Justice Baker was raised in Spokane, Washington, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication. In 1985, she graduated with high honors from the University of Montana School of Law.

Following graduation from law school, Justice Baker served four years as a law clerk for the Hon. Charles C. Lovell, U.S. District Judge for the District of Montana. From 1989 through 2000, she worked as an Assistant Attorney General for the Montana Department of Justice, including four years as Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General and four years as Chief Deputy Attorney General. Justice Baker spent the next ten years in the private practice of law with the firm of Hughes, Kellner, Sullivan and Alke.

Justice Baker served ten years on the State Bar of Montana’s Access to Justice Committee and currently serves as an ex officio director of the Montana Justice Foundation. Justice Baker now serves as the Montana Supreme Court’s representative on the Court’s Access to Justice Commission.

Justice Baker was elected to the Montana Supreme Court on November 2, 2010, and was sworn into office January 3, 2011, to fill the position of retiring Justice W. William Leaphart.