8 Trial Lawyer • Spring 2024 By Judge Robert Johnson Douglas County Circuit Court Back in law school, I was walking with my good friend Eric Harris from the rec center at U of O, back to his apartment when he asked me, “What are your plans for after you pass the bar exam?” I stumbled through some sort of incoherent rant about having time to figure things out. The truth was that I was in law school and, to that point, really hadn’t considered a career in the law. All I knew was that I had been given an opportunity and considering where I had come from, I wanted to run with that opportunity as far as I could. I recognize that my journey to that point wasn’t entirely well thought through, however, it wasn’t exactly aimless either. The one thing I knew was that I had the chance to change the narrative about what was possible for people who experienced challenging circumstances. From the street I grew up on Portland’s Northeast Alberta Street during the 80s and 90s. During that time, my neighborhood suffered from all the ills of poverty, drugs and gang violence. My parents were both addicted to heroin for much of my life growing up. When my dad left, my mom, brother and I moved across the river into low-income housing in Northwest Portland. I graduated from Lincoln High School with a 1.7 GPA, ranked 321 out of 325 students in my class. Shortly after high school, both my parents died, and I became homeless. I slept in the back of a 1973 Buick Royale that I bought for $100. My only escape from this miserable existence was playing basketball in the parks around Portland. One day, while I was playing ball at Wallace Park, a guy came up to me and asked if I had ever considered playing basketball in college. As you might imagine, college was the furthest thing from my mind. So, I mostly ignored the guy and went on about my business. A few days later my phone rang, and it was one of my childhood mentors who told me that the same guy at the park was a friend of his and they wanted me to take a trip to Roseburg and visit Umpqua Community College (UCC). I wasn’t interested but something told me to take a chance. When we got to the campus, I met the head coach and before I left, he offered me a scholarship to play basketball at UCC. I was still reluctant, but, on the ride back to Portland, I just couldn’t stop thinking about why all of this was happening. After a couple of days, I decided to give it a try. During my first term at UCC, I started to gain some confidence on the court and in the classroom. I met an unbelievable network of people who encouraged me to think about transferring to a university to get a bachelor’s degree. So, I did. After I graduated from UCC, I attended and graduated from Portland State University before being accepted into law school at the University of Oregon where I graduated with my JD in 2014. Following law school, I clerked for the Douglas County Circuit Court for a year and then began my career as a civil litigator in Roseburg. In early 2022, I decided to enter the race for circuit court judge, and on May 17, 2022, I was elected to the bench. A walk with Judge Acosta During my final semester in law school, I had the privilege of externing for the Honorable John Acosta at the U.S. District Court in Portland. As he did with all his externs, Judge Acosta took me to Nordstrom’s to get my shoes shined. On our walk back to the office, I had a profound realization. Nobody who we passed on the street knew who he was. In my eyes then and still today, the man I was walking back from Nordstrom's with was a giant. He’s not just a federal judge, he’s the first Hispanic federal judge in the history of our state. He’s not just a lawyer, he is the standard for professionalism in our state’s bar. He’s not just a mentor, he’s a man who is willing to sacrifice and invest a tremendous amount of himself into those who are coming up behind him to better their lives and our sacred profession. Nobody we passed on the street understood any In Our Voices Hon. Robert Johnson Stepping out
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