Oregon Law announces the recipients of the John E. Jaqua Distinguished Alumni Award, Minoru Yasui Justice Award, and the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award. 

2024 John E. Jaqua Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, Thomas M. Dempsey, JD ’68 is celebrated for his career-long commitment to helping those who have suffered traumatic injuries, Dempsey has been named as a “Super Lawyer” yearly since 2004. A recipient of the Public Justice Foundation Champion of Justice and the Public Justice Achievement Award for the case of Castaneda v. State of California, he is also a member of the National Trial Lawyers “Top 100 Lawyers in California.” Read more here.

2024 Minoru Yasui Justice Award recipient, Nan Waller, JD ’79, was appointed to the Multnomah County Circuit Court in 2001. Judge Waller currently serves as the mental health court judge, managing the competency docket. She is co-chair of the Chief Justice’s Behavioral Health Advisory Council and chair of the Mental Health Subcommittee of the Local Public Safety Coordinating Council. In 2022, John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States, presented Judge Waller with the prestigious William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence, one of the nation’s highest judicial honors. Read more here.

2024 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award recipient Anna Brady, JD ’18 is an attorney at Ziontz Chestnut, a Seattle law firm with a 60-year legacy of serving Native American tribes, particularly in the environmental and natural resources realm. During law school, Anna worked part-time as a staff member of the Native-led nonprofit that spearheaded the historic effort to designate Bears Ears National Monument. Meanwhile at Oregon Law she served as an ENR Center Native Environmental Sovereignty Fellow, Wayne Morse Center Legal Fellow, and Co-Director of the Native American Law Student Association, and graduated Order of the Coif. Read more here.