Ryan Gustafson focuses his practice on the defense of insureds and self-insureds in general liability matters, including personal injury defense, premises liability, construction defect and commercial disputes, as well as defending employers and insurers in workers’ compensation matters. Ryan has a wide range of litigation experience and has represented numerous Montana businesses, farmers and ranchers, as well as Fortune 500 companies and multinational corporations. He is admitted to practice before all Montana state and federal courts. Ryan also serves as a mediator and enjoys assisting people with resolving their disputes out-of-court.

Raised in Billings, Ryan attended the University of Montana where he obtained a B.A. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and a minor in Political Science in 2008. While an undergraduate, Ryan was a member of the University of Montana Grizzlies Football Team. Ryan obtained his J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law in 2012.

Ryan has an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™ from Martindale-Hubbell. He has been recognized as a Mountain States Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2020-2024. He has been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch from 2022-2025. He was also recognized as one of Billings Gazette’s “40 Under Forty” honorees in 2017. Ryan was past President of the Board of Directors of the Yellowstone Area Bar Association. He currently serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the University of Montana Alumni-Billings Chapter. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the HER Campaign, a nonprofit organization which provides safe homes, care, education and job opportunities for victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and sex trafficking.

Outside of Ryan’s legal practice and community involvement, he enjoys traveling, hiking, fishing, hunting, and enjoying the incredible Montana outdoors with his wife Lindsey, their sons Theo and Lincoln, and their daughter Quinn.

PRACTICE AREAS

  • Insurance Defense
  • Premises Liability
  • Products Liability
  • Construction Defect
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Workers Compensation
  • Mediation Services

EDUCATION

  • University of Montana School of Law, J.D., 2012
  • University of Montana, B.A., 2008

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • Montana
  • U.S. District Courts, Montana

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™
  • Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch, 2022-2025
  • Mountain States Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2020-2024
  • Billings Gazette “40 Under Forty” Honoree, 2017

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • American Bar Association
  • State Bar of Montana
  • Yellowstone Area Bar Association, Board of Directors
  • CLM

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

  • HER Campaign, Board of Directors
  • University of Montana Alumni-Billings Chapter, Board of Directors – Vice President

Katie Huso focuses her practice on insurance coverage and insurance defense litigation. She regularly advises insurance companies on a broad range of coverage and claims handling issues, and has achieved successful outcomes for her clients through declaratory judgment actions. She also defends insurance companies, TPAs and claims adjusters in bad faith and UTPA litigation. Katie also serves as defense counsel to insureds in a variety of matters including personal injury, wrongful death, professional negligence/E&O, dram shop/liquor liability, premises liability, defamation, toxic torts, wrongful termination, discrimination/harassment, and commercial disputes. She has represented individuals, businesses, employers and public entities in litigation throughout Montana, including trial and appeal, as well as in administrative and regulatory proceedings.

Katie has an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™ from Martindale-Hubbell. She has been recognized in Mountain States Super Lawyers every year since 2015. She was also selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America in 2025 in the area of Commercial Litigation. Katie is actively involved in her local community and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Yellowstone Area Bar Association, the Montana Justice Foundation, and the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter.

Katie was raised in Southern California but Montana has been her home since 2003. After graduating from college, Katie moved to Billings, Montana where she served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for an organization focused on reducing commercial tobacco use among Native American youth. She then attended the University of Montana School of Law, graduating in 2007. Katie’s personal interests include reading, traveling, and spending time with her husband and miniature dachshund.

PRACTICE AREAS

  • Insurance Coverage
  • Insurance Defense
  • Bad Faith/UTPA
  • Professional Negligence
  • Premises Liability
  • Commercial Litigation

EDUCATION

  • University of Montana School of Law, J.D., 2007
  • California State University Long Beach, B.A., 2003

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • Montana
  • U.S. District Courts, Montana
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™
  • Best Lawyers in America, 2025
  • Mountain States Super Lawyers, 2021-2024
  • Mountain States Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2015-2020
  • Billings Gazette “40 Under Forty” Honoree, 2016

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • American Bar Association
  • State Bar of Montana
  • Yellowstone Area Bar Association, Board of Directors
  • CLM
  • Billings Chamber of Commerce

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

  • Yellowstone Area Bar Association – Family Law Project
  • Montana Justice Foundation, Board of Directors
  • Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter, Board of Directors
  • 2019 Leadership Billings Graduate

Geoff Keller maintains primarily an insurance defense practice, representing casualty insureds and insurers, workers’ compensation insurers and employers, insurers in unfair trade practices claims, commercial litigants, and veterinarians regarding E/O claims. Geoff has served as lead counsel in the defense of unfair trade practices, casualty, product liability and veterinary malpractice matters in Montana state, federal and tribal courts, and enjoys a statewide practice. He has also testified as an expert witness in workers’ compensation claims-handling and other matters.

