Justice, Kansas Supreme Court
Bob Abbott was born in Hodgeman County, Kansas. He graduated from Jetmore High School in 1950. He received his A.A. degree from Dodge City Junior College in 1952 where he was a three-sport letterman, a B.S. degree from Emporia State University in 1956, graduated second in his class from Washburn University School of Law in 1960, and received his Masters of Law Degree from the University of Virginia in 1986. He was a veteran of the United States Air Force, where he served as a navigator aboard a C-124 from 1953-1954. He practiced law in Junction City, Kansas until he was appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals in 1977 by Governor Robert Bennett, and he served as its Chief Judge until he was appointed to the Kansas Supreme Court in 1990 by Governor Mike Hayden. Abbott had also served as the City Attorney for the City of Milford, Kansas, Grandview Plaza, Kansas and others.
Justice Abbott served as an adjunct professor at the Washburn Law School, teaching Professional Responsibility from 1978 through 1988. He received Distinguished Alumnus Citations from Dodge City Community College, Emporia State University, and Washburn University Law School. While serving the Courts, Justice Abbott wrote over 2,000 opinions and participated in thousands more. He also served as Senior Editor of the Kansas Bar Association Appellate Practice Manual, as Chairman of the Continuing Legal Education Committee from 1970 to 1975, as member of the committee that authors the Pattern Jury Instructions used throughout the State of Kansas, and as a member of the Board of the Directors of the Kansas Bar Foundation. He died March 23, 2010 in Wichita, Kansas.
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