Jory C. Ruggiero, Esq.

Since 1998, Jory Ruggiero’s practice has emphasized environmental protection, insurance bad faith, and personal injury litigation. Formerly a partner at the Bozeman law firm of Beck, Amsden and Ruggiero, Jory formed Western Justice Associates, PLLC in 2008.

Jory has served as President of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association and sits on the national board of directors of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). He is listed in Best Lawyers in America. Jory has also served on the board of directors for the Montana Trial Lawyers Association and as the Western Montana Representative of the Natural Resources Section of the Montana Bar Association. He is a member of numerous professional organizations and the bars of the State of Montana, the U.S. District Courts in Montana and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jory earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Montana, where he served as Editor of the Public Land and Resources Law Review and as a member of the law school’s competitive negotiation team. Before beginning his civil litigation practice, he did legal work for the United Nations Environmental Programme in Nairobi, Kenya; for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in Missoula, Montana; and for a host of non-profit environmental protection groups throughout the West.

Prior to studying law, Jory worked as a biologist for the U.S. Forest Service, as a backcountry ranger for the National Park Service, and as an ethnographer in northwest Alaska. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in Biology from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Science degree with high honors and an emphasis in Aquatic Ecology from the University of Montana. Jory has published natural history writing, ethnographic essays, and natural resource law articles.

Jory chooses to make his home in Bozeman, Montana for the skiing, backpacking, boating, fly fishing, and other wilderness recreation opportunities.