Tahoe, thanks for the post, and Corney, for the earlier history.
One interesting thing here is "Jehovah's Witness attorney Kathleen DeSoto." So the GB has okayed the use of a female Witness attorney here. I've heard of Carolyn Wah doing stuff for them in their Legal Department, but this use of DeSoto, a woman officially representing them in court, seems pretty rare. I cannot help but wonder the motives here. Is it just that there are not many Witness lawyers who are licensed and practice in Montana so they are "stuck" with her? Or maybe the GB think that by using a female lawyer, this will help their case?
It's also of interest that the opposition counsel Storey has noted the change in procedure by the GB/org. The org likes to hide this fact because their old policies make them look bad.