Judicial Election Questionnaire - Judge version

Transcription

1 Judicial Election Questionnaire - Judge version 1) Your full name: Youlee Yim You 2) Office Address and Phone Number: 1021 SW Fourth Ave., Portland, Oregon ) Web site (if applicable): N/A 4) List high school, college and law school attended, including dates of attendance, degrees awarded and your reasons for leaving each school if no degree from that institution was awarded. University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, Washington, J.D., Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, B.A., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Junior Year Exchange, Albany High School, Albany, California, Diploma, ) List employment since graduation from law school, including dates employed, your position and the nature of the practice or activity. Circuit Court Judge, Multnomah County (March 2007 present) Oregon Department of Justice, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Trial and Appellate Divisions ( ) United States District Court, Central District of California, Los Angeles, California, Staff Attorney ( ) Kings County District Attorney s Office, Brooklyn, New York, Deputy Bureau Chief and Assistant District Attorney ( )

2 Oregon Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General ( ) Metropolitan Public Defender, Portland, Oregon, Staff Attorney ( ) 6a) List state and federal bars, courts and administrative bodies to which you are presently admitted and the date of admission. Oregon (1989) New York (1996) California (1998) United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1993) United States District Court, District of Oregon (2004) 6b) List any previous admissions, including dates, and the reason why you are no longer admitted. District of Columbia (1995) (I subsequently withdrew my membership because I no longer needed it.) 7) List publications and/or articles you have authored. Oregon Trial Lawyers Magazine, Technology in the Courtroom: How it is affecting our trials in unexpected ways. MBA Bar, Tips from the Bench 8) List community, teaching (Continuing Legal Education or otherwise) or civic activities. Community Activities: Portland Planning Commission, Commissioner Children s Trust Fund, Board Member Pro Bono (Legal Volunteer) Award, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Los Angeles, California Rape Victim Advocate, Multnomah County District Attorney s Office Oregon Korean American Citizens League, Board Member

3 Teaching: As a supervisor in the Brooklyn District Attorney s Office, I conducted training for new and experienced attorneys. At the time, the Brooklyn District Attorney s Office was the third largest DA s Office in the country with over 600 attorneys. I regularly worked with classes of 15 to 30 new attorneys and was jointly responsible for supervising approximately 50 attorneys. I created training exercises using extensive written and visual materials. I also prepared the first training manual for my department. At the Attorney General s Office, I coordinated and conducted CLEs/training sessions on human trafficking and federal habeas issues. As a judge, I have taught many CLEs ranging from discovery to voir dire to professionalism. 9) Prior to your becoming a judge, what was the general character of your legal practice? Indicate the nature of your typical clients and mention any legal areas in which you concentrated. Before becoming a judge, I was admitted to practice for almost 18 years and had experience in every aspect of criminal law. I worked as a prosecutor, a defense attorney, and a staff attorney for the court. I indicted cases before the grand jury, tried cases to judges and juries, and handled appeals. I also handled cases on collateral review in state post-conviction and federal habeas proceedings. My cases typically involved the most complicated and serious felonies, including homicides, sex offenses, assaults, and robberies, as well as death penalty cases. 10) List your judicial experience, including as a pro tem, and/or service on an administrative tribunal, or justice, municipal, tax, circuit, or appellate court. I have worked as a circuit court judge since March ) Describe the general character of your judicial work over the past five years. Indicate the nature of the cases over which you preside, any specialty courts or court programs, and any legal areas in which you concentrate. I handle a wide variety of cases, including criminal and civil matters. I have presided over criminal trials ranging from DUII to robbery to first-degree rape. I have presided over civil trials including but not limited to claims involving personal injury, contracts, and employment. 12) Describe any judicial experience in appellate courts not included above. I have sat as a pro tem judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals.

4 13) State the approximate number of trials or contested hearings over which you have presided as the judicial officer during each of the past five years. Indicate roughly how many were jury trials and how many were trials to the court. I have presided over more than one hundred jury trials and dozens of court trials. 14) Describe any experience serving as an arbitrator or mediator. I regularly conduct judicial settlement conferences in civil and criminal cases. I particularly enjoy this aspect of my job. I understand how stressful litigation is for the parties, and I enjoy helping them reach a resolution outside a formal trial setting. 15) List all bar association memberships, offices held and committee assignments. Oregon State Bar: Public Service Advisory Committee (Chair) Criminal Jury Instructions Committee Constitutional Law Section, Executive Committee Leadership College Post-Conviction Task Force Multnomah Bar Association, CLE Committee Oregon Women Lawyers, Board Member Oregon Minority Lawyers Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association Oregon District Court Historical Society, Oral Histories Project Inns of Court, Owen M. Panner Chapter 16) Describe any bar association or judicial department committees, task forces, or special projects in which you have been involved. See above.

5 17) Have you ever been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of any federal, state, county or municipal law, regulation or ordinance? If so, please give details. Do not include parking offenses or traffic violations for which a fine of less than $500 was imposed. No. 18) Have you ever been the subject of a formal disciplinary proceeding as an attorney or judge? If so, please give the particulars and the result. Include formal proceedings only. No. 19) What attracted you to a judicial career? My personal story, which is like that of many Oregonians, has helped me understand and appreciate the rights of the underrepresented and the importance of ensuring equal access to the justice system. As a child of immigrant parents, I appreciate the hardships people may experience in this country. My immigrant relatives instilled in me the importance of hard work, ethics, and giving back to the community. That is what motivated me to dedicate my legal career to public service. 20) Briefly describe your philosophy of the judicial role, the qualities that are most important for the role, and the greatest challenges to the role. Having worked as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, I understand the importance of providing both sides with the opportunity to be heard. I also understand how hard attorneys prepare for court. I am committed to ensuring that litigants are given their day in court and are treated with dignity and respect. Appearing in court can be an extremely stressful and emotional experience. If litigants understand my decisions and know that they have been heard and respected, I have accomplished one of the most important objectives of my job. 21) Briefly describe a case, or a legal issue on which you worked, of which you are particularly proud, or which is reflective of your legal ability, work ethic, judicial philosophy, or temperament. I am currently one of the drug treatment court judges. Treatment court is a program through which a defendant can earn a dismissal of his/her felony drug conviction after completing at least a year of intensive treatment. It is challenging to be a treatment court judge because each individual defendant s situation is complex and the right combination of incentives and sanctions has to be imposed, depending on the circumstances. It is extremely rewarding to see the participants graduate, however, and to know you helped in their recovery.

6 25) Briefly describe an issue, related to Oregon's justice system, that is of particular interest or concern to you, or that you have interest in working toward improving. I was honored to participate in the Oregon State Bar s Post-Conviction Task Force. Postconviction proceedings are a major stage in the criminal justice system where defendants may challenge their convictions based on claims they cannot raise on direct appeal (such as, for example, ineffective assistance of trial counsel). The goal of the task force was to recommend performance standards for court-appointed post-conviction counsel and structural improvements in the post-conviction system as a whole. 23) Briefly describe a legal figure, personal, fictional or historical, whom you admire and why. Velma Jeremiah, the first woman to make partner at a large Portland law firm, has been an inspiration to me. She went to law school in the 1970s as a single mother and successfully overcame stereotypes about women and their ability to be successful attorneys. Her courage, grace, and good humor are qualities that I greatly admire. 24) State any other information that you regard as pertinent to your candidacy.