[6][7] He graduated from the University of Utah in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree and from the S. J. Quinney College of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1977.
Michael J. Wilkins was appointed by Governor Mike Leavitt in August 1994 to the Utah Court of Appeals.
He has chaired the Supreme Court's Committee on Professionalism, and teaches as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School.
Justice Wilkins is a former member of the Utah Legislature's Independent Ethics Commission.
The five-member commission, established 2 July 2010, handles ethic complaints against lawmakers that previously were dealt with by members of the Legislature.