She was appointed in December 2017 by Governor Steve Bullock to fill the seat of retiring Justice Mike Wheat.
[3] Gustafson obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Montana Law School in 1988, again with honors.
[4] Gustafson worked as a staff attorney for the Social Security Administration for two years,[1] and entered private practice in 1991.
[1] She succeeded retiring District Judge and former Montana Supreme Court justice Diane Barz.
[7] Montana Republican leaders supported Brown early in his campaign, setting the stage for an election with partisanship overtones.
Brown blamed his loss on the "millions of dollars in liberal money" that had flooded the state in the final weeks of the race.