Lucas Faust:
Hi, this is Lucas Faust. I'm here with Mark Jette, who is our lawyer of the month this month. So Mark, first of all, tell us where you practice, what you do, and then we'll move on to some other questions. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Mark Jette:
Well, Lucas, thanks for having me. Mark Jette here in Helena, the Silverman Law Office here in Helena and I specialize in professional licensing law, business matters and real estate law.
Lucas Faust:
Very well. Well, let's talk a little bit about, I ask this question of all people in my voir dire, the jury selection process. I ask this of pretty much everybody in a focus group when we run those. But I'm going to ask you this Mark, setting your faith and your family aside, those are two important things, I recognize that. What's the passion in your life? What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Mark Jette:
Well, I really try to take advantage of Montana's outdoor heritage whenever I can. I grew up skiing. Well, it used to be called Big Mountain, it's Whitefish Mountain Resort now, golfing in the Flathead Valley, like to hike, hunt, fish, and spend a lot of time on Flathead Lake when I get the opportunity.
Lucas Faust:
That's great. So you're in Helena, any desire to shoot back to the flat as you have roots there in Helena now I take it. Do you have any kids that are keeping you there too?
Mark Jette:
Nope. No kids. No family. I'm just working all the time, man.
Lucas Faust:
No, that's that's fair enough. I totally get that. So what's your favorite, of your outdoor activities, what's your favorite thing to do, the number one thing, Mark?
Mark Jette:
Well, you're talking to a lawyer, so you're going to get the lawyer's answer. It depends. It depends on the season. Skiing in the winter, boating on Flathead Lake in the summer, hunting and fishing in the fall and traveling if I can in the spring.
Lucas Faust:
Where do you like to travel? In the country, out of the country? Where's your favorite place to go?
Mark Jette:
Both. I love traveling and so the farther the destination, the bigger an adventure it is.
Lucas Faust:
That's great. That's great. Tell us a little bit about yourself, like where did you attend law school? Where did you go to undergraduate school? Stuff like that. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Mark Jette:
Well, I'm pretty much a Montana boy. Born and raised in Montana, then went and graduated from the University of Montana in Missoula with a business management degree. Went off to work for Senator Baucus in Washington, DC for a couple of years. Came back and went to the law school in Missoula again. Went out to work for Senator John Tester after that for his first term. And at the end of his first term, I came back, worked for the Department of Labor for five years and then jumped into business with Joel.
Lucas Faust:
Well, tell us a little bit about your work at the Department of Labor industry. You kind of have a one of the niches that you carved out are professional licensure stuff. What kind of folks are affected by professional licensure situations? Tell us about that.
Mark Jette:
Just about anybody that needs a license to practice their trade. And so I spent part of my time counseling those boards to figure out what it takes to obtain and keep a license in good standing. And I spent the other half of my time prosecuting those who have been accused of unprofessional conduct. And so there were a variety of different boards I worked for in my time there from dentistry to massage therapy, to outfitters and electricians and multiple... Anything if you have to get a license for it, pretty much goes through the Department of Labor.
Lucas Faust:
And there are administrative rules that govern each of those groups and that is kind of your bread and butter I take it. You know those rules pretty well.
Mark Jette:
Yep. They're implementing statutes and then administrative rules to implement those laws.
Lucas Faust:
Okay. So that's the type of person I might refer. I understand you also do some work in some pretty fairly heavily regulated industries. The marijuana industry's kind of kicking itself off and alcohol is also a fairly, very highly regulated industry. Do you work in those areas as well?
Mark Jette:
Yeah, just because it is such an administrative process and I have experience with administrative processes like that, and it's a great business opportunity for us right now with recreational marijuana being legalized here on January 1st, there are a lot of people scrambling to get into business there.
Lucas Faust:
It's not the wild west. There are regulations, there are rules, there are sheriffs in town too I take it, right?
Mark Jette:
There sure are. Well, now it's the Department of Revenue are the sheriffs for them.
Lucas Faust:
And you're familiar with the Department of Revenue there, those regulations, that type of stuff. That's the type of thing that you can handle.
Mark Jette:
Well, as familiar as people can be. That's the interesting thing about it right now is the department is writing those regulations scrambling to get them done by January 1st. And so we're just scrambling to keep up with the department.
Lucas Faust:
But being ahead of the game, it's better to take some preemptive steps. It's always better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission sometimes.
Mark Jette:
Sometimes, yes.
Lucas Faust:
You should probably know what the rules are before you get in this game, is that pretty fair to say, Mark?
Mark Jette:
Absolutely.
Lucas Faust:
Okay. Hey, what do you like most about practicing law? What gets you back to the office every day and not say I'm going to go fishing instead?
Mark Jette:
Well, I like to learn and I like to help people solve problems. Just about every day we're in here, people come in with some of the biggest problems they've ever had in their life and they say, "You know what? I don't know what to do. I don't know how to handle this." And it's very fulfilling to be able to jump in and say, "Okay, you know what, we can handle this one. We can solve this one, develop a plan." And help get them through some of the biggest problems of their life. And they feel a sense of relief and they thank me, "I don't know what I would've done without your help." And that's a really fulfilling feeling.
Lucas Faust:
Hey, sounds like the same reasons I'm in this business. That's just great. Let's talk a little bit about if someone is watching this video and they may be setting up an appointment with your office, two things. First, who are they going to encounter? And secondly, what should they plan on bringing with themselves? And then we'll start with a professional licensure situation. First, again, who are they going to contact to work through the system? And secondly, what should they bring with them when they show up?
Mark Jette:
You bet. When folks call, they get routed to the front desk. From the front desk, they go to our intake specialist, Sam, and Samara has a short conversation just to make sure that we could possibly be a good fit. And then she schedules us for a one hour initial consultation. And when folks show up to that initial consultation, it's very helpful for us to bring all of the relevant documents that are associated with the matter that you want to talk about. Bring a list of all the people involved and their contact information that we need to get ahold of. And perhaps most importantly, think about deadlines. If there are any deadlines that the people are working under, we need to know about that. If we need to respond within five days, that's a lot different than if we need to respond in 30 days.
Lucas Faust:
And a list and any correspondence letters they've had with a licensing agency, I suspect that's important.
Mark Jette:
Absolutely. Yep. Anything that has anything to do with that matter may as well bring it in and we can go through the information and determine whether it's relevant or not.
Lucas Faust:
Okay. Well, Mark, listen, I want to thank you for being our attorney of the month. We really appreciate it. And in the future, I'll be sending folks your direction. But just so we have it on hand in a case they don't [inaudible 00:07:55], what's your contact information? How do they get a hold of your office? What's your phone number and email address?
Mark Jette:
You bet. Best email address for me is Mark with a K at mttaxlaw.com. So [email protected].
Lucas Faust:
Two Ts in there. MTTax. Got it.
Mark Jette:
Perfect.
Lucas Faust:
No space.
Mark Jette:
Yeah, no space. Good phone number for me is (406) 396-1540.
Lucas Faust:
All right, well Mark, listen, thanks again. We do appreciate it and good luck to you and thanks again for being our lawyer of the month. Appreciate it.
Mark Jette:
Thanks Lucas. I appreciate it. Have a good day.