Governor Appoints Michael A. Greenlick to Fill Multnomah County Judicial Vacancy

  • Friday, September 06, 2013

Michael A. Greenlick has been appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber to the Multnomah County Circuit Court bench.

Greenlick was one of 18 candidates named "highly qualified" by the MBA after the Judicial Screening Committee completed its review of applicants for the judicial vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Michael McShane for the Federal Bench.

Oregon State Court vacancies which occur during current judges' terms are filled by gubernatorial appointment. At the end of the appointee's term, he or she must stand for election to the judicial position.

The JSC is comprised of lawyer and public members. The committee conducts background checks and makes its recommendations based upon written criteria to ensure merit selection.

The MBA's letter to the Governor states: "The MBA takes its screening responsibility very seriously and has served many governors over the decades. Our Judicial Screening Committee is a diverse group of respected practitioners who conduct a confidential and thorough assessment of candidates by objective criteria."

In alphabetical order below is the MBA list of "Highly Qualified" candidates:

  1. Andrea Anderly*
  2. Sibylle Baer
  3. Christopher Clayhold
  4. Eric Dahlin*
  5. Lynne (Peterson) Dickison*
  6. Rodney Grafe*
  7. Michael Greenlick
  8. Charles Henderson*
  9. Lisabeth Kaufman*
  10. Andrew Lavin
  11. Henry Lazenby Jr.
  12. Christopher Ramras
  13. James Rice
  14. Timothy Smith
  15. Diane Sykes*
  16. Steven Todd
  17. Todd Van Rysselberghe*
  18. Geoffrey Wren

The eight candidates with an (*) are those candidates who have already been included on the Highly Qualified list.

MBA Criteria for Judicial Applicants
The committee shall use the following criteria, each of which shall receive equal weight, for evaluating candidates for permanent or pro tem judicial positions:
A. Integrity and character;
B. Judgment and intellectual capacity;
C. Experience including, but not limited to, trial experience;
D. Industry and diligence;
E. Judicial temperament, including whether the candidate would be courteous and considerate of counsel, parties, witnesses and jurors and whether the candidate is even tempered;
F. Professional ability and knowledge of the law;
G. Non-discriminatory attitude and behavior regarding, but not limited to, race, ethnic origin, gender, age, disability and sexual orientation;
H. Contributions the candidate would make to the quality, character and diverse composition of the judiciary. The term "diverse" refers to a protected class and socio-economic background. It should carry equal, but not elevated, weight when deciding which candidates should be deemed the highly qualified applicants;
I. General reputation in the community;
J. Civic and community activities;
K. Any other relevant facts that affect the applicant's ability to serve competently in a judicial capacity.

These criteria were developed from source materials, including those from the American Judicature Society.

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