OHBA's 6th Annual Award Dinner

Darleen Ortega
Judge, Oregon Court of Appeals

Judge Ortega has worked tirelessly to promote, support and encourage minorities and latinos in the legal profession, while demonstrating an inspiring level of professionalism. Judge Ortega has served on the Oregon Court of Appeals since 2003. She is the first woman of color and the first Latina to serve on any Oregon appellate court. Before joining the Court of Appeals, she practiced law first in Detroit, Michigan (1989 - 1992) and then in Portland where she specialized in complex civil cases and appeals (1992 - 2003).

Judge Ortega was born in Montebello, California and spent her early childhood in Los Angeles, moving to Banks, Oregon with her family when she was 10. She graduated with honors from Banks High School at the top of her class (1980), George Fox College (now University) in Newberg (B.A. summa cum laude, Writing and Literature, 1984), and University of Michigan Law School (J.D. cum laude, 1989).

Paul J. De Muniz
Chief Justice, Oregon Supreme Court

Chief Justice Paul J. De Muniz was elected to the Oregon Supreme Court in 2000 and has been the court's Chief Justice and administrative head of the Oregon Judicial Department since January 2006. Between 1990 and 2000, He sat on the Oregon Court of Appeals and served as presiding judge on one of the three panels that comprise that body. Prior to ascending to the bench, Chief Justice De Muniz was in private practice for 13 years with the Salem, Oregon, law firm of Garrett, Seideman, Hemann, Robertson and De Muniz P.C., where he specialized in complex criminal and civil litigation, as well as appeals. From 1975 to 1977, he was a deputy public defender for the State of Oregon.

In November 2011, Chief Justice De Muniz was inducted into the National Center for State Courts' Warren E. Burger Society in recognition of his commitment to improving the administration of justice within the states. In addition to his work within Oregon, he also belongs to the Conference of Chief Justices and was elected to its Board of Directors in 2008. He is on the Board of Trustees for the National Judicial College and recently completed a three-year term as a member of the Harvard Kennedy School's Executive Session for State Court Leaders in the 21st Century. In 2002, Chief Justice De Muniz founded a rule-of-law partnership with judicial leaders in the Russian Far East. He has continued to work with lawyers and judges in Russia to implement reforms within the Russian criminal justice system, most recently in 2006 as a visiting professor at Khabarovsk State University.

Chief Justice De Muniz speaks frequently to both national and international audiences on the importance of maintaining independent state judiciaries, improving state court administration and the need for adequate state court funding. He has served as the 2009 Robert H. Jackson Lecturer for the National Judicial College and, in 2010, addressed judicial leaders from 55 countries at the Asian Pacific Courts Conference on the ways and means of judicial branch strategic planning. Later that year, Chief Justice De Muniz gave the 17th annual Justice William Brennan Lecture at New York University Law School, discussing the need for reengineering state court operations.

Chief Justice De Muniz's work has been recognized with a number of state and national awards, among them: the National Judicial College's 2009 Distinguished Service Award, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Judicial Recognition Award, the Oregon Classroom Project's 2011 Legal Citizen of the Year Award, the Oregon Area Jewish Committee's 2010 Judge Learned Hand Lifetime Achievement Award, the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association's Paul J. De Muniz Professionalism Award, and the Edwin J. Peterson Racial Reconcilliation Award.

Paul De Muniz was raised by his mother in Portland, Oregon, and attended Portland's public schools. After finishing high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force and served a one-year tour of duty in Viet Nam. After his discharge from the service, De Muniz received his bachelor degree from Portland State University in 1972 and his juris doctor from the Willamette University College of Law in 1975. Today, he sits on the Board of Trustees of Willamette University. De Muniz and his wife, Mary, reside in Salem, Oregon, and have three grown children and two grandchildren.

John M. Haroldson
Benton County District Attorney
2011 Recipient of the
Paul J. De Muniz Professionalism Award

John M. Haroldson was elected Benton County District Attorney in November 2008, following his appointment in February 2007 by Governor Ted Kulongoski. Prior to his appointment, he served as Benton County's Chief Deputy District Attorney, a position he held since 2002. Haroldson began his prosecution career in 1988 as an intern-prosecutor for the City of Albany and later as a Linn County Deputy District Attorney.

Recognized by the Oregon Crime Victims Assistance Network and the Oregon Humane Society for excellence in prosecution, Haroldson has distinguished himself as a prosecutor. He serves as adjunct faculty for Willamette University School of Law and the National College of District Attorneys.

Haroldson earned a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from Central Washington University and a Doctorate in Jurisprudence from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Oregon and Washington State Bar Associations.

The son of a Scandinavian father and a Mexican mother, Haroldson was raised both in the Pacific Northwest and in Monterrey, Mexico, where he developed a rich bilingual and bicultural perspective. He holds the honor of serving as Oregon's first Mexican-American District Attorney.

John Haroldson has taken an active role in programs aimed at inspiring and realizing educational achievement and leadership among Latino students. He has been a regular presenter for the College Assistance Migrant Program and the Oregon Migrant Leadership Institute. He has designed and implemented mock-trial exercises in Spanish and English for the Oregon 4-H Youth Development Program, allowing Latinos from grade school through high school the opportunity to personally experience the lawyer's role in the courtroom. These interactive experiences have introduced hundreds of Latino children to unique leadership and career concepts.

John Haroldson has regularly served as a presenter for the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI), the largest Latino leadership organization in the United States. USHLI focuses on preparing Latino students to become leaders, and reaches thousands of Latino students across the United States. Many of the students who attend are motivated to become lawyers.

In 2010, John Haroldson organized and helped fund Oregon's first Latino student delegation to attend the USHLI National Conference in Chicago, Illinois. Following a strong showing at the USHLI National Conference, Haroldson, along with the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs, successfully lobbied to bring the USHLI Northwest Regional Conference to Portland, Oregon. The Northwest Region includes California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. In 2010, Latino students made a strong showing for the Northwest Regional Conference, securing Portland as the future site for the USHLI Northwest Conference.

Haroldson currently serves on the Oregon Commission on Hispanic Affairs, the Oregon State Bar Affirmative Action Committee and the Oregon State Bar Mentoring Task Force. He also serves as faculty for the Conference of Western Attorneys General Alliance Partnership, training Mexican judges and lawyers as Mexico's criminal justice system undergoes a dramatic reform from written to oral advocacy.

John Haroldson and his wife, Maria Teresa, live in Corvallis, Oregon where they enjoy the close proximity of their four adult children and five grandchildren.