Draft:James C. Egan

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James C. Egan is a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals. He was elected to this statewide office in 2012, re-elected in 2018, and will again be before the voters in 2024. He was elected by his judicial peers to serve as Chief Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals from 2018 through 2021.

Early life, local community involvement, family

Judge Egan grew up primarily in Tangent, Oregon, a farming community located in the Willamette Valley. He graduated from West Albany High School in 1974, received his Bachelor of Science degree in political science and economics from Willamette University in Salem in 1979, and earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Oregon School of Law in Eugene in 1985.

Egan became a father as a teenager. He supported his family while attending college, working as a grocery store clerk, as a sanitation worker in a meat packing plant, and as a bus driver.

Involved in the local community, Egan has served on the Tangent Fire Board, Tangent City Planning Commission, and the Linn County Planning Commission. Jim and his wife Michelle together have eight children. While in law school, he coached his children’s T-ball teams, and while building his career as a lawyer, he coached all of his kids in baseball, softball, and basketball and volunteered in their schools. The family also worked on community projects together.

Military career

Egan enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1978 and was commissioned in 1979. He served as a logistics officer for Corrections Battalion Camp Pendleton from 1979 to 1982, then served in the Reserves from 1983 through 1996.

In 2006, Egan returned to active reserve status with the U.S. Army Reserve and was deployed to Kuwait in the Iraq War in 2008 as the Deputy Command Judge Advocate for the Commander. All told, Egan spent 34 years in the armed forces before his retirement in 2015.

Legal Career

Egan practiced law in primarily in Linn County, Oregon for more than 25 years. He became a shareholder at the law firm of Emmons, Kyle, Kropp, Kryger & Alexander (later Kryger, Alexander, Egan, Elmer & Carlson) early in his career, specializing in personal injury and workers’ compensation law and civil litigation, representing injured workers and those facing job discrimination.

Before being elected to the Court of Appeals, Egan served as president of the Linn County Bar Association, Oregon Workers’ Compensation Attorneys, and the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association. He volunteered on the Oregon State Bar’s House of Delegates, was a member of its Affirmative Action Committee, and served as treasurer of its Workers’ Compensation section.

Governor Ted Kulongoski appointed Egan to the Linn County Circuit Court in 2010, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rick McCormick. He took office in May 2010 and ran unopposed in the November 2010 general election. During his time as a circuit court judge, Egan oversaw murder cases, petty thefts, marriage dissolutions, child custody battles, and other civil and criminal cases. He served as a circuit court judge for two and a half years, and for a portion of that time served as the chief judge for the Linn County juvenile and probate courts. Egan also served as pro tem judge at the Oregon Court of Appeals and Oregon Supreme Court through 2021.

In 2012, Egan ran for an open seat on the Oregon Court of Appeals. He was elected on November 7, 2012 and sworn into office on January 7, 2013. Egan was appointed to the position of Chief Judge in 2017 by former Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court Thomas Balmer after being elected to the position by the other judges on the Court of Appeals. He assumed the position in 2018 and served as Chief Judge through 2021.