Oregon State Bar Judicial Voters Guide 2014 1) Full name: Michael A Greenlick 2) Office Address and Phone Number: Multnomah County Courthouse 1021 SW 4 th Ave, Portland, OR 97204 503-988-3214 3) 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. Lincoln High School (1977); Pomona College (BA in economics, 1981); Lewis & Clark Law School (JD, 1985) 5) List employment since graduation from law school, including dates employed, your position and the nature of the practice or activity. CURRENT EMPLOYMENT: Circuit Court Judge (Oct. 2013 to present): I was appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to be a Circuit Court Judge in September of 2013. Since that time, I have handled both civil and criminal dockets and regularly presided over trials. PAST EMPLOYMENT: Metropolitan Public Defender (Sept. 1985 Oct. 1995):
I worked as a staff lawyer representing indigent youth and adult defendants accused of committing crimes. I also held several managerial positions including Senior Misdemeanor Attorney, Juvenile Group Leader, Senior Felony Attorney and Attorney Trainer. Borg Strom & Greenlick (partner, Oct. 1995 June 2006) I represented individuals in state and federal courts defending criminal cases throughout the state. I also represented individuals in injury cases and federal civil rights cases. I also represented individuals in restraining order and stalking protective order matters. Finally, I represented many clients in administrative law proceedings including before professional licensing boards. Greenlick & Borg (partner, June 2006 Oct 2008) Sole Practitioner (Oct. 2008 Oct. 2013) During these years my practice focused on criminal defense in state and federal courts. Much of my federal practice involved complex white collar and environmental criminal defense. 6a) List state and federal bars, courts and administrative bodies to which you are presently admitted and the date of admission. Oregon State Bar - 1985 U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon 1995 9 th Circuit Court of Appeals 2012 6b) List any previous admissions, including dates, and the reason why you are no longer admitted. Not applicable 7) List publications and/or articles you have authored. A. Substantive Defenses (co-author), Chapter 15 of Criminal Law, Oregon State Bar, 1994 revision. B. Inventory Searches and Other Diamonds in the Rough, materials for presentation at Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Assoc. Winter Conference, December 1994.
C. Twelve Angry Men or Just One: Deciding Whether to Recommend a Bench or Jury Trial (co-author), materials for presentation at Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Assoc. Annual Conference, June 2007. D. White Collar Crime Primer (co-author), materials for CLE presentation to civil practitioners, March 2008. 8) List community, teaching or civic activities. A. Grant High School Coach, We The People Constitution Team, 2004 to present. Primary role is leading a comprehensive study of the Bill of Rights, including history, case law, and current events, in preparation for a state and national competition. Volunteer approximately 150-200 hours per year on this activity. B. Lincoln High School Coach, We The People Constitution Team, 2000-2001. C. Adjunct Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School Criminal Law Practice seminar, taught course for approximately 2-3 years, late 1980s-early 1990s (unsure of dates) D. Multnomah County District Attorney Citizen s Budget Advisory Committee, member, 1993-2013. E. Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Assoc. Plea Negotiations and Sentencing Advocacy presentation, New Lawyers Seminar, January 2008 F. Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Assoc. The Art of Negotiation presentation, New Lawyers Seminar, November 2004 G. Metropolitan Public Defender Head Instructor, taught several semi-annual 5-day trial skills training intensives, 1993-1995. Presented to new lawyers (staff and nonstaff). H. Professional Liability Fund Criminal Law presentation, Learning the Ropes Seminar, February 1994 and January 1995. I. Multnomah County Court member, work group charged with developing pretrial system for misdemeanor cases, chaired by Hon. William Keys, approx. 1992 (unsure of dates) J. Multnomah County Public Safety Advisory Committee, member, 1995. K. Multnomah County Community Corrections Advisory Committee, member, 1993-1995. L. American Constitution Society - Oregon Mentorship Program, 2010-2013.
9) What is the general character of your practice? Indicate the nature of your typical clients and mention any legal areas in which you concentrate. My practice was primarily focused on criminal defense in state and federal courts. Although I handled a wide variety of cases throughout my career, for the last decade, I focused on complex criminal cases including white collar and environmental criminal defense. For several years, I also represented individuals in personal injury cases and in federal civil rights cases. 10) What percentage of your practice is litigation? Close to 100 percent of my practice involved litigation. 11) Do you regularly appear in court? I appeared in court regularly until my appointment to the bench in 2013. 12) What percentage of your litigation practice in the last five years was in: Federal Trial Courts: 18% Federal Appellate Courts: 0% State Trial Courts: 73% State Appellate Courts: 0% Administrative Bodies: 9% These numbers represent the percentage of actual cases in each of these courts. But the majority of my time was spent representing clients in federal trial courts as these cases were much more complex and time consuming than the cases I handled in my state court practice. 13) Describe your litigation practice in the last five (5) years and address both the courts and types of cases. My prior answers covered this question.
