Bronson James JD ’03

Bronson James JD ’03 was appointed by then-Governor Kate Brown JD ’85 to the Oregon Supreme Court. James had been a judge on the Court of Appeals since 2017 and previously served as a trial judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court. Prior to his judicial service, James practiced as an appellate public defender in the Oregon Office of Public Defense Services and represented injured plaintiffs and criminal defendants at his own firm. In addition to his time on the bench, James serves on Oregon’s Ad Hoc Committee on Unconscious Bias and the Judicial Leadership and Education Committee, and coaches mock trials through the Classroom Law Project.

Bronson James JD ’03 was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court by Governor Kate Brown JD ’85 to fill the seat of retiring Chief Justice Martha Walters. Previously, James was a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Multnomah County Circuit Court. He began his career as a public defender, later transitioned to a private practice focusing on criminal defense, immigration, and civil rights litigation.

James Bronson JD ’03 was named to the Multnomah County Circuit Court to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Alicia Fuch. Bronson previously worked as chief deputy defender for Oregon’s Office of Public Defense Services, Appellate Division, before starting a private practice focused on criminal appeals.

James Bronson JD ’03 wrote one of the briefs relied on by the U.S. Supreme Court in the cases of Riley v. California and United States v. Wurie. In the ruling that police usually must obtain search warrants before searching suspects’ cellphones, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. adopted some of the data and analogies James included in his friend-of-the-court brief. James, a Portland criminal defense attorney, wrote the brief on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Brennan Center for Justice.