OUR ATTORNEYS:
Of counsel with Richardson and O’Leary, PLLC, Betty Richardson focuses her practice on appellate law, with an emphasis on state and federal Constitutional issues. She also serves as a hearing officer, mediator, and case consultant.
In 1993, President Clinton nominated Betty as the United States Attorney for the District of Idaho, the ranking official for the Department of Justice within the State. The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed her nomination. As Idaho’s U. S. Attorney for seven years – and the first woman to hold that position – Betty served on the U.S. Attorney General’s Subcommittees on Civil Rights, Domestic Terrorism, Environmental Crimes, Juvenile Justice and Native American issues. She received the Harold Hughes Exceptional Service to Rural Communities Award from the National Institute on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
After leaving office as U.S. Attorney, Betty was the Democratic nominee for Congress from Idaho’s 1st Congressional District. She then served two years as a law clerk to Chief United States District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, District of Idaho, in his Boise chambers.
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Prior to her appointment as United States Attorney, Betty served as the attorney Commissioner on the Idaho Industrial Commission for three years. Appointed by then Governor Cecil D. Andrus, Betty was the first woman to hold that position and was elected Commission Chair in 1993. She adjudicated workers’ compensation disputes, reviewed appeals from the Department of Employment, and administered the Idaho Crime Victims Compensation Program.
Previously, Betty was engaged in private practice in Boise, Idaho, and was employed as a judicial law clerk for former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Robert C. Huntley, Jr., and the Criminal Division of the San Francisco Superior Court.
Betty is active in the legal education arena. She currently serves as the Idaho Law Foundation’s staff attorney for Continuing Legal Education program planning. Betty also speaks to community groups on various topics relating to the Constitution such as the Supreme Court and the judicial nominating process. Previously, she taught American National Government, Family Law and Constitutional Law at Boise State University.
Betty is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the Idaho State Bar, Idaho Women Lawyers, Inc., and the Idaho Legal Historical Society. She has served on the governing council of the Government and Public Lawyers Section of the Idaho State Bar, and on the Judges and Lawyers’ Representatives Committee, the Gender Fairness Committee, and the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee for the District of Idaho. Betty has received the Idaho Women Lawyer’s Kate Feltham Award honoring individuals who have made extraordinary efforts to promote equal rights and opportunities for women and minorities within the legal profession in Idaho. Betty has also received the Idaho State Bar’s Pro Bono Service Award.
A 1982 graduate of the Hastings College of Law, Betty was a teaching assistant for the Hastings Legal Education Opportunity Program and wrote for the Constitutional Law Quarterly. On graduation, Betty was named a Tony Patino Fellow in recognition of her leadership, scholarship and public service. In 1976, Betty graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in political science from the University of Idaho, where she was named an outstanding senior.
Betty is a member of the West Boise YMCA, the City Club of Boise, and the Assistance League of Boise. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Idaho Partners for Justice and the Tony Patino Fellowship. She has been recognized as an Outstanding Young Woman of America and is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the Law, and Who’s Who in the West. She has been a regular panelist on the Public Television program, “Idaho Reports,” which covers developments in the Idaho State Legislature