Randall B. Kester

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Randall B. Kester
69th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
In office
1957 – 1958
Appointed by Elmo Smith
Preceded by Walter L. Tooze
Succeeded by Gordon Sloan
Born October 20, 1916 (1916-10-20) (age 91)
Spouse Rachel W. Kester

Randall B. Kester (b. 1916) is an American attorney and former judge. He was the 69th Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court, serving from 1957 to 1958. He is currently a lawyer in Portland, Oregon at the firm of Cosgrave Vergeer Kester, LLP where he is a senior partner.

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[edit] Early life

Kester was born on October 20, 1916 and grew up in Eastern Oregon.[1][2] As a child he worked at the county library in Ontario, Oregon where he earned 50¢ per week to haul books to and from the post office that had been delivered by the Oregon State Library.[2] During high school he worked for the local newspaper, the Ontario Argus.

Later while in college at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon he worked for the state library when it was located at the Oregon Supreme Court Building.[2] In 1935 the Oregon State Capitol burned down and many of the books of the state library were damaged by water as they were stored in the basement of the Supreme Court Building which was connected by tunnels to the Capitol Building.[2] Kester’s job was to try and dry out and salvage as many books as he could.[2] In 1937 as president of the senior class he helped break ground on a new library for Willamette.[2] After graduating in 1937 Kester then attended law school in New York City at Columbia Law School, graduating in 1940.[2]

[edit] Legal career

After graduation from Columbia, Kester moved to Portland, Oregon and joined the law firm of Maguire, Shields and Morrison where the primary client was the Union Pacific Railroad. During World War II he volunteered with the Mount Hood Ski Patrol and is credited with keeping that organization going during the war when many of the regular patrollers were off fighting in the war.[3]

On January 3, 1957, he was appointed by Oregon Governor Elmo Smith to the Oregon Supreme Court to replace Walter L. Tooze who had died in office.[4][5] Kester served on the court until March 1, 1958 when he resigned from the bench.[5] He resigned in order to become the general solicitor for Union Pacific’s legal department in the Pacific Northwest.[2]

While working for UP in 1972 he filed briefs in support of the lower court’s decision in the Supreme Court of the United States case Port of Portland v. United States in a decision regarding interstate commerce.[6] Then in 1980 Kester retired from Union Pacific and went back to his old firm. From 1986 to 1987 he was president of the City Club of Portland.[7] He currently is a senior partner for Cosgrave Vergeer Kester.[2] As of January of 2006 at the age of 89 he was believed to be the oldest lawyer in Oregon still practicing law.[8]

[edit] Works authored

  • The War Industries Board, 1917-1918; A Study in Industrial Mobilization. The American Political Science Review, Vol. 34, No. 4. (Aug., 1940).
  • The First duty: a history of the U.S. District Court for Oregon. Portland, Or: U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society, (1993), contributor.

[edit] References

  1. ^ On Growing Old. Multnomah Lawyer, December 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kester, Randall. Oregon Legal Heritage: EX LIBRIS. Oregon State Bar Bulletin, June 2003.
  3. ^ History of the Mount Hood Ski Patrol. Mount Hood Ski Patrol. Retrieved on February 3, 2008.
  4. ^ Oregon Blue Book: Oregon Governors. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on February 3, 2008.
  5. ^ a b Oregon Blue Book: Supreme Court Justices of Oregon. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on February 3, 2008.
  6. ^ Port of Portland v. United States, 408 U.S. 811 (1972)
  7. ^ City Club's History. City Club of Portland. Retrieved on February 3, 2008.
  8. ^ Robben, Janine. When to Retire? Oregon State Bar Bulletein, January 2006.