Three recent Oregon Law graduates now clerk in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma. Suzanne Daigle ‘20, Taylor Jones ’19, and Bryan Williamson ‘19 are working in chambers and reconfigured courtrooms, collaboratively, yet at a distance.  

Daigle and Jones clerk for the Honorable Brian D. Lynch, and Williamson clerks for the Honorable Mary J. Heston. Each of these outstanding Oregon Law Ducks share their Oregon Law experiences that led them to serve in these prestigious clerkships. 

Taylor Jones 

Taylor Jones focused his undergraduate coursework on the hard sciences. His goal was to pursue a career in medicine or another science-based field. However, an experience he had working at a small vodka distillery changed his career trajectory. Jones found he had a passion for business. He thought a law degree would provide him with the knowledge and skills he would need to work with small businesses. 

The summer before his first year at Oregon Law, Jones received a 1L Business Law Fellowship. Professor Andrea Coles-Bjerre served as his Fellowship advisor. Although Jones thought he would pursue a career in patent law, the bankruptcy research he did on Securities Investor Protection Act litigation and the Madoff bankruptcy, intrigued him.  

Jones took Coles-Bjerre’s Bankruptcy course, which gave him the breadth and depth of his bankruptcy knowledge and informs the work he does in his clerkship. Jones also credits his Secured Transactions and Business Associations professors for providing him with a strong foundation in business law.  

Jones experience in the Business Law Clinic and in his externship with the Honorable Thomas M. Renn of the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon, provided Jones experiential opportunities in areas in which he had a practice interest.  

Jones also participated on a Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court team and was an Oregon Law Review editor. 

“I gained a solid and encompassing foundation in bankruptcy and business law from my coursework, while also gaining practical experience through various externships, clinics, and research positions,” Jones said. 

Suzanne Daigle 

Suzanne Daigle triple majored in political science, economics, and French at Colorado State University.  Daigle knew her focus in law school would be on employment law and business law. Bankruptcy was not on her radar.  

Following the advice of Jones, her 1L mentor, Daigle took Coles-Bjerre’s Bankruptcy course – she was hooked. Daigle’s experience in the Bankruptcy course and in her summer externship for now Chief Judge Marco A. Hernández of the US District Court for the District of Oregon, motivated her to pursue a clerkship. 

Daigle says she enjoys the fast pace and intellectual depth and breadth of the matters on which she is working in her clerkship.  

“Analyzing complex problems, researching the interplay of the Bankruptcy Code with multifaceted areas of state law, and drafting opinions, is challenging and rewarding,” Daigle said.  

“UO Law’s business law courses, in addition to being the best part of my academic experience, gave me the working knowledge necessary to hit the ground running at my clerkship,” Daigle said. “I am grateful that Oregon Law’s faculty is willing to go the extra mile as far as interview prepping and connecting students with postgraduate job opportunities.”  

Bryan Williamson 

Bryan Williamson was 16 years old when he decided to be an attorney. He pursued his undergraduate degree in political science at Oregon State University, with law school in mind.  

Prior to law school, Williamson interned at a construction litigation firm, where he saw the practice of law first-hand. This experience solidified his decision to apply to law school. 

When Williamson joined Oregon Law, he had an interest in litigation, especially pertaining to the Americans with Disabilities Act and disability law. As a student in Professor Suzanne Rowe’s Legal Research and Writing course, Williamson reveled in legal writing and in formulating legal arguments.  

He served as an associate editor and operations editor on Oregon Law Review.  He also competed in the National Native American Law Student Association’s Appellate Moot Court in Tucson, Arizona. 

Through Williamson’s externship with the Honorable Michael J. McShane of the US District Court for the District of Oregon and his work in the Civil Recovery Section of the Oregon Department of Justice, he saw a path to working in litigation and bankruptcy. “I had an opportunity to work on a Chapter 11 case and realized I enjoyed being in court,” Williamson said. “I decided if my goal was to pursue a career in civil law, the best way would be to become a bankruptcy lawyer.”  

Williamson, like his colleagues Daigle and Jones, appreciates the depth and breadth of his clerkship work. He is also finding  community in the Bankruptcy Court as he did at Oregon Law.  

“Community is important at the Court, in law school, and in the work itself – community is important, even in professional spaces,” Williamson said. 

Coles-Bjerre is impressed by her former students’ professional accomplishments. “Today Washington, tomorrow the world!” Coles-Bjerre said. “But, seriously, we’re tremendously proud of these Ducks – as well as others who are clerking with bankruptcy judges in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Oregon, and next year in New York.” 

By Kristie Gibson, Supervising Attorney and Instructor, Business Law Clinic