After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maine in 1976, and from the University of Maine School of Law in 1980, Leigh Saufley practiced in a small law firm in Ellsworth and served in the Maine Attorney General’s Office.
She was appointed to the Maine District Court in 1990, to the Maine Superior Court in 1993. In 2001 she was sworn in as Maine’s first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court by Governor Angus King.
She was reappointed to three terms by several Governors. Saufley served as Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court 2001 through April 14, 2020. During her tenure, she was appointed by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the 14-member Federal-State Jurisdiction Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States.
Leigh Saufley became Dean of the University of the Maine School of Law. In 2020.
Additional resources
“Leigh I. Saufley.” https://mainelaw.maine.edu/faculty/profile/saufley-leigh/ (accessed December 8, 2020.