As a Montana Legal Services Association attorney, Klaus Sitte has advocated for Montanans living in poverty for nearly 40 years. Family law, especially domestic violence issues, and landlord/tenant law have been his areas of concentration. In 2002, Klaus became Executive Director of MLSA, stepping aside in 2011 to become Litigation Director.
Klaus taught Office Practice for several years before becoming coach of the UM Law School American Bar Association Negotiation Competition Team in 1991. The Team placed 3rd nationally in 1999 and 2nd in 2003, advancing to international competition. Klaus has been a Clinical Supervisor with the Law School's unique Clinical Program, training and mentoring more than 500 law student interns in lawyering skills, for more than 35 years.
Klaus has conducted substantive and skills training in 26 states, as well as Guam and Micronesia. He frequently teaches for the ABA’s Commission on Domestic Violence National Civil Law Institutes. He is a former chair of the Montana Supreme Court Gender Fairness Task Force. In 2000, the Court appointed Klaus to the Equal Justice Task Force; he is a member of the State Bar of Montana’s Access to Justice Committee.
In 1994, Klaus first authored FOR RENT: The Complete Montana Landlord and Tenant Guide, a book widely used by judges, landlords and tenants, as a reference tool in landlord/tenant issues. Many Montana Justice Court judges use this text as an essential text in resolving landlord/tenant disputes. FOR RENT is now in its second decade of publication.
Klaus, and his wife, Karen, have lived in Montana for more than 40 years. They have two sons, Tyler, residing in Frankfurt, Germany and Jeremy, in Billings, Montana. Karen is Director of Fund Management for the University of Montana Foundation. Klaus and Karen enjoy camping, kayaking and biking. When they can get away, Klaus and Karen seriously relish visiting their two granddaughters, Anne and Lidia, in Billings.
Publications:
➢FOR RENT: The Complete Montana Landlord and Tenant Guide, ©1994 - 2011,
➢Montana’s Landlord/Tenant Act in an Age of Consumerism, The Montana Lawyer, July/August 1996.
➢A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep No More: Achieving Access to Justice in Rural Montana, Montana Law Review, Vol.70, No. 2 |
