Darleen Ortega has served as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals since 2003 and is the first woman of color and the only Latina to serve as an appellate judge in Oregon. Before becoming a judge, she practiced civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels.

In her time on the bench, Judge Ortega has distinguished herself as a court and community leader on issues of access to justice, juvenile dependency, and addressing racism and other manifestations of structural oppression. She is also an avid theater and film critic; her reviews appear in Oregon ArtsWatch and the Portland Observer, and also on her blog, opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com.

Judge Ortega teaches Access the Law to students at both the Eugene and Portland campuses.