Robert Donald "Skip" Durham Jr. (born May 10, 1947)[1] is a retired justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Previously, Durham was a judge for the Oregon Court of Appeals and a lawyer in private practice.
Durham was in private practice in Oregon from 1974 to 1991 working in Portland and Eugene.[4] He served as chairperson of the Oregon State Bar's labor law section in 1984, and as chairperson of the Oregon Commission on Administrative Hearings from 1989 to 1990. He is a partner in Bennett & Durham in Portland, previously the firm was known as Kulongoski, Durham, Drummonds & Colombo.
Judicial career
Robert Durham's career in the judiciary began when he was appointed to the Oregon Court of Appeals by the governor on November 19, 1991.[5] Subsequently, he was elected to a full term in 1992, but resigned from the court before the end of his term upon his appointment to the state supreme court.[5] Also in 1992, he served as a faculty at the National Judicial College.[4] From 1992 to 1994 and again from 1996 through 2005 Durham was a member on the Oregon Council on Court Procedures.[4]
His appointment on January 4, 1994, made him the 91st justice since Oregon became a territory in 1848. Durham was then elected to a full six-year term in 1994 and re-elected in 2000 and 2006.[7] He did not seek re-election in 2012.[8] While on the court Durham served as a member of the Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure Committee from 1994 to 2001, president of the Oregon Appellate Judges Association from 1996 to 1997, and twice as chairperson of the Oregon Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Rule 4 (1995–1996 & 2002–2005).[4]
