Rebecca White Berch (born June 29, 1955) is a former justice of the

Arizona Supreme Court The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justice i ...

. On July 1, 2009, she began a five-year term as chief justice, a position to which she was elected by her peers on the court. As chief justice, she succeeded

Ruth McGregor Ruth Van Roekel McGregor (born April 4, 1943) is an American lawyer and former justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. Legal education and experience McGregor received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa in 1964, a Master of Arts from t ...

. She concluded her service as Arizona's chief justice in July 2014 when she passed the gavel to new Chief Justice Scott Bales. Berch had been a justice of the state's highest court since March 2002, when she was appointed to the court by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

governor

Jane Dee Hull Jane Dee Hull (; August 8, 1935 – April 16, 2020) was an American politician and educator. In 1997, she ascended to the office of governor of Arizona following the resignation of Fife Symington, becoming the state's 20th governor. Hull was ...

. She retired in September 2015.

Early life

Berch was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, the daughter of Robert Eugene and Janet Kay (née Zimmerman) White. She married Michael Allen Berch on March 9, 1981. 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 1976, 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 ...

in 1979 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1990 all from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

.AZ Judges' bio
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Professional career

Berch began her career as an associate and partner with the firm McGroder, Tryon, Heller, Rayes & Berch from 1979 to 1985 before serving as director of the legal writing program at the Arizona State University College of Law from 1986 to 1991 and 1994 to 1995. She served as solicitor general for the State of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, from 1991 to 1994, as special counsel to the Arizona attorney general from 1995 to 1996 and as first assistant Arizona attorney general from 1996 to 1998. Berch joined the bench as a judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division I, from April 1998 to March 2002. She served as a justice of the Arizona Supreme Court from April 2002 to June 2005 before becoming vice chief justice in June 2005.Justice Berch bio from the Arizona Supreme Court
/ref> Berch retired from the Supreme Court in September 2015.

Awards and associations

Awards

*2003 Rebecca White Berch Pro Bono Suite, Arizona State University College of Law *2002 Distinguished Achievement Award, Arizona State University College of Law *2002 Outstanding Alumnus, Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences *2002 Professional Achievement and Contributions Award, Arizona Women Lawyers' Association *1999-2000 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award, Arizona State University College of Law *1998 General Appreciation Award, National Association of Attorneys *1998 Outstanding Service Award, Arizona Attorney General's Office *1994 Distinguished Service Award, Arizona State University College of Law *1992 Outstanding Attorney of the Year, Arizona Attorney General's Office *1992 Outstanding Service Award, Arizona Attorney General’s Office

Associations

*Chair, Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments *Board of Directors, US Conference of Chief Justices *Former Chair, Commission on Technology *Former Chair, Maricopa County Trial Court Appointments *Member, Commission on Judicial Conduct *Member, Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee *Board of Trustees, National Conference of Bar Examiners
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External links

Arizona Supreme Court website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berch, Rebecca White 1955 births Living people 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Arizona Republicans Arizona state court judges Arizona State University alumni Chief Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law alumni Women chief justices of state supreme courts in the United States 21st-century American women judges