Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has now announced that she will appoint Thanh H. Tran to the Clackamas County Circuit Court and Natasha Zimmerman to the Marion County Circuit Court. Tran will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Thomas J. Rastetter. Zimmerman will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge David E. Leith.

Kotek says that both of these appointments are effective immediately.

“These are talented individuals who have demonstrated commitment to their communities through their service,” Governor Kotek said. “I look forward to seeing them bring their meaningful legal expertise to continue to serve their communities on the Clackamas and Marion County circuit courts.”

Tran has a civil litigation practice based in Clackamas County.

Kotek says he will be Oregon’s first Vietnamese American judge and the first Asian American judge on the Clackamas County Circuit Court. He came to the United States as a child refugee from Vietnam and earned his law degree from the University of Washington. He worked in Seattle as a criminal prosecutor and then at civil litigation firms. In 2002, he started his own law practice.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Zimmerman is a hearings referee at the Marion County Circuit Court. From 2007 to 2020, Zimmerman worked for the City of Salem, as an attorney. For the past two and a half years, Zimmerman has served as a hearings referee in Marion County, where she has presided over criminal cases and cases in the Juvenile Department, where she is currently assigned.

Zimmerman is Co-President of the Mary Leonard Chapter of the Oregon Women Lawyers, and she is active in the Marion County Bar Association and the Willamette Valley American Inns of Court. She has served as a volunteer advocate for the Center for Hope and Safety and has served on the Marion County LGBTQ Foster Youth Workgroup.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2023-08-25 11:18:55

Last Update: 2023-08-25 20:22:07