Cynthia Ford teaches Civil Procedure, Evidence, Remedies, and Choice of Law,
and coaches the Trial Team.
Professor Ford practiced in Billings as the first woman at Crowley, Haughey, Hanson, Toole & Dietrich from 1978 to 1983. She was fortunate to have wonderful trial lawyers as her mentors and to make several arguments to the Montana Supreme Court in her time there.
Beginning in 1983, she practiced in the litigation department of Davis Wright and Miller (now Davis Wright Tremaine) and later engaged in a solo practice on Bainbridge Island. She also served as the Chief Judge of the Suquamish Tribal Court on the Port Madison Reservation.
Professor Ford grew up in Connecticut where she learned to sail, which served her in good stead as a member of the sailing team at Dartmouth College where she was in the first class of women. She did a foreign study semester at the University of Edinburgh, where she also studied philosophy (and sailed). At the end of three years of college, having completed her undergraduate degree in English and Philosophy, she could not imagine that she would be the first philosopher to definitively determine the reason for life. Thus, she applied to law school and spent another three years avoiding the issue. Imagine her suprise when, after graduation from Cornell Law School in 1978, she actually enjoyed earning a living as a trial lawyer.
In 1990, Professor Ford accepted a position at The University of Montana School of Law. She has also taught in the Honors Evidence program at Golden Gate Law School in San Francisco and served a term as an Associate Justice on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Court of Appeals on the Flathead Reservation.
She has written articles on including Indian Law in the traditional Civil Procedure course, on Civil Procedure in Montana's Courts of Limited Jurisdiction, and on Rule 41e of the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure. She also speaks frequently at various continuing legal education seminars throughout Montana.
Professor Ford has two children, Meghann and Spencer. Now that they are away at college, she has far more time to devote to her parrot, Scarlet O'Feather, and her Irish wolfhound, Fiona. She also spends time on all manner of sports, and is always among the top three women at the Montana State Squash Championship. (There never are more than 3.)
2008 January CLE Materials
Powerpoint Presentation
Handout Materials
|
