W. Michael Gillette (born December 29, 1941) is an American attorney and retired judge in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He was a justice of the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, he was previously a judge on the

Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the US state of Oregon. Part of the Oregon Judicial Department, it has thirteen judges and is located in Salem. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the O ...

from 1977 to 1986.

Early life

Gillette was born on December 29, 1941, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, and grew up in the

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

city of Milton-Freewater. In 1963, Gillette graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

with a bachelor's degree in arts from

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacifi ...

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...

. He then went on to

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

where he graduated with a

bachelor of law Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in 1966.

Legal career

Gillette passed the

Oregon State Bar The Oregon State Bar Association (OSBA) is a public corporation and instrumentality of the Oregon Judicial Department in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulat ...

in 1966 and joined the

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

law firm of Rives and Rogers. The next year he moved on to become a Deputy District Attorney for

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thou ...

, staying until 1969. Following this he was an Assistant Attorney General in

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

and

for two years. Gillette joined the Consumer Protection Division as chief counsel, serving until 1973 when he became Chief Trial Counsel for the

Oregon Department of Justice The Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ), headed by the Oregon Attorney General (currently Ellen Rosenblum), is the main legal branch of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The DOJ is part of Oregon's executive branch, and most of its empl ...

. That same year he then became Solicitor General for the state of Oregon, a position he held until 1977. In 1977, Gillette joined the

and served on that court until 1986. He served as a presiding judge on that court from 1980 until the end of his tenure. In 1980, he began serving on the board of directors for the Oregon Law-Related Education Project, remaining until 1988. Gillette left the Court of Appeals after appointment to the

Betty Roberts Betty Cantrell Roberts (February 5, 1923 – June 25, 2011) was an American politician and judge from the U.S. state of Oregon. She was the 83rd justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. She was the first woman to serve on the Oregon Supreme Co ...

left the bench. Gillette was then elected to a full six-year term in 1986 and re-elected in 1992, 1998, and 2004. Gillette is a faculty member of

National Judicial College The National Judicial College (NJC) was established in 1963 as an entity within the American Bar Association. The NJC moved to the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno in 1964 and became a Nevada not-for-profit (501)(c)(3) educational corporati ...

. On the bench he has authored many opinions, and was one of the leading opinion writers in the 1990s on the court. Gillette wrote the majority opinion in ''Lehman v. Bradbury'' that invalidated 1992's Measure 3 that had enacted

term limits in Oregon Term limits legislation – term limits for state and federal office-holders – has been a recurring political issue in the U.S. state of Oregon since 1992. In that year's general election, Oregon voters approved Ballot Measure 3, an initiative t ...

, and the majority decision in ''Li & Kennedy vs. State of Oregon'' that invalidated

same-sex marriages Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

approved by

in 2004. He also wrote the opinion of the unanimous court for the 2008 edition of ''Williams v. Philip Morris, Inc.'', a case that had already been to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

twice. The opinion upheld the punitive damages award against the tobacco company. He declined to run for re-election in 2010 and his term ended on December 31, 2010.

Later years

In the past he served as a faculty member of

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

, and as an instructor at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

. Gillette served on the Board of Trustees from 1977 to 1980 for the

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI, ) is a science and technology museum in Portland, Oregon, United States. It contains three auditoriums, including a large-screen theatre, planetarium, and exhibition halls with a variety of hands ...

. He worked on the Advisory Committee of Scholars for the Constitution Project starting in 1984, and in 1991 was named

Classroom Law Project A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical setting for a learning environment, a place in which teaching and learning occur. The term is commonly used as a more definitive alter ...

's Legal Citizen of the Year. The following year Gillette received an honorary LL.D. degree from Whitman College. In 2006, he was awarded the V. Robert Payant Award in 2006 for teaching excellence from the National Judicial College, and named one of the 500 Leading Judges in America in 2006 by Lawdragon. A basketball player in high school, he serves as a referee for high school games when away from court. The Wilsonville resident returned to private practice after leaving the bench, joining Portland law firm of

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt ("Schwabe") is an American law firm with over 176 attorneys in eight cities on the West Coast. The firm is led by Graciela Gomez Cowger, CEO. History The firm was founded in 1892 by Ralph Wilber and Schuyler C. Spence ...

in January 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillette, W. Michael 1941 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Harvard Law School alumni Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Oregon Court of Appeals judges People from Milton-Freewater, Oregon People from Wilsonville, Oregon Whitman College alumni Willamette University faculty