All proceedings and hearings before the Court are governed by the appropriate provisions of the Montana Administrative Procedure Act. The Court is bound by common law and the statutory rules of evidence. In workers' compensation regulatory matters over which the DLI has original jurisdiction, the Court acts as an appellate court, conducting judicial review. The Workers' Compensation Judge serves a six-year term and is appointed by the Governor from a list of nominees submitted by the Judicial Nomination Commission. The Workers' Compensation Judge must have the same qualifications necessary to hold the office of district court judge.
Statute grants the judge all of the privileges and other emoluments afforded a district judge.
He attended the University of Colorado from 1966 to 1970, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science. While attending college he married Dorothy Bickel McCarter, who is now a district court judge for the First Judicial District of Montana. He was also elected Phi Beta Kappa. Thereafter, he was an associate, then a partner in a small Boston law firm engaged in general practice with litigation emphasis. His association with the firm ended in February 1977, when he became an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Montana, a position in which he served until April 1982.