The voters have an opportunity to place a tremendous lawyer with very broad-based experience in civil litigation on the bench in the May 20 election. I have previously urged support for Randy Miller. I add this detail as to why Miller deserves your vote.

Miller, over a period of a decade while with our firm, handled hundreds of matters for a very diverse group of clients who were both plaintiffs and defendants in civil controversies across Oregon. These matters included all steps through the litigation process — investigation, preparation of pleadings, various procedural motions including civil discovery and dispositive, summary judgment motions, mediations, arbitrations and trials and all the court proceedings involved in getting to trial. In addition to handling matters on his own, he was co-counsel with me on some very complex trials both to a court and a jury. I know his work. It was and is excellent. In addition, there were many settlements of these disputes that he achieved.

Miller did this initially with the mentoring of many of my law partners who collectively have hundreds of years of experience in their different areas of law to guide and teach him during the early years of his practice. The areas Miller worked in include: intellectual property involving patents, copyright and trade secrets, breach of contracts involving real estate, manufactured parts, employment and noncompete agreements, credit reporting violations, investment securities act violations, foreclosures, business dissolutions, product liability and personal injury, eminent domain, timber trespass, boundary disputes, ways of necessity, claims of acquiring rights by prescription and adverse possession, fire damage from timber fire, government immunity from claims, statutory claims for landowners under Measures 37 and 49, various aspects of trusts and estates including breach of fiduciary duties, undue influence, civil fraud, free speech, equal protection and due process claims and all forms of contractor disputes including liens and licensing. The list is not complete but gives the picture. He has a tremendous breadth of experience across a very wide area of law.

I doubt that Oregon has, in the recent past, had a judicial candidate with such a broad civil litigation background. In my 42 years of experience as a trial lawyer, an increasing number of judges ascend from a criminal law background. In my opinion, it is important to have balance on our trial courts especially for those who need the court to resolve civil disputes that frequently have a permanent impact on their lives. Most lawyers who build a career in criminal law are not grounded in the substance of civil claims, or have never handled a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to stop a sale or end employment, etc. A judge coming from a background limited to criminal law can gain that kind of knowledge and experience, but then it is learned on the job with litigants the possible losers in the process. Our circuit judges are busy. They do not get the support from law clerks that our federal judges do and must hit the ground running. A person with a broad civil litigation background, like Miller, is invaluable for that position.

It is not just me who believes that a broad-based civil litigation practice better serves the public than one limited to criminal law; it is numerous judges across the state. I personally called many of our most senior and experienced judges to solicit their views — some active, some retired from all levels of Oregon courts. They unanimously, without hesitation, agreed to the importance of bringing on judges who have a broad civil litigation background. The business of our Circuit Court is far broader than criminal trials. Those accused of crimes receive plenty of resources. Those who have important civil disputes deserve judges with broad civil litigation experience.

I urge your vote for the best-qualified candidate, Miller.

— Joe Willis is a partner at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, P.C. and lives in Bend.