Governor Kate Brown will appoint Lynn R. Nakamoto to the Oregon Supreme Court, as well as Roger J. DeHoog and Scott A. Shorr to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Nakamoto is a judge on the Court of Appeals and will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Virginia L. Linder. DeHoog is a judge on the Deschutes County Circuit Court and will fill the vacancy created by Nakamoto’s elevation to the Supreme Court. Shorr is currently managing shareholder at the Portland law firm Stoll Berne and will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Judge Rick Haselton. All three appointments will be effective January 1, 2016.
DeHoog is a respected judge on the Deschutes County Circuit Court, appointed by Governor Kitzhaber in 2012. Before his appointment to the trial court bench, DeHoog was a senior assistant attorney general in the Oregon Department of Justice’s Special Litigation Unit, which handles major state litigation including environmental, constitutional, and consumer protection laws. Prior to joining the Oregon Department of Justice in 2008, DeHoog was in private practice in Bend handling criminal defense and domestic relations cases. DeHoog began his career at the Deschutes County Public Defenders’ Office, where he worked from 1993 to 2000. DeHoog received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his J.D. from the University of Oregon Law School. He will be the second Asian Pacific American ever to serve on the Oregon Court of Appeals. DeHoog will also be the only judge on either of Oregon’s appellate courts from outside the Willamette Valley.
Nakamoto, who was appointed to the Court of Appeals in January 2011 by Governor Kulongoski, will be the first Asian Pacific American ever to serve on the Oregon Supreme Court. Before her appointment to the Court of Appeals, Nakamoto was managing shareholder of the Portland law firm Markowitz Herbold, where she worked from 1989 to 2011. While there, she had a business and employment litigation practice. Nakamoto began her career representing indigent clients. She was a staff attorney for Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service in Salem from 1987 to 1989, and, before that, for Bronx Legal Services in New York City from 1985 to 1987. She received her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and her J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Shorr, managing shareholder at the law firm Stoll Berne, is regarded as one of the state’s top appellate lawyers. Shorr has argued numerous appeals before Oregon’s appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has practiced law at Stoll Berne since 1996, specializing in complex commercial litigation including class actions and securities fraud cases. He began his career as a law clerk for Oregon Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Unis. Shorr received his bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and his J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law.
“Each of these highly-qualified individuals brings a skills set and perspective informed by years of legal experience,” Governor Brown said. “I am grateful to them for stepping up to serve our state in administering justice on behalf of the people of Oregon.”
