Carol A. Beier (born September 27, 1958) is a former Justice of the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the sta ...

appointed by Governor

Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...

. She took office September 5, 2003 to replace retiring Justice Bob Abbott. She retired from the court on September 18, 2020.

Education

She earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Journalism at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1981. Beier later went on to obtain a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

at KU in 1985 and an

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

, at

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

in 2004. Justice Beier currently resides in Topeka with her husband Richard W. Green.

Legal career

After earning her bachelor's, Beier spent two years working for the

Kansas City Times The ''Kansas City Times'' was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, published from 1867 to 1990. The morning ''Kansas City Times'', under ownership of the afternoon ''Kansas City Star'', won two Pulitzer Prizes and was bigger than its par ...

. Upon obtaining her

she served as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to then Judge

James Kenneth Logan James Kenneth Logan (August 21, 1929 – September 8, 2018) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Education and career Born in Quenemo, Kansas, Logan was a Corporal in the United States A ...

of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Distri ...

. She started her career as a Staff Attorney in Litigation and Legislation Practice at the

National Women's Law Center The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) is a United States non-profit organization founded by Marcia Greenberger in 1972 and based in Washington, D.C. The Center advocates for women's rights and LGBTQ rights through litigation and policy initiati ...

through the Women's Rights and Public Policy fellowship program of the Georgetown University Law Center. After finishing the fellowship she entered private practice focusing on

white collar criminal defense The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

for Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 1987 to 1988. She came back to Kansas in 1988 and practiced litigation concentrating on commercial disputes and health care law at Foulston & Siefkin L.L.P. in Wichita eventually becoming a partner at the firm.

Judicial career

In 2000 Beier was appointed to the

Kansas Court of Appeals The Kansas Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Kansas. History The Kansas Legislature created the first Kansas Court of Appeals in 1895, to help the Kansas Supreme Court with an increasingly heavy casel ...

where she served until being named to the Kansas Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Bob Abbott in 2003. In 2004 she retained her seat with 702,423 (76.4%) for her and 215,948 (23.5%) opposed. In June 2020, Beier announced her retirement from the

, effective September 18, 2020.

Memberships

Beier is a member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

, American Judicature Society,

American Bar Foundation The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is an independent, nonprofit national research institute established in 1952 and located in Chicago. Its mission is to expand knowledge and advance justice by supporting innovative, interdisciplinary and rigorous ...

, National Association of Women Judges,

Kansas Bar Association The Kansas Bar Association (KBA) is a voluntary, non-profit bar association for the state of Kansas with the headquarters located in The Robert L. Gernon Law Center at 12th and Harrison St. in Topeka. The KBA has approximately 6,500 members and ...

, D.C. Bar, Kansas Women Attorneys Association, the Wichita and Topeka Bar Associations, and the Institute of Judicial Administration at

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

Personal life

Beier was born September 27, 1958 in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

References

External links

Official Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beier, Carol A. 1958 births Living people People from Kansas City, Kansas Kansas Court of Appeals Judges Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court University of Kansas alumni Kansas lawyers University of Virginia School of Law alumni American women lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges