Judge Ellen F. Rosenblum, Oregon Court of Appeals

When Governor Ted Kulongoski appointed Judge Ellen F. Rosenblum to the Oregon Court of Appeals in May 2005, Multnomah County lost a trial judge with more than 16 years of judicial experience and a remarkable dedication to involvement in the community. Luckily for the MBA and its membership, Judge Rosenblum has continued her participation in numerous organizations and activities in Portland even though she now sits with the Court of Appeals in Salem. In fact, many consider Judge Rosenblum to be one of the most visible and active judges within the community.

While Judge Rosenblum has received many more honors than we can recount here, she is particularly well known both locally and nationally for mentoring young lawyers and promoting women and minorities in the profession. She was a founding board member of OWLS and served on the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, where she was co-chair of the first Minority Judicial Clerkship Program. There is rarely a bar function in Oregon celebrating women or minorities that Judge Rosenblum does not make an attempt to attend. Her actions and her words, both written and spoken, clearly show that making the profession more diverse has long been a priority for her.

Her commitment to diversifying the legal profession may stem in part from her experience attending law school at U of O in the early 70s. Her graduating class of 1975 was almost one-third female, which at the time, was the highest percentage of women the law school had ever had. According to Judge Rosenblum, the fact that there was a relatively large group of women attending law school with her likely made her feel empowered to succeed and to speak out against inequities right from the start.

After graduating from law school, Judge Rosenblum practiced in Eugene. She tried cases and argued appeals early on in her career, thus honing from the start the skills that she would later need as both a trial and appellate judge. In 1980, she went to work for the US Attorney’s office, first in Eugene and then in Portland. In 1989, she was appointed to the Multnomah County District Court and then to the Circuit Court four years later.

She credits her many mentors, including Sid Lezak, Judge Helen Frye and Judge Edward Leavy, for their guidance and mentorship throughout the years. She says these mentors contributed to the commitment she has shown to give her time and expertise to young lawyers. She makes a point of keeping in touch with all of her former clerks, both from the Circuit Court and the Court of Appeals.

There are a few things Judge Rosenblum misses about the trial bench – mostly the interaction with the public (jurors, witnesses and litigants … even the defendants in criminal cases, whose lives she sometimes felt she had positively impacted).

While the Court of Appeals’ work is more removed from the daily drama of the courtroom, she loves the interaction with her new colleagues, whom she considers to be some of the nicest and smartest people she has ever known. Judge Rosenblum also appreciates the opportunities and time to delve deeper into the law than was possible as a trial judge.

Originally authored by Anne Talcott and printed in the April 2008 Multnomah Lawyer.

Updated for the Internet in 2008