Our Practice

Brian Ortega is a transactional attorney who assists his clients in meeting their goals, while minimizing both legal risk and tax liability. Brian’s practice areas focus on assisting businesses and with business transactions, real estate, tax, liquor and gambling, marijuana, estate planning and trusts, succession planning, and contracts. It is Brian’s passion to be an advisor for the client, since clients are often looking for and need more than just an attorney. Brian is licensed to practice law in Montana and Washington and is a licensed CPA in Montana.

Brian grew up in Butte, Montana. He received a Masters of Professional Accountancy and his B.S. in Accounting from Montana State University. After graduating, he worked as a CPA for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in San Jose, California, auditing financial statements. Being an auditor exposed Brian to the accounting and business practices of some of the largest companies in the world. Brian received his law degree at the Gonzaga School of Law and his Master’s in Tax law from the University Of Washington School Of Law.  Brian was an attorney for The Office of Chief Counsel (attorneys for the IRS) gaining valuable insight on how the IRS attorneys work. 

Brian has assisted liquor and gambling licensees regulated by the Department of Revenue, the Department of Justice, and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. His goal is to get clients through the licensing process so that the business can start making money as fast as possible. Brian’s experience as an auditor allows him valuable insight into the regulatory processes and requirements put forth by agencies to become a licensee and to remain compliant.

Previously, Brian negotiated cloud and other software/tech contracts against the biggest companies of the world while working for Oracle in Bozeman.  He will bring his experience to represent the companies of Bozeman and Montana who may not possess the resources to have an in-house counsel to assist with the negotiations of contracts and other legal matters. 

Brian enjoys playing hockey, fishing, cheering The Michigan Wolverines on in Football, and spending time with his wife and kids.

Hailing from the mountain west, Valerie was drawn to Montana’s shining rivers and lofty peaks to pursue her legal studies, graduating from University of Montana’s School of Law in 2005. Since then, Valerie strives to serve her community with delivery of legal services. 

Valerie brings 15 years of experience working closely with business clients to achieve their objectives; she is equipped to assist the business client with navigating not only the day-to-day demands of running a business, but can help with long range business planning, protection of intellectual property assets, succession planning, and risk management. She has handled multi-million dollar business and real property transactions for individual and business clients. 

Valerie is motivated to shepherd the business client through regulatory or licensing challenge, business expansion, or business purchase and sales. Valerie has served clients in the liquor/gaming industry, hospitality, and retail industries, has negotiated complicated technological contracts, and assisted with the A-Z of legal issues confronting the Montana business owner. 

After achieving her bachelor’s of science in Applied Economics and Statistics at the University of Nevada, Reno, Valerie spent time interning at the U.S. Senate and throughout her life has been keenly interested in the political process and development of policy, triggering her pursuit of a law degree. In her legal practice, Valerie closely monitors the regulatory environment and impact on her clients. 

With the launch of Montana Business Law, Valerie hopes to get back to her other passions and dust off her skis, but for now will be flexing her skills to bring her specialized legal services to the greater Gallatin Valley and across the state. 

Born in New Orleans and raised in South Louisiana, Mark grew up with a passion for the outdoors, wide travels, and great literature. After graduating from Journalism School at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Mark wrote and edited for newspapers and wire services in the United States, China, and Singapore, and traveled widely in Africa, Europe, and Asia. During those years as a journalist, he covered crime, fires, tornadoes, elections, local and state government, and wrote editorials on those topics and more. Inevitably, each story centered on a problem – a problem that eventually got solved by attorneys.

By the late 1990s, it was evident that newspaper work was on a serious decline. Mark cast about for a career change. Then he remembered that when push came to shove in all those stories, it was the attorneys that everyone turned to. Wanting to create solutions, rather than just observe problems from the sidelines, Mark enrolled in Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans. 

And thus began his legal career. 

As an attorney, Mark has represented hundreds of clients in criminal, immigration, business, and civil law courts. Always searching for the smartest solution, Mark prepares his clients for the looming possibility of lawsuits and the challenges they bring. Mark also worked on the other side of the fence, so to speak, when he became an officer and investigator for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In that role, he gained a deeper understanding of how to navigate the red tape of government services. Those experiences taught him that communication is key to helping his clients. That’s why, today, he strives to be responsive, available, and plain-spoken when it comes to the sometimes complex questions about the law.

Currently, Mark handles transactional law, lawsuits, and other business matters. He lives with his wife in Madison County, where he enjoys backcountry hiking, traditional bowhunting, and an ever-growing but happy list of chores that come with owning a few acres in southwest Montana.