Background
Balmer, Thomas Ancil was born on January 31, 1952 in Longview, Washington, District of Columbia, United States. Son of Donald Gordon and Elisabeth Clare Balmer.
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Thomas Ancil Balmer
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Thomas Ancil Balmer, American Lawyer. Bar: Massachusetts 1977, District of Columbia 1981, United States District Court Massachusetts 1977, Oregon 1982, United States District Court Oregon 1982, United States Court Appeals (9th circuit) 1982, United States Court Appeals (District of Columbia circuit) 1983, Supreme Court of the United States Court 1987.
Education
He attended and graduated from high school in Portland, Oregon, and the now defunct Jackson High School. Balmer graduated from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio in 1974, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and earned High Honors. Balmer then attended law school, graduating from the University of Chicago Law School in 1977.
Career
A native of Washington, he was appointed to the court in 2001 as an Associate Justice, and became Chief Justice in 2012. Balmer began his public legal career as a trial lawyer for the United States. Department of Justice from 1979 to 1980. Working in Washington, District of Columbia, he was part of the Antitrust Division.
Balmer taught at Lewis & Clark Law School from 1983 to 1984, and again from 1990 to 1992 as an adjunct professor
From 1986 to 1987 he was the chairperson of the Oregon State Bar antitrust law section, and in 1992 to 1993 he was chairperson of the Multnomah County Legal Aid Service’s Board of Directors. Later he served as a deputy attorney general for the state of Oregon from 1993 to 1997.
While there he worked for the Oregon Attorney General, Ted Kulongoski. On September 20, 2001 Balmer was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court, becoming the 96th justice.
Governor John Kitzhaber appointed Balmer to replace Ted Kulongoski (whom Balmer worked for at the Oregon Department of Justice) after Kulongoski resigned to campaign for governor.
In 2005, he joined the board of directors to the Oregon