Chief Justice Karla M. Gray
Chief Justice Karla Gray was born in Escanaba, Michigan, on May 10, 1947. She attended
Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1965-1970, receiving a B.A. and an M.A.,
the latter in African History. Chief Justice Gray worked as a clerk-matron in the Mountain View (California)
Police Department prior to attending Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco where she served as an
articles editor of the Hastings Law Review. She received her J.D. degree in 1976 and moved to
Butte, Montana, to serve as a law clerk for Senior United States District Court Judge W.D. Murray until 1977.
Chief Justice Gray continued to practice law in Butte in a number of different capacities, including in-house corporate legal staff and a solo practice. She also lobbied at the Montana Legislature during the 1980s for various entities including the Montana Power Company and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association.
Chief Justice Gray was appointed to the Montana Supreme Court in 1991, and elected to her seat in 1992 and again in 1998. She ran successfully for Chief Justice in 2000. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Conference of Chief Justices and the American Judicature Society, as well as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the National Association of Women Judges. Her primary law-related interest-aside from her work as a Justice and Chief Justice on the Court--is access to justice for all Montanans.
Chief Justice Gray is married to Myron Currie.
