Tim Bechtold grew up on a dairy farm near Cold Spring, Minnesota and graduated from St. John's Prep School in Collegeville, Minnesota before getting his undergraduate degree in biology from Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tim spent a post-graduate year in Munich, Germany on a Rotary International Fellowship, then earned an MS in Environmental Studies at the University of Montana, followed by a JD with high honors from the University of Montana in 2000.
After law school, Tim served as a law clerk to the Hon. Donald W. Molloy, Chief United States District Judge for the District of Montana. Tim entered private practice in 2002 as an associate with the Missoula law firm Rossbach Brennan, PC, which became Rossbach Hart Bechtold, PC in 2003.
In 2008, Tim established a solo practice in Missoula as the Bechtold Law Firm, PLLC. The focus areas of Tim's practice are environmental and toxic tort cases, as well as faulty products, personal injuries caused by negligent acts, and select areas of constitutional law.
Tim is admitted to practice in state and federal court in Montana, as well as the Second, Third, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, and DC federal courts of appeal. He is a member of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice, Public Justice, and the Federal Bar Association. He is currently President of the Montana Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, chair of the Federal Practice Section of the Montana State Bar, and serves on the editorial board of Trial Trends, the magazine of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association. Tim is also a past member of the Rules Committee for the federal District of Montana.
Tim is active in community organizations in Missoula. He currently serves as an officer on the Board of Directors for Friends of Missoula Parks, Sussex School, Brennan's Wave, Missoula Lacrosse, Montana Lacrosse, and the Harvard Club of Montana. Tim is the former Chair of the Missoula City Park Board, and has also served on the Boards of many community organizations, including the Missoula Area Youth Hockey Association, the Wild Rockies Field Institute, the Society for Conservation GIS, and the Montana Bicycle Racing Association. The Bechtold Law Firm sponsors recreational and competitive hockey teams, lacrosse teams, and bicycle racing in Montana.
Tim and his spouse Karen have two children, Stellan and Bente. The family enjoys skiing, backpacking, mountaineering, boating, fishing, biking, hockey, gardening, and other outdoor pursuits.
