With the drastic rightward shift in the federal judiciary, does it make more sense for public interest cases to be filed in state court where stronger protections may be available? This conversation will be based upon a paper by longtime Oregon civil rights lawyer Michael Dale, that explores using the state court system as an alternative means of judicially enforcing civil rights in Oregon. State courts have independent, unreviewable authority to interpret state civil rights and constitutional law, and ample reasons for asserting that independence.

Featuring:
Michael Dale, Founder, Northwest Workers' Justice Project
Hon. Jack Landau, Former Associate Justice, Oregon Supreme Court
Jennifer Middleton, Partner, Johnson Johnson Lucas & Middleton
Emily Teplin Fox, Attorney, Oregon Law Center

Please find the paper by D. Michael Dale here.

Emily Teplin Fox - Emily Teplin Fox is an attorney in the State Support Unit of the Oregon Law Center where her practice focuses on impact litigation on a diverse range of issues affecting low-income people, including housing justice, fees and fines reform, education issues, and consumer rights. She trains and frequently co-counsels with attorneys from OLC and Legal Aid Services of Oregon, and she works on technological improvements aimed at enhancing both organizations’ litigation capabilities. Emily began her career as an Equal Justice Works fellow at the Minnesota Disability Law Center. There, she litigated civil rights cases on behalf of Deaf and hard of hearing people. She also clerked for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and the District of Minnesota. As a commercial litigator in Portland, she handled all manner of dispute, representing plaintiffs and defendants. In the State Support Unit, Emily uses her skills to increase the quality and quantity of litigation undertaken by legal aid lawyers across the state. She is a board member of the Oregon Lawyers Against Hunger, and Deaf Legal Advocacy Worldwide, which supports emerging Deaf lawyers outside the United States. She also volunteers with the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association’s Amicus Committee and the Multnomah Bar Association’s ad hoc committee administering the Multnomah Bar Fellows program which aims to increase the diversity of the local bar by supporting talented Oregon law students from diverse backgrounds.

D. Michael Dale - D. Michael Dale founded Northwest Workers' Justice Project and worked for 25 years as a legal services attorney in Oregon, directing its migrant program. In 1995, when federally funded legal services were restricted from representing undocumented individuals and from class action litigation, Michael helped establish the Oregon Law Center to meet those needs. He has litigated and won significant cases involving minimum wage law, immigration rights, and workers compensation in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and in the Oregon appellate courts.

Jennifer Middleton - Jennifer Middleton brings over twenty years of distinctive legal service, advancing and defending the rights of individuals in employment and civil rights matters including constitutional claims, discrimination, Title IX, whistleblowing, False Claims Act, sexual harassment, disability rights, and medical leave. Jennifer represents employees and individuals in discrimination and civil rights claims against employers, schools, and governments. She was co-lead counsel on the 2014 case winning the right to marry for same-sex couples in Oregon. She has also represented victims of abuse at the hands of police, jails, and prisons; female athletes in securing equal treatment by their schools; and transgender people seeking equal access to health care and jobs.

Hon. Jack Landau - The Honorable Jack L. Landau served as an Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court from 2011 through 2017. Before his election to the Supreme Court, Justice Landau served as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals for 18 years, including 12 years as a presiding judge on one of the court’s three-judge panels. He served in the Oregon Department of Justice, first as Attorney-in-Charge of the department’s Special Litigation Unit and later as the Deputy Attorney General. During his time at the Department of Justice, he represented the state a wide variety of cases at trial and on appeal, including the successful defense of the constitutionality of Oregon’s famous public beach legislation in Stevens v. Cannon Beach and the constitutionality of the state’s video poker laws in Ecumenical Ministries v. Oregon Lottery Commission. He also argued the habeas corpus appeal of Keeney v. Tamayo-Reyes before the United States Supreme Court. Landau practiced law as an associate and partner in the Portland firm of Lindsay, Hart, Neil & Weigler, where he specialized in complex civil litigation in both state and federal court.

Justice Landau has taught as an adjunct professor at Willamette University College of Law since 1993. He has also taught at the University of Oregon School of Law and Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College. In addition, he is a frequent speaker at continuing education programs sponsored by the American Bar Association, the Oregon State Bar, local bar associations, the Oregon Law Institute,
and the National Judicial College. In 2017, he was invited to deliver the 25th annual Robert F. Williams lecture on state constitutional law at Rutgers University Law School.

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