14) Describe any appellate court experience not included above. I handled several criminal appeals early in my litigation career, but I did not handle appeals in the last 10 years. 15) Describe any experience serving as an arbitrator or mediator. Not applicable 16) State the approximate number of cases you have tried to conclusion in courts of record during each of the past five years (or longer period, if you desire), indicating whether you were sole, associate or lead counsel. I was sole or lead counsel in all cases tried. In the last five years, I tried 3 civil, 3 criminal and 4 stalking order/restraining order cases to conclusion. During my career, I tried approximately 3 civil, 150 criminal and 15 stalking order/restraining order cases to conclusion. 17) State the approximate number of cases you have handled in state and federal appellate courts in the last five years, indicating whether you were lead or co-counsel. Include citations of reported cases. None 18) List any experience you have as a pro tem or municipal judge, and the names of the courts you have served. Not applicable 19) List all bar association memberships, offices held and committee assignments. Oregon State Bar Association since (1985 to present) Indigent Defense Committee, member, 1992-1993 Multnomah County Bar Association (1995 to present)
Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Assoc. (1985 to 2013) Board of Directors member, 1993-1995. Board Secretary, 1994-1995. Legislative Committee and Education Committee member, 1990s (unsure of dates) National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers past member Oregon Trial Lawyers Association past member American Constitution Society 20) 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 or parking offenses or traffic violations for which a fine of less than $500 was imposed. No 21) Have you ever been the subject of a formal disciplinary proceeding as an attorney? If so, please give the particulars and the result. **Include only proceedings that were authorized for prosecution by the SPRB. No 22) Why do you want to be a judge? I want to continue to be a judge because it is a wonderful opportunity to work in service of the public. I worked as a courtroom lawyer for 28 years prior to seeking a judicial appointment from Governor Kitzhaber last year. I learned that the judge s role is absolutely critical to fulfilling the promise of due process and assuring the rule of law in our adversarial system of justice. Working as a trial judge these last six months has been both humbling and extremely rewarding. 23) Briefly describe your philosophy of the judicial role, the qualities that are most important for the role, and the greatest challenges to the role. In our adversarial system of justice, trial judges must have the utmost respect for the rule of law. They must always maintain the appearance of impartiality and they must be rigorous in presiding over matters complicated and mundane. When judges treat people with respect and consideration, citizens who interact with the justice system are much more likely to leave the courthouse feeling that they were treated fairly and therefore accept the rule of law.
The qualities most important to satisfy the judicial role include a strong intellect, a rigorous work ethic, patience and a humble attitude. It is also extremely important that trial judges have significant courtroom experience as a lawyer and are sensitive to the many issues presented by the fact that our community is made up of people of extremely diverse backgrounds and experiences. The greatest challenge is the fact that our trial courts are extremely busy and resources seem at times to be insufficient to meet the needs of the community. Judges in our county must work efficiently and quickly, while giving due consideration to each matter before the court. Maintaining this balance can certainly be a challenge. 24) 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. It is difficult to describe one particular case both because no one case seems reflective of my abilities and because I am always hesitant to publicly discuss the specifics of a past client s situation. I think my approach can best be described as client focused. My clients typically faced very challenging and difficult legal and life circumstances. I felt it was important to communicate respectfully and empathically so I could build a trust relationship with the people I served. This helped me fully understand the legal and factual issues presented. It also helped me humanize clients when communicating with judges, prosecutors and juries. Along these lines, although I was zealous in my advocacy, I also believed that it was important to maintain professionalism when dealing with opposing counsel. Treating counsel professionally and with respect, not only was the right thing to do in terms of preserving the integrity of the judicial system, it clearly was the most effective way to advance the interests of the client. I also believed it was important to energetically and strategically pursue all important legal and factual issues in any given case. Finally, I learned through many years of experience and training how to communicate effectively in court. 25) Briefly describe an issue, related to Oregon's justice system, that concerns you, or that you have interest in working toward improving. Although I very much believe in the rule of law and the importance of judges following laws they personally believe are misguided, I am concerned about the existence of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, particularly as relating to juvenile offenders. I believe that it is a touchstone of our justice system that judges have sentencing discretion. The one size fits all sentencing schemes can be unduly harsh and extremely expensive to implement.
There have been past legislative efforts to reform mandatory minimum sentencing laws for juveniles and I would be supportive of such future efforts. 26) Briefly describe a legal figure, personal, fictional or historical, whom you admire and why. I very much admire the work of former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. Justice Brandeis was well known for taking on the causes of the powerless against the very powerful, often times for little or no pay. I believe his work brought into the legal mainstream the importance of doing pro bono work. In 1908, he brilliantly represented the State of Oregon in the US Supreme Court, successfully defending the constitutionality of a state law limiting the hours companies could require women to work. This was during a time when the Supreme Court regularly struck down worker protection laws as being unconstitutional. When he served on the Supreme Court, Justice Brandeis wrote an amazing dissenting opinion in Olmstead v. United States stressing the importance of the right to privacy in relation to the government s ability to snoop on citizens through the use of technology. Not only did this dissent, years later, become the majority position of the Court, but his arguments are still extremely relevant to the modern day struggle to strike the right balance between the security needs of government and privacy interests of individuals. 27) State any other information that you regard as pertinent to your candidacy. I am unopposed so I understand that I will most likely be elected in May, but I felt it was important to submit a questionnaire as a way to introduce myself to the voters. I certainly appreciate your vote and pledge to work hard for the people of Multnomah County.