Scott Bales

William Scott Bales (born July 20, 1956) is the former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court in 2005 by Governor Janet Napolitano through Arizona's merit selection system. He was elected by his fellow justices as Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, to replace Rebecca White Berch, effective June 27, 2014. Bales served as Arizona's chief justice until July 31, 2019. Early life and education Bales was born in Elkhart, Indiana and grew up in White Pigeon, Michigan. Following his 1974 graduation from White Pigeon High School, Bales graduated cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Omicron Delta Epsilon with a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University in 1978. He graduated from Harvard University with an Master of Arts in Economics in 1980. Bales earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1983. While at Harvard Law School, he was a member of the Board of Editors of the Harvard Law Review. Following law school, Bales was law clerk for the Office of the Solicitor General in 1983. He went on to clerk for Joseph T. Sneed III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. From 1984 to 1985 he was clerk for associate justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court.