Michael McGrath (born August 22, 1947) is an American lawyer and judge who has served as the chief justice of the

Montana Supreme Court The Montana Supreme Court is the supreme court, highest court of the state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court wh ...

since 2009. He was elected in 2008. He also served as the

Attorney General of Montana The Montana Department of Justice is a state law enforcement agency of Montana. The Department is equivalent to the State Bureau of Investigation in other states. The Montana Attorney General, currently Republican Austin Knudsen, heads the agen ...

from 2000 to 2008. He is a veteran of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Early life and education

A native of

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

, McGrath graduated from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in business administration in 1970 and received his

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 ...

from

Gonzaga University School of Law The Gonzaga University School of Law (also known as Gonzaga Law or GU Law) is the professional school for the study of law at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Established in 1912, the Jesuit-affiliated law school has been fully accredi ...

in 1975. He is the recipient of the 2021 Gonzaga Law Medal.

Legal career

He was a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

from 1975 to 1976, and Montana's Assistant Attorney General from 1976 to 1982. He served as

County Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

for

Lewis and Clark County Lewis and Clark County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 70,973. Its county seat is Helena, Montana, Helena, the state capital. The nume ...

for five terms spanning 1982 to 2000. In his eighteen years as a prosecutor, McGrath focused on family violence issues, including

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

and sexual assault of children. He ran for

Governor of Montana The governor of Montana is the head of government of MontanaMontana Constitution, Article VI, Section 4. and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Montana National Guard, military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, but lost in the Democratic primary to former

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

Dorothy Bradley Dorothy Maynard Bradley (born February 24, 1947) is an American former politician from Montana. She was elected to eight terms in the Montana House of Representatives, serving from 1971 to 1978 and 1985 to 1992. Bradley now lives in Clyde Park, M ...

, who in turn lost the general election to

Marc Racicot Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

. He is a former chair of the Conference of Western Attorneys General and served as president of the Montana County Attorneys' Association.

Personal life

He and his wife Joy have two sons and five grandchildren.

References

Chief Justice Mike McGrath Biography

Mike McGrath (MT)] at Project Vote Smart *

Montana Department of Justice The Montana Department of Justice is a state law enforcement agency of Montana. The Department is equivalent to the State Bureau of Investigation in other states. The Montana Attorney General, currently Republican Austin Knudsen, heads the agen ...

Wikipedia article on McGrath term start/end dates , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Mike 1947 births Living people 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Chief Justices of the Montana Supreme Court Gonzaga University School of Law alumni Montana Attorneys General Montana Democrats Politicians from Butte, Montana United States Air Force officers University of Montana alumni

Early life and education

Legal career

Personal life

See also

References