personalized service, to develop efficient and effective immigration strategies to achieve business success and individual goals. Our attorneys stay abreast of policy developments, processing trends, and enforcement initiatives, so we can better advise our clients on the best path to success. Our attorneys bring a broad cross-section of experience to this practice, from corporate and business immigration to former government experience in immigration enforcement, allowing our team to view your case from every angle. In addition to visa petitions, our attorneys also help with tourist visas (B-1/B-2), green card renewals, removal of conditions on permanent resident status, consular processing, adjustment of status, naturalization and other citizenship issues, as well as changes to and extensions of status. Our flexible approach allows us to tailor our services to the specific needs and budgets of our clients.
Our detail-oriented team works closely with businesses of all sizes to fill critical employment needs. We thoroughly evaluate both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa options and guide businesses and their foreign employees through the process from start to finish. While each case is unique, our team strives to match employers with the most efficient visa programs available, so they may continue developing and growing their business success. We assist employers with a full range of immigration services, including:
Our attorneys unite families through the immigration system. We provide assistance to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and their family members, and we endeavor to find the best option available for keeping households and families together. Our attorneys help prepare family-based immigration petitions, fiancé(e) visas, and assist with visa applications at U.S. Embassies and Consulates across the globe. In appropriate cases, we help secure employment authorization and advance parole documents so our clients may work in the U.S. and travel abroad while their petition is being processed. Our attorneys can assist with:
Our immigration attorney’s help lawful permanent residents become U.S. citizens. We provide advice on eligibility requirements and procedures for naturalization, and explain both the benefits and responsibilities of becoming a U.S. citizen. We help guide our clients through the process, including completing their N-400 applications, and we are available to accompany our clients to citizenship interviews.
Our attorneys help employers hire a lawful workforce and assist with issues that arise in the employment verification process. Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is used to determine authorization to work legally in the United States. Employers must review original documentation in the presence of the employee, complete a Form I-9 for every employee hired after November 6, 1986 as proof of legal status and work authorization in the U.S., and keep the form on file. Our team of attorneys can assist with development of a corporate compliance program and policy development, internal audits, and even assist out-of-state employers hiring in Montana, North Dakota, or Wyoming with the required in-person I-9 verifications as an authorized representative. We also assist employers with routine I-9 compliance questions, issues that arise when an employee’s immigration status or employment eligibility changes during the course of employment, and reverifying employment authorization for current employees. We also advise employers regarding prohibited practices in the hiring process, such as document abuse and discrimination.
** Please note, we do not handle criminal immigration matters or deportation/removal matters.
Crowley Fleck’s Trust & Estates attorneys strive to simplify complex transitions for individuals, families, businesses and donors. We prepare clients for life changes through the creation and execution of retirement, estate and long-term care plans, establishment of durable powers of attorney, and representation in estate, trust, guardianship, and conservatorship matters. We also provide succession planning and implementation services for business owners, such as reorganizations, restructurings, buy-outs, mergers, and acquisitions, and various trust planning alternatives.
We prepare personalized estate plans for our clients, taking into account both tax and non-tax planning objectives. By tailoring our clients’ estate plans to their unique needs and desires and working with clients’ other trusted advisors, we give clients the confidence of knowing that their assets will pass as intended. Depending on the circumstances, our planning can include tax planning, wills and revocable trusts, financial and healthcare powers of attorney, life insurance and retirement account planning, review of asset titling, planning with non-probate transfers such as beneficiary deeds, drafting trusts for special issues such as incentive trusts, special needs trusts, trusts for minors, pet trusts, and trusts for family cabins, and planning with irrevocable trusts such as intentionally defective irrevocable trusts (IDITs), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), and irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs).
We are experienced in all areas of wealth transfer taxes, including estate tax, gift tax and generation skipping transfer tax (GST), as well as the income tax aspects of trusts and estates. The interplay among these types of taxes can be overwhelmingly complicated. Our attorneys possess the expertise and experience to guide clients through the maze of wealth transfer taxes and income taxes in developing effective estate and succession plans and administering trusts and estates as efficiently as possible.
We advise our clients regarding all aspects of estate, probate, and trust administration matters, by guiding personal representatives and trustees, assisting to identify assets and advising about their management, preparing estate and gift tax returns, preparing fiduciary accounts, counseling on elective share and allowances, analyzing federal and state tax issues, and advising about discretionary distributions, beneficiary claims, and creditor claims.
We represent family and closely held businesses, including farm and ranch operations, to develop and execute succession plans. We guide businesses as they transfer ownership and management to future generations of the family, key employees or others involved in the business. Depending on the nature of the business and circumstance, this may include business restructuring, buy-sell agreements, deferred compensation plans, stock option plans, insurance planning, voting trusts, ongoing management agreements, and other planning tools.
We have extensive experience in structuring charitable gifts to provide personal reward to the donor and charities, while taking full advantage of tax benefits. Our attorneys assist high-net-worth clients who desire to remain involved with a long-term charitable gifting plan to create private foundations, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, charitable gift annuities, and other planned gifts.
We represent clients through their senior years and help them successfully arrange for the seamless management of their personal, healthcare, and financial affairs, through planning for long-term care, Medicare and Medicaid, social security, and a guardianship and conservatorship, if necessary.
We counsel clients on how to preserve, protect, and grow their assets to maximize the funds available to support them in retirement. We assist clients in assessing the benefits of various types of insurance, including health, disability, and long-term care.
We work with clients to establish guardianships and conservatorships where necessary to protect minors, those with disabilities, and other persons who are unable to personally manage their financial matters and personal care. Our attorneys are also experienced in maneuvering through the complicated system of government benefits that exist for those with disabilities, whether resulting from an accident or illness, and planning to financially protect those with disabilities through special needs trusts, and supplemental needs trusts and other planning tools.
We provide clients with premarital advice, assist in developing premarital wealth management plans, and negotiate and prepare premarital agreements.
We serve fiduciaries, beneficiaries, heirs and creditors in all phases of economically substantial trust and estate disputes, by counseling and advocating for clients regarding their rights and options, from pre-litigation dispute resolution through trials and appeals. We employ a multi-disciplinary approach, teaming experienced litigation counsel with colleagues in the trusts and estates practice group, and, as needed, the firm’s extensive professional resources in the broad spectrum of commercial, real estate, natural resources, taxation, health care, and other practice areas.