Geoff holds an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™ from Martindale-Hubbell in the areas of Litigation, Insurance, and Workers’ Compensation. He has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America every year since 2015 in the areas of Insurance Law and Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers. He was named Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Billings in one of his specialty practice areas in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2024. He has also been recognized in Mountain States Super Lawyers every year since 2013.

Geoff is a member of the State Bar of Montana, American Bar Association, Montana Defense Trial Lawyers Association, and Defense Research Institute.

Geoff is a native Montanan raised in the northwestern mountains and streams of Kalispell. He obtained a B.A. degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, and his J.D. degree from the University of Montana in Missoula. Geoff clerked for the Montana Workers’ Compensation Court in Helena before entering private practice as a lawyer in Billings in 1984. In 1986, he joined Carey Matovich to form the law firm that is now Matovich, Keller & Huso.

When not practicing law, Geoff and his wife Teri raft nearby white waters, and fly fish Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness.

PRACTICE AREAS

  • Insurance Coverage
  • Insurance Defense
  • Professional Liability
  • Products Liability
  • Workers Compensation

EDUCATION

  • University of Montana School of Law, J.D., 1983
  • Middlebury College, B.A., 1979

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • Montana
  • U.S. District Courts, Montana
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™
  • Best Lawyers in America, 2015-2025
  • Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Billings for Insurance Law, 2021
  • Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Billings for Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers, 2018, 2020, 2024
  • Mountain States Super Lawyers, 2013-2024

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • American Bar Association
  • State Bar of Montana
  • Yellowstone Area Bar Association
  • Montana Defense Trial Lawyers Association
  • Defense Research Institute

Carey Matovich is the founder of Matovich, Keller & Huso, P.C. and has more than 40 years of litigation and trial experience. She has a broad-based civil and appellate practice with an emphasis on insurance law and complex commercial litigation. She has served as lead counsel in numerous complex disputes in both state and federal court, including class action litigation, insurance disputes, unfair insurance trade practices, RICO, employment discrimination, wrongful termination, professional negligence, business torts, and contractual disputes. In addition, she is frequently asked to serve as a mediator in various matters.

Carey has an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™ from Martindale-Hubbell. She has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America every year since 2003 in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Labor and Employment Litigation and Bet-the-Company Litigation. She was named Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Billings in one of her specialty practice areas in 2013, 2015, 2017 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024. She has been selected for inclusion in Mountain States Super Lawyers every year since 2007. She was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women in the Mountain States region from 2010-2024, and as one of the Top 10 Lawyers in the Mountain States region from 2018-2024.

Carey is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a Fellow Emeritus of Litigation Counsel of America. She is also a former member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Throughout the course of her legal career, Carey has also been actively involved in numerous state and national bar committees and civic organizations. She served on the Board of Directors of the Montana Justice Foundation from 2015 to 2019. She was a member of the Montana Supreme Court Commission on Civil Jury Instructions from 1999 to 2024, and a member of the Montana Supreme Court Commission on Practice from 2001 to 2012. She also served as a faculty member for the Advanced Trial Advocacy Program at the University of Montana from 2000 to 2013.

Carey was raised on a cattle ranch in eastern Montana. She received her undergraduate degree and law degrees from the University of Montana, where she was a member of the 1981 championship Moot Court Team and recipient of the national award for Best Oral Advocate.

Outside of work, Carey enjoys fly fishing and camping in Montana’s wilderness areas and national parks, and international travel.

PRACTICE AREAS

  • Insurance Coverage
  • Insurance Defense
  • Professional Liability
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Employment Litigation
  • Mediation Services

EDUCATION

  • University of Montana School of Law, J.D., 1981
  • University of Montana, B.A. with honors, 1975

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • Montana
  • Colorado
  • U.S. District Courts, Montana
  • U.S. District Courts, Colorado
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™
  • Best Lawyers in America, 2003-2025
  • Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Billings for Bet-the-Company Litigation, 2015, 2018, 2021
  • Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” in Billings for Labor and Employment Litigation, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2024
  • Mountain States Super Lawyers, 2007-2024 / Top 10 Lawyers, 2018-2024 / Top 50 Women, 2010-2024
  • Montana State Bar Professionalism Award, 2007
  • Yellowstone Area Bar Association Professionalism Award, 2011
  • Yellowstone Area Bar Association Lifetime Achievement Award, 2020
  • William J. Jameson Award, 2024

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
  • American Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow Emeritus
  • Montana Supreme Court Commission on Civil Jury Instructions (1999-2024)
  • Montana Supreme Court Commission on Practice, Member (2001-2012)

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Board of Regents (2021-present)
  • Montana Justice Foundation, Board of Directors (2015-2019)
  • Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Lawyer Representative (2012-2014)
  • University of Montana School of Law, Board of Clinical Visitors (1994-2000)
  • Federal Defenders of Montana, Inc., Board of Directors (1997-2001)
  • Billings Symphony, Board of Directors (1992-1998)