Beth was born and grew up in Spokane, Washington. She earned a bachelor's degree magna cum laude in Speech Communication from the University of Washington in 1982, and received her Juris Doctor degree with high honors from the University of Montana School of Law in 1985. After law school, she clerked for now-Senior U.S. District Court Judge Charles Lovell in Helena from 1984-1989.

Beth then started work as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Montana, where she initially focused on appellate practice. During her more than eleven years at the Attorney General’s Office, Beth represented the State of Montana in a wide variety of civil and criminal cases, involving issues ranging from evidence and criminal procedure to civil rights and election law. Beth also represented the Montana Department of Justice before the State Legislature during five regular and several special legislative sessions. She was Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General from 1993 through 1996 and Chief Deputy Attorney General from 1997 until October 2000.

Beth joined HKSA in November 2000. Her practice areas include administrative law and civil litigation, with an emphasis on governmental liability in tort and civil rights cases. Additionally, her appellate practice has entailed many appearances before the Montana Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Beth was admitted to practice in the State of Montana in 1985; the U.S. District Court of Montana in 1989; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1990; and the United States Supreme Court in 1990.

Beth's professional and civic activities include serving on the Board of Directors of the Montana Justice Foundation and memberships in the State Bar Access to Justice Committee; the First Judicial District Bar Association Pro Bono Committee; and the U.S. District Court Local Rules Committee for the District of Montana. She is a long-time volunteer for Montana Legal Services Association, handling cases without fee for Montanans who cannot otherwise afford an attorney.

In 2006, Beth received the State Bar of Montana’s Professionalism Award “for establishing a reputation and a tradition of professionalism as defined by Dean Roscoe Pound: the pursuit of a learned art as a common calling in the spirit of public service.”

Outside her office, Beth enjoys practicing and teaching yoga, gardening, cooking, cross-country skiing, and backpacking and hiking with her husband, Tim, and their two Labrador Retrievers.