| Susan M. Leeson | |
|---|---|
| 94th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court | |
| In office 1998–2003 |
|
| Appointed by | John Kitzhaber |
| Preceded by | Edward N. Fadeley |
| Succeeded by | Rives Kistler |
| Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals | |
| In office 1993–1998 |
|
| Appointed by | Barbara Roberts |
| Preceded by | John H. Buttler |
| Succeeded by | Robert D. Wollheim |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 16, 1946 Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Spouse(s) | Richard S. Hall, Jr. |
Susan M. Leeson (born August 16, 1946) is an American attorney and former judge in the state of Oregon. She was the 94th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Prior to her appointment to Oregon’s high court, the Utah native served on the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Contents |
Susan Leeson was born on August 16, 1946, in Salt Lake City, Utah.[1] The family moved to Oregon in 1961 where she attended Sunset High School near Beaverton.[1] There she was a delegate to the Girls’ Nation conference before graduating in 1964.[1] In 1968, Leeson graduated from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, with a bachelor of arts in political science.[2] She graduated magna cum laude and then earned a master’s degree and PhD from Claremont Graduate University.[2] Then at the age of 24 she returned to Willamette and began teaching political science.[2] While teaching, she enrolled at Willamette’s law school and earned her Juris Doctor in 1981.[2] During law school she clerked for Judge Alfred T. Goodwin and was a judicial fellow for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger’s office.[2]
Leeson was on the Willamette faculty for a total of more than 20 years at both the school’s College of Liberal Arts and the law school.[2] She helped to start the law school’s alternative dispute resolution program in 1984.[2] She also married fellow professor Richard S. Hall, Jr.[1]
Then in December 1992 Susan Leeson was appointed to the Oregon Court of Appeals.[3] She then won election to a full term in 1994 before resigning on February 26, 1998.[3] On February 26, 1998, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber appointed her to the state supreme court to replace Edward N. Fadeley.[4][5] Leeson then won election to a full six-year term later in 1998.[5] She resigned in 2003 to battle breast cancer.[2]
After beating breast cancer Susan M. Leeson started a consulting firm called Mediation Plus.[2] She has also continued teaching and was named by the Classroom Law Project as Legal Citizen of the Year in 2006.[6] Leeson is an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon School of Law.[7]