John Amsden is a native of eastern Montana, a graduate of Montana State University in Civil Engineering and a 1988 honors graduate of Georgetown University Law School, where he served as Administrative Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. Beginning in 1988, John practiced law in Los Angeles, California, where his practice concentrated on litigation and trial of complex business disputes. John has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in large, complex partnership disputes, federal and state securities litigation, accountant malpractice and insurance coverage. In 2001, John moved to Bozeman and joined the law firm of Monte D. Beck, for whom he worked as a clerk 20 years ago. John’s current practice is limited to representing plaintiffs in cases involving pension fraud, hospital liability, medical malpractice, automobile crashworthiness, product liability and general personal injury matters. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America.

Lawrence Anderson earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1974. Mr. Anderson practices in Great Falls concentrating in the areas of complex torts, insurance claims practices and class litigation. Larry is an advocate member of MTLA and a member of AAJ’s Leader’s Forum. He represents Montana on AAJ’s Board of Governors. Mr. Anderson has served on MTLA’s Board of Directors since 1997 and has served as its President. He has chaired MTLA’s Amicus Committee since 2000.

J. Jude Basile is the founder of The Basile Law Firm in San Luis Obispo, California. He has received Outstanding Trial Lawyer Awards 7 times and has been named Trial Lawyer of the Year 3 times. He has represented individuals and families in private practice since 1985. Mr. Basile practices in the areas of catastrophic injury, wrongful death and financial injury. His cases seek to make the community safer. Mr. Basile is a member of the American Association for Justice, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles and Central Coast Trial Lawyers among other professional associations. He is a member of the Black War Bonnet Society, an exclusive group of trial lawyers for the people. He earned his law degree, with honors, from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. He volunteers as president and heads the curriculum committee of the non-profit Trial Lawyers College founded by legendary lawyer Gerry Spence.

Lindsay Beck, a native Montanan from Bozeman, interned at the American Civil Liberties Union legal office while a student. Ms. Beck earned her law degree from the University of Montana in 2009. Her studies concentrated on negligence law, product liability, insurance and environmental law, interests she pursues in her practice at the Beck & Amsden firm. She is a member of the Montana State Bar and Montana Trial Lawyers Association.

Steve Bullock was sworn in as Montana’s 20th Attorney General on January 5, 2009. Bullock began his career in public service in 1996 as chief legal counsel to the Montana Secretary of State. He went on to serve four years with the Montana Department of Justice first as executive assistant attorney general, and later (1997-2001) as acting chief deputy. During this time he also served as legislative director, coordinating the Attorney General’s legislative efforts. From 2001 to 2004, Bullock practiced law with the Washington, DC, firm of Steptoe & Johnson. While there, he also served as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Law. Prior to his election as Attorney General, Bullock was in private practice in Helena where he represented individuals, consumer organizations, labor unions, peace officers, associations of political subdivisions, and small and large businesses. He earned his law degree from Columbia University Law School.

Hon. Justice Patricia O’Brien Cotter was born in South Bend, Indiana. She graduated from Western Michigan University with a B.S. in Political Science and History in 1972 and from Notre Dame Law School in 1977. After practicing law in South Bend, she and her husband Michael moved to Montana in 1983 and began practicing law in Great Falls in 1984 with John Hoyt. In 1985, they established the law firm of Cotter & Cotter. Justice Cotter was twice honored with the MTLA Public Service Award, and also received the group’s Appellate Advocacy Award in 1999, after chairing the group’s Amicus Curiae committee for 7 years. From 1996 to 1998, she served as chair of Montana’s lawyer representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. In 2006, Justice Cotter was presented with the Edward C. Alexander Award for distinguished legal service and professionalism by the Cascade County Bar Association. Justice Cotter won election to the Montana Supreme Court in 2000 and was re-elected in 2008.

John Heenan practices in Billings, Montana, focusing his practice on consumer law, including: consumer class actions, debt collection and mortgage foreclosure defense, debt collection harassment, identity theft, and unfair trade practices. He has served as co-lead counsel on several successful consumer class action cases. In 2009, he received a verdict of $311,000 on behalf of a disabled Montanan subjected to debt collection harassment, one of the largest reported debt collection verdicts ever. John had the privilege to learn under Judge Richard Cebull as a law clerk and Cliff Edwards as an associate attorney prior to founding his private consumer law practice.

Chief Justice Mike McGrath was raised in Butte, Montana. He earned a degree in business administration from the University of Montana in 1970 and graduated from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1975. Following graduation from law school he worked as a Reginald Heber Smith Community lawyer fellow in Reno, Nevada, providing legal services to low-income clients. He served in the United States Air Force from 1970 until an honorable discharge in 1972. He was a Montana Assistant Attorney General from 1977 to 1982. He was elected to five terms as Lewis and Clark County Attorney beginning in 1983. He was elected to two terms as Montana Attorney General. As Attorney General he served from 2000 to 2008, oversaw a staff of more than 700 employees and focused on methamphetamine prevention and natural resource and land issues. Mike McGrath was elected to an eight-year term as Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court in November, 2008.

Prof. Greg Munro regularly researches and writes the quarterly Insurance Consumer Counsel’s Column for Trial Trends. Prof. Munro has published articles, a book and book chapters on topics of insurance, torts, medical-legal and legal education. He teaches Insurance Law, Trial Practice and Pretrial Advocacy at the University of Montana School of Law where he is a Professor and Director of Professional Skills. He has also taught Torts and Remedies and co-coached the law school’s national championship Trial Team from 1989 until 1999. He regularly teaches CLE for organizations of lawyers, judges and law professors. Munro is a past president and board member of MTLA. He serves on the Montana State Uniform District Court Rules Committee. He practiced plaintiff’s civil litigation in Billings for thirteen years before joining the UM School of Law in 1988.

Bina Peters grew up in Billings, MT. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Puget Sound, and studied Music and Philosophy. Bina is a proud 2009 graduate of the University of Montana School of Law. During law school, Bina interned at Montana Legal Services and worked with victims of domestic violence. A MTLA Trial Academy graduate, she currently works as the associate attorney at Foust Law Office in Bozeman.

Hon. Justice Michael E. Wheat graduated from the University of Montana School of Law in 1978. He practiced as deputy county attorney in Butte from 1978 until 1981, then moved to Bozeman and entered private practice with Mike Cok (now Cok & Kinzler). Justice Wheat’s law practice focused primarily on personal injury, products liability, and insurance litigation. He served in the Montana State Senate in 2003 and 2005, and served as chair of the Judiciary Committee during the 2005 Session. During the interim he served on the Law & Justice Committee, which worked extensively on developing legislation for the 2005 Session which created a state-wide Public Defender system. Justice Wheat was appointed to the Montana Supreme Court in January 2010 and is running for re-election in November. He is a past president of MTLA.