The Nature of the Beast and the Business of Law

Practice Areas

The LionWood Approach

Tax Law: including tax controversies and IRS disputes
Business Planning: entity formation including LLCs, partnerships, and corporations; partnership and operating agreements, business buy/sell contracts
Probate
Estate Planning: power of attorney, wills, trusts, and family limited partnerships
Elder Law: Medicaid planning, special needs trusts
Real Estate and Real Property law
Non-Profit 501(c)(3) formation

The LionWood Approach

I grew up watching a Montana attorney in action. My father would make ranch calls and sit around the kitchen table helping clients with their legal needs. He would make trips to the nursing home, walk irrigation ditches, and occasionally help during calving season. When I opened LionWood in Stevensville, this is the type of relationship that I wanted to have with my clients. Running a law office is business like any other, but the level of trust needed between an attorney and client takes time to build.

About me

CM Russel's "Waiting for a Chinook" also known as "Last of the 5000" public domain

A little bit about my roots in the state:

Louis Stadler arrived by riverboat to the Montana Territory in 1866. Just seventeen years old, he left his native land of Austria intent on making his own name and fortune. He settled in Helena and within a few years, along with his friend and partner Louis Kaufman, Stadler established the Helena Meat Company, in business for 61 years. The partners ran a large cattle operation in the Judith basin. During the hard winter of 1886-1887, when the partners inquired about the state of the herd, a young cowboy named Charles Marion Russell sent a response on a piece of cardboard with one of his most iconic drawings, later titled “Waiting for a Chinook.” That brutal winter signaled the end of the open range era.

John Masar, Attorney

A little bit more about your attorney:

I am a 5th generation Montanan and 4th generation Montana attorney. I grew up in Deer Lodge, in Powell County and later moved to Missoula when I was in high school. I have lived in diverse places such as Atlanta GA, Washington DC/Maryland, and Sacramento CA. While in California I was privileged to meet....wait for it....some of the nicest, and most down-to-earth people, and I was honored to call them friends and neighbors. I married into a wonderful Bitterroot family and have four school age children. I am proud to call the Bitterroot Valley home.

I also need to get it off my chest that I have developed an obsession with tractor implements and attachments. It has the potential to get out of hand. My wife is monitoring the situation.

Bar Admissions

Montana

U.S. District Court District of Montana

Education

LL.M. in Tax Law - University of Alabama School of Law, Cum Laude

(an LL.M. is an additional law degree concentrating in a specific area of law)

J.D. - University of Montana School of Law, ABIII

B.A. - St. John's College, Annapolis MD

Member

BETTR section of MT Bar Association (Business, Estates, Trusts, Tax Real Property)

Health Care Law section of MT Bar Assoc.