Career Opportunities
Meet Some of the Attorneys at DOJ
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Susan Amesbury
Senior Assistant Attorney General, General Counsel
Susan Amesbury joined the Department in 1998 as an Honors Attorney. Susan is the primary legal advisor to the Oregon Youth Authority regarding all aspects of the juvenile justice system, including jurisdictional and records confidentiality issues and conditions of confinement. . . .
Keith Dubanevich
Chief of Staff and Special Counsel to the Attorney General
Keith Dubanevich joined the Department as Special Counsel to the Attorney General in January 2009 and was subsequently appointed Chief of Staff. Keith advises the Department on the areas of consumer protection, Medicaid fraud, civil rights and charitable activities. Keith also leads the Attorney General's Business Advisory Council. . . .
John Dunbar
Attorney in Charge, Trial
John Dunbar joined the Department in April of 2009 after many years of practicing complex business litigation with the firms Ball Janik, LLP in Portland and Jenner & Block, LLP in Chicago. Early in his career John clerked with the Honorable Owen M. Panner, U.S. District Judge, and served as Executive Managing Editor of the Washington Law Review. . . .
Dee Carlson
Senior Assistant Attorney General, General Counsel
Dee Carlson joined the Department in February of 1989 after a number of years practicing business, product liability and health-related law with Stoel Rives, LLP in Portland. Initially, his work for the Department emphasized enforcement proceedings and general counsel work for various divisions . . .
Jean Fogarty
Director, Child Support
After graduating from law school, Jean Fogarty clerked for Judges Jonathan Newman and Tom Young on the Oregon Court of Appeals. Jean was in private practice for one year before she realized that public law was her calling. Since joining the Department in 1984, Jean has represented DHS Child Welfare and the Oregon Child Support Program. . . .
David Hart
Assistant Attorney in Charge, Civil Enforcement
David Hart practiced as a physical therapist in New York City, Hawaii, Washington and Oregon for 15 years before becoming an attorney. Today he protects the public health by taking on large pharmaceutical companies in major multi-state drug marketing investigations and health care fraud cases. . . .
Scott Jackson
Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Justice
Scott came to the Department of Justice in 2002. Prior to that he was a Deputy District Attorney in Clackamas County for 18 years and has also been a Reserve Deputy with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. The District Attorney Assistance Program provides prosecutorial and investigative assistance . . .
Anna Joyce
Solicitor General, Appellate
Anna Joyce joined the Department of Justice as an Honors Attorney after serving as a judicial clerk with the Honorable Rives Kistler on the Oregon Court of Appeals. After serving in DOJ’s Appellate Division for seven years, Joyce was appointed Solicitor General in 2011. In addition to briefing cases in the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, . . .
Jacqueline Kamins
Assistant Attorney General, Trial
Jackie Kamins is privileged to represent the State in civil rights and habeas corpus cases in federal court. Prior to joining the Department, she practiced at Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal, LLP in Washington D.C. She also clerked for Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Virginia Law Weekly. . . .
Michael Kron
Assistant Attorney General, General Counsel
Michael Kron's work at the Department involves advising the State of Oregon on government transparency and public records issues. His other responsibilities include researching and drafting Attorney General Opinions and Chief Counsel Letters of Advice. At Columbia Law School, Michael was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and was awarded a Hamilton Fellowship. . . .
Erin Lagesen
Assistant Attorney General, Appellate
Erin Lagesen first joined the Department of Justice in May 1998 as a law clerk in the Trial Division's Special Litigation Unit. She returned to the Department in October 2004 as an Assistant Attorney General in the Appellate Division. In the interim, she clerked for the Honorable Susan P. Graber of the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and . . .
Don Pyle
Senior Assistant Attorney General, General Counsel
Don Pyle joined the Department in 2008 after 32 years with the Portland firm Lane Powell, PC. A seasoned litigator, Don represented clients in a wide array of environmental and toxic tort lawsuits. Don is currently responsible for coordinating the State's legal interests in the Portland Harbor Superfund clean-up effort and claim for natural resource damages.
Deena Ryerson
Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Justice
Before coming to the Department, Deena Ryerson worked as a prosecutor at the Washington County District Attorney's office for six years. During that time, she prosecuted countless DUIIs, both alcohol and drug related, and began an outreach campaign to address substance abuse issues. . . .
