Karla M. Gray

Karla Marie Gray (May 10, 1947 – February 19, 2017) was an American attorney and judge who served as the chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court; she was the first woman to serve as Chief Justice and to be elected to the Montana Supreme Court.

Background Gray was born in Escanaba, Michigan. She attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo from 1965 to 1970, earning a B.A. and an M.A. in African history.

Gray helped found the national Self Represented Litigants Network as well as co-authoring the nationwide judges’ manual on Self-Represented Litigants.

The State Bar of Montana established the annual Karla M. Gray Award. It is given by the Supreme Court's Access to Justice Commission to a judge who has advanced access to Montana's courts.

Personal life Gray and Myron Currie married in Butte in 1979 and remained married until her death in Helena, Montana, on February 19, 2017. The cause of death was cancer. She was 69.