LARRY D. MANSCH
Larry D. Mansch staffs the Missoula office of Snyder, Beaudry & Cook, PC. Larry brings 40 years of legal experience to the firm. He is admitted to practice in all Montana Courts, including the Montana Supreme Court, as well as Federal Courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Larry graduated from Slayton, Minnesota High School. He earned varsity letters in football, basketball, baseball, and track, and is one of only a handful of basketball players in school history to score over 1,000 points in his career. In 1980 he received his B.A. in Political Science/Public Administration from Hamline University, where he played both basketball and baseball. Larry received his Juris Doctor degree from the Creighton University School of Law in 1983.
Larry was admitted to practice law in Montana in 1984. After internships at the Department of State Lands and the Montana Taxpayers Association, he began his career as law clerk for Judge Russell McDonough in Glendive, Montana. He then served as Public Defender in Richland, McCone, and Wibaux Counties. He was one of the first five attorneys selected to serve as Public Defender in Missoula County in 1985, the first county in Montana to establish a fulltime PD office. He achieved the position of Senior Attorney during his 14-year tenure. He was in private practice for five years, serving as managing partner for Mansch, McLaverty and Associates, PC.
Larry served as Legal Director of the Montana Innocence Project for six years. Working with Toby Cook, the Project secured the exoneration of seven individuals who had been wrongfully convicted, and who had collectively served over 100 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. For their work at the Innocence Project, in 2020 Larry and Toby were named Montana’s Co-Attorneys of the Year by the Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
For nine years Larry served as Adjunct Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Montana. His courses included Criminal Procedure, Criminal Adjudication, Wrongful Convictions, Law and Society, and Sociology of Law Enforcement. He also has taught classes at the Montana Osher Lifetime Learning Institute for 10 years; his “Great American Trials” is one of MOLLI’s most popular courses.
In 1991 Larry received a direct commission into the Montana Army National Guard, Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He completed Officer Basic training at Fort Lee, Virginia, and Advanced Course training at the Judge Advocate General School at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2004 he graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Collins, Colorado. He was assigned to the 163d Armored Brigade in Bozeman, the 1889th Regional Support Group in Butte, and the Joint Force Headquarters in Helena. He completed tours of duty at Fort Clayton, Panama, and U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz headquarters in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Throughout his military career, Larry focused on criminal justice, serving as Regional Trial Defense Services Coordinator. He also practiced in the areas of Operations Law, Environmental Law, Contracts, Claims, and Family Readiness. Larry retired from the military as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2011.
In 2006 Larry received his Masters in Education degree from the University of Montana. For 10 years he taught Social Studies for Missoula Catholic Schools.
In 2018 Larry was named to the Montana Public Defender Commission by Governor Steve Bullock.
Larry has authored six books:
Rube Marquard: The Life and Times of a Baseball Hall of Famer (McFarland & Co., 1998)
The Legal Environment of Business (Abbott Publishing, 2003)
Abraham Lincoln President-Elect (McFarland & Co., 2007)
Abraham Lincoln (for George McGovern) (Times Books, 2008)
Martin Luther: The Life and Lessons (co-written with Dr. Curtis Peters) (McFarland & Co., 2016)
Hometown: Growing Up and Playing Ball in Slayton, Minnesota (Barnes and Noble Press, 2023)
Larry had four grown children: Bethany, Lincoln, Abigail, and Madison. In his spare time, he enjoys playing with his grandchildren, golfing, floating the Clark Fork River, hiking in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, and following Griz and Lady Griz athletics.
Media:
https://www.umt.edu/history/newsletters/documents/2015-fall-newsletter.pdf
https://mtinnocenceproject.org/lawyer-of-the-year-awarded-to-mtips-toby-cook-larry-mansch/
http://hsapp.hs.umt.edu/dms/index.php/Download/file/5617/e8dc92465f328ebe6f39f3e8f59fb19139a0ba37/SOCI362%20-%20Sociology%20of%20Law%20Enfo
https://publicdefender.mt.gov/_docs/GovernorsReport/2017/Members.pdf
https://molli.sharefile.com/share/view/sb08f7014789c4d66ab4fffb143f0fac1