Joanna Tucker Davis
Assistant Attorney General, General Counsel
Joanna Tucker Davis began her legal career at the Manhattan District Attorney's office prosecuting crimes that ranged from violent felonies, domestic violence and child pornography cases. During her tenure, she was promoted to the specialized sex crimes unit. As a staff attorney at the National Crime Victims' Law Institute (NCVLI) . . .
Sarah Weston
Honors Attorney
Sarah Weston came to the Department of Justice through the Honors Attorney program in 2008. She spent her first year litigating juvenile dependency and termination of parental rights cases with the Child Advocacy Section, and is currently assigned to the Office of the Attorney General. . . .
Simon Whang
Assistant Attorney General, Civil Enforcement
In college, Simon Whang was president of the Johns Hopkins University debate team and a nationally-ranked debater, a source of both pride and embarrassment. Simon started his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. He moved back to Oregon in 2003, prosecuting property and financial crimes . . .
Mary Williams
Deputy Attorney General
Mary Williams joined the Department as an Honors Attorney in September 1991. She was appointed Assistant Solicitor General in 1997 and Solicitor General in 2002. While serving as Solicitor General, she took the lead in briefing four cases in the U. S. Supreme Court and argued three of them. The State won all four of those cases. . . .
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Diversity and Inclusion at DOJ
In our workplace, the people of the Oregon Department of Justice respect the diverse perspectives, knowledge, and experiences of our coworkers and those seeking to join the organization. We strive to build an inclusive and performance-oriented workplace. All individuals are welcomed and appreciated, leading to increasingly higher levels of fulfillment and success.
DOJ recognizes the many aspects of diversity in our interactions with the people and organizations of Oregon. Our differences lead to a better understanding of the work we do, the people with whom we work, and the impact of our work. Our commitment to diversity in Oregon's government enhances our dedication to public service. Through the different missions of our Divisions, we are dedicated to upholding the rule of law for all the people of our state.
Attorneys
The Oregon Department of Justice has more than 1200 dedicated employees, including 300 excellent attorneys. Our goal is to be the best public law office in the nation. We are committed to finding, developing, and retaining the finest legal professionals. We offer our employees a challenging, fun, and rewarding work environment with great benefits resulting in a satisfying career. Because of our size and the volume of our legal work, we are able to entrust each attorney with an appropriate level of responsibility, helping people work productively by facilitating growth and development of their knowledge and skills. If you are looking for a fast-paced and challenging career, the Oregon Department of Justice is the place for you.
For specific information about attorney positions, working at the Department or our hiring process please contact careers@doj.state.or.us.
Honors Attorneys
The Honors Attorney program is a two-year program designed to provide exceptional recent law school graduates--including those who have served as judicial clerks--with the opportunity to gain public law experience after law school. Honors Attorneys typically rotate from one division to another after their first year, enabling them to obtain a breadth of experience in diverse areas of the law and with colleagues from different divisions in the office. As an Honors Attorney, you will immediately handle your own caseload and have the opportunity to work on some of the most pressing issues facing the state. Whether you are interested in complex litigation, environmental law, criminal law, antitrust, consumer protection, protecting Oregon’s children, or constitutional issues, the Honors Attorney program enables new attorneys to gain invaluable hands-on experience in a wide range of legal disciplines alongside more experienced attorneys. As a member of the DOJ, you will work with talented and dedicated attorneys and staff to represent the State of Oregon, its departments, agencies and institutions, and, most importantly, its citizens.
Recruitment for the Honors Attorney program occurs every year in the early fall. For specific information about the application process, please contact careers@doj.state.or.us
Current Vacancies - Honors Attorney Program
Law Clerks
The Oregon Department of Justice employs approximately 80 law students to provide legal support to Assistant Attorneys General. In any division, a law clerk's usual duties will be to perform library research, investigate factual matters, and to provide a written product. The final result may be used by the supervising attorney as background, it may be incorporated as part of an opinion or legal document or it may itself be a finished product such as a brief, memorandum, pleading or opinion. Certified law students may be able to assist supervising attorneys in court proceedings. The Department expects the highest professional work from its clerks; conversely, the Department does not use law clerks as "gophers."
For specific information about law clerk positions, working at the Department or our hiring process please contact careers@doj.state.or.us.
Other Positions
The Department offers a variety of other employment opportunities, including administrative and legal support staff, case managers and program-related positions such as improving the well-being of Oregon's children through the Division of Child Support; and protecting victims of violent crime in the Crime Victims' Services Division.
Current Vacancies - Other Positions
For specific information about any of these open positions, working at the Department or our hiring process please contact recruitment@doj.state.or.us.
