Kathleen Smithgall Lane at a glance
- Current role
- Judge
- Court
- U.S. District Court for the District of Montana
- Jurisdiction
- Montana · Federal
- Judicial service
- June 18, 2026–present
Kathleen Smithgall Lane
Judge · U.S. District Court for the District of Montana
Available research
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Biography
Professional career
- Professional Career: Private practice, Arlington, Virginia, 2023-2025
- Professional Career: Deputy solicitor general, State of Montana, 2022-2023
- Professional Career: Law clerk, Hon. Timothy M. Tymkovich, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 2018-2019
- Professional Career: Law clerk, Hon. Thomas A. Varlan, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, 2017-2018
- Professional Career: Private practice, Washington, D.C., 2020-2021
- Professional Career: Assistant solicitor general, State of Montana, 2021-2022
Education
- Furman University · B.A., 2014
- George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School · J.D., 2017
Courtroom rules and guidance
Courtroom Technology
Courtwide presentation-related guidance applies to this judge.
Courtroom Technology . The District of Montana provides electronic evidence presentation capabilities in the main courtrooms of each courthouse, as well as in Magistrate courtrooms in Billings, Great Falls, and Missoula. The courtrooms have document cameras for paper, x-ray or photographs, connections for computer-based evidence, ergonomic podiums and witness stands with touch-screen displays for annotation…Courtroom Technology | District of Montana | United States District Court ↗
Civil Remote Testimony
In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards.
For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location.Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court ↗
Criminal Recording And Broadcasting
Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception.
Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited ↗
Sources
Federal Judicial Center biography
Identity source · HTML · checked July 25, 2026
https://www.fjc.gov/node/13762128Courtroom Technology | District of Montana | United States District Court
Judge research source · HTML · checked July 24, 2026
https://www.mtd.uscourts.gov/courtroom-technologyFederal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court
Judge research source · HTML · checked July 26, 2026
https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedureFederal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited
Judge research source · HTML · checked July 26, 2026
https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts