Biography

The Honorable Janice R. Wilson has been a judge since 1991 when she was appointed to the district court. She was elected to retain that position in 1992 and in 1994 she was appointed to the circuit court. Judge Wilson was elected to retain her circuit court seat in 1994 and was re-elected in 2000 and 2006.

Judge Wilson chairs the Multnomah County Circuit Court Civil Motion Panel.

Judge Wilson was born in Medford, Oregon and raised in the Beaverton area. She graduated from Sunset High School, then attended Willamette University for both undergraduate and law school, where she graduated first in her class. After law school, Judge Wilson clerked for the Honorable Otto R. Skopil Jr. for two years – one year on the federal district court and one year on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She then joined the firm of Lindsay, Hart, Neil and Weigler where she later became a partner. She had a practice that included products liability, commercial litigation, employment law and some medical negligence. Judge Wilson headed the firm’s employment practice, and represented both employers and employees. She represented the successful plaintiff in Oregon’s first HIV employment discrimination trial, Griffin v. Tri-Met.

When the Lindsay, Hart firm broke apart, Judge Wilson was of counsel with the successor partnership Ater Wynne Hewitt Dodson and Skerritt briefly before she was appointed to the bench. She also prosecuted misdemeanor cases in the Multnomah County Special Prosecutors program for civil attorneys.

While she was in private practice, Judge Wilson was involved in a variety of bar committees, pro bono work and non-profit boards, including the American Civil Liberties Union. She continued her service on other non-profit boards after taking the bench and has served on many committees and task forces for the court and the bar. She also teaches at CLEs on a variety of subjects, especially evidence, trial and motion practice.