Attorney Milt Datsopoulis at the sentencing of client Beau Donaldson—photo by Kurt Wilson
Our sleepy little mountain town got a little fancier this month, as the law firm of Datsopoulis, MacDonald and Lind has registered as a political action committee. Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl called on DML to register as a PAC last year. Although they contributed only about 5% of the total money raised in local races in 2014, they backed the right horses: every candidate DML supported won. Recipients to which the law firm contributed include the sheriff, a justice of the peace and the Missoula County Attorney. Those are handy people for a law firm to know. Everything DML did is perfectly legal, of course, thanks to Citizens United and the attendant overturning of Montana’s longstanding law against election spending by corporations. You can read all about it in my latest column for the Missoula Independent. Attorneys for DML, if you’re reading this, please don’t call me to talk about how you could totally sue me but you don’t feel like it right now. You’re pretty much the only major firm in town that hasn’t done that, and I think of you fondly. We’ll be back tomorrow with Friday links.
