Janel Falk Chin
Peaks and Valleys, PLLC
Janel F. Chin provides comprehensive legal guidance to clients as they navigate the peaks and valleys of their lives. More than just a will, a contract or documents to probate an estate, Janel provides her clients with comprehensive legal services and guidance to help them navigate the peaks and valleys of their lives. Janel's legal experiences since becoming a member of the Montana State Bar in 2012 have been focused exclusively on providing family, estate planning and probate legal services at a reasonable cost.
Formerly admitted to practice law in Colorado, Janel has experience representing to non-immigrant crime victims applying for "u-visas as well as in the Broomfield District Attorney's Office where she made weekly court appearances on misdemeanor traffic cases and witnessed Deputy District Attorneys on traffic, domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
Previously, at the University of Colorado's Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement Janel served as an "Outreach Coordinator." There she developed programs addressing high school retention and student access to post-secondary education.
Alternative dispute resolution has been an area of focus for Janel during her undergraduate and legal education. Janel spent several years as a facilitator with the a restorative justice program at the University of Colorado guiding students through the process of forming reparative agreements to start the process of repairing the harms they had caused. Janel also received mediation training through Boulder Community Mediation Services.
Janel supplemented both my environmental science and legal educations with work as a Research Associate and Research Assistant. Most of the projects she worked on dealt with Federal Indian law and natural resource management disputes.
Janel and her family enjoy living in Missoula where she is kept busy with her law practice and volunteer activities in the community.
- Estate Planning
- Guardianship & Conservatorship Estate Administration, Health Care Directives, Trusts, Wills
- Probate
- Probate Administration, Probate Litigation, Will Contests
- Native American Law
- Family Law
- Adoption, Child Custody, Child Support, Father's Rights, Guardianship & Conservatorship, Paternity, Prenups & Marital Agreements, Restraining Orders, Same Sex Family Law
- Divorce
- Collaborative Law, Contested Divorce, Military Divorce, Property Division, Same Sex Divorce, Spousal Support & Alimony, Uncontested Divorce
- Free Consultation
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Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
I am happy to work with clients to ensure that my legal fees are reasonable and offer payments plans.
- Colorado
- Colorado Supreme Court
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- Montana
- State Bar of Montana
- ID Number: 12385
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- Owner
- Peaks and Valleys, PLLC
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- Missoula attorney, Janel F. Chin is committed to helping her clients navigate the peaks and valleys of their lives by offering reasonably priced legal services. She is currently accepting new family law, probate and estate planning clients.
- Of Counsel
- Matrium Law Group
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- Provided comprehensive legal services to estate planning, probate and family law clients at Matrium Law Group, PLLC. MLG is a small law firm, located in Missoula, Montana that specializes in estate planning, family law, elder law and probate.
- Outreach Coordinator
- University of Colorado Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement
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- Supported university and community initiatives to address high school retention and access to post-secondary education. Cultivated partnerships between Colorado colleges and universities and under-served high schools. Develop school-based civic education programs. Coordinated events and initiatives to engage and educate the campus and community on access and retention issues.
- Law Clerk
- Broomfield District Attorney's Office
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- Made weekly court appearances on misdemeanor traffic cases and witnessed Deputy District Attorneys on traffic, domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
- University of Colorado - Boulder
- J.D. (2007) | Alternative Dispute Resolution, Federal Indian and Natural Resource Law
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- Janel's legal education continued her study of Federal Indian Law and the management of natural resource disputes but she also focused more in depth studies on topics such as alternative dispute resolution, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and the American Indian Probate Act.
- Activities: - Law Clerk for the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Broomfield Colorado where I made weekly court appearances on misdemeanor traffic cases and witnessed Deputy District Attorneys on traffic, domestic violence and sexual assault cases. - Extern in the Natural Resources Division of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office in Denver, Colorado where I wrote research memorandums addressing attorneys’ legal questions related to hunting and fishing easements and hazardous waste storage and clean-up. - Research Assistant at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado where I wrote research memorandums and revised book chapters for Dean David Getches in preparation for his forthcoming edition of Water Law In A Nutshell. Wrote research memorandums, cite-checked law review articles and book chapters, compiled bibliographies and prepared materials for presentations for Professor Sarah Krakoff’s research involving: • economic development in Indian Country • Cobell v. Norton, a class action suit by American Indians against Department of the Interior and the Treasury for breach of statutory and common law trust obligations in the management of lands the federal government holds in trust • justifications for President George W. Bush’s recent expansions of executive power contained within the ‘Torture Memos’ • the European Union and its Treaty for a European Constitution • United States Supreme Court case Richards v. Prairie Band Potawatomi involving the State of Kansas’ attempt to tax motor fuels sold by the tribe on their reservation • Professor Krakoff’s publications: o City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York: A Regretful Postscript to the Taxation Chapter in Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law o Fragmentation, Morality and the Law of Global Warming o Repairing Reparations in the American Indian Nation Context aw • Native American Law Student Association Treasurer • Volunteer researcher for the Colorado State Public Defender Clinical Work: • Student Attorney at the American Indian Law Clinic: worked on cases involving issues of Federal Indian Law, assisted tribes in writing tribal codes, helped host community education seminars on current issues in Federal Indian Law • Prepared a brochure and other written materials and gave a presentation about alternative dispute resolution for Habitat for Humanity Homeowners Restorative Justice Facilitator in CU;s Restorative Justice Program in Boulder, CO. Also received training in the mediation (via Boulder Community Mediation Services). Guided University of Colorado students who had been referred to the program by the courts through the process of forming reparative agreements who those harmed by their offenses.
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- University of Idaho
- B.S. (2003) | Environmental Science - Social Sciences
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- Honors: Outstanding Student of the Year for 2003 in the Environmental Science Program - Published: The Importance of Equity in Cross-Cultural Research, Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science and Philosophic Frameworks for Understanding Time: Cultural Considerations for Inclusive Social Science Research The National Conferences on Undergraduate Research
- Activities: - Competed in Cross Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field for NCAA Division I Big West Region - Served on the Board of Directors for local non-profit: Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute
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- North Idaho College
- A.S. (2001)
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- Honors: - President and Senator of the Associated Students of North Idaho College - 2001 Commencement Speaker
- Activities: - Cross County, Indoor and Outdoor track athlete
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