February 22, 2013 - Oregon State Bar

Board of Governors Memo — Amending Appellate Selection Bylaws
November 10, 2013 Page 4
professional experience, judicial temperament, diligence, health, financial responsibility
and public service. The Board will then determine the final list of candidates to submit
to the Governor.
(e) A lawyer who seeks appointment to the same position within two years of first
having received a “[suitable for consideration by the Governor status] highly qualified”
rating will not be required to submit another application or to be re-interviewed.
[Candidates in this category must inform the Board of any changes in information
previously submitted.] The Board [reserves the right to] will request [and receive
additional] those candidates to update the previously submitted information [from any
candidate] prior to deciding whether to resubmit the candidate’s name to the Governor.
[The chair of the Board’s Committee on the Judiciary (along with members of the
committee as determined by the committee) will also provide a written or oral summary
of the committee’s information about each candidate to the Office of General Counsel
for the Governor. The summary will also include comments regarding candidates not
submitted for consideration.]
([c] f) [The Board will appoint on a yearly basis, pursuant to Subsection 2.102 of the Bar’s
Bylaws, a committee to make candidate qualification recommendations to the Board
using the criteria set forth in this section.] Meetings of the committee, including
interviews of candidates, are public meetings, except for portions of meetings during
which reference reports are presented and discussed. The term "reference reports," for
purposes of this section, means information obtained by committee members and staff
from persons listed as references by the candidates and information obtained by
committee members and staff from other persons knowledgeable about candidates as
part of the candidate background check process. Discussion of reference reports by the
committee and the Board will be [The committee will discuss reference reports] in
executive session pursuant to ORS 192.660(1)(f). [The committee will vote on its
recommendations to the Board in a public meeting. The selection process will include,
but is not limited to, review of the written applications; interviews of each candidate,
unless waived; contacts with judges or hearings officers before whom the candidate has
practiced; contacts with opposing counsel in recent cases or other matters; contacts with
references; and review of writing samples.]
Bylaw 2.700 suggests that the Board will participate in judicial selection only upon
request:
Section 2.7 Judicial Selection
Subsection 2.700 General
If requested by the appropriate appointing authority, the Board will participate in a
state or federal judicial selection process. Any poll conducted by the Bar will be for
informational purposes only and will not constitute the official position of the Bar.
Certified election results will be made available as promptly as possible to the press, to
the candidates, to the appointing authority and otherwise as the Board may direct.
That language has been in the bar’s regulations for many years. The committee recommends
amending it to clarify that the Bar will conduct its own processes regardless of whether the
appointing authority wants the Bar’s input. The committee recommends that Bylaw 2.700 be
revised as follows: