Justice W. William Leaphart
Justice W. William Leaphart
was born in Butte, Montana, on December 3, 1946. He attended Whitman College, 1965-1966, and the University of Montana 1966-1969,
where he received a B.A. in Liberal Arts. He attended the University of Montana Law School where he served as an associate
editor of the Montana Law Review. He received a J.D. from the University of Montana School of Law in 1972. He then served as
a Law Clerk to Senior United States District Court Judge W. D. Murray in Butte, Montana, 1972-1974.
Justice Leaphart engaged in the general practice of law for 21 years with his father, C. W. Leaphart, in Helena, Montana, where he worked as a public defender and represented individuals and small businesses. As a practitioner, he had extensive experience in handling appeals with more than 50 appeals to the state and federal courts-- including two oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court.
He was elected to the Montana Supreme Court in 1994 and was re-elected to a second term in November, 2002. He is a judicial member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and a member of the American Law Institute.
Justice Leaphart and his wife, Babs, are the parents of three daughters, Rebecca, Retta and Ada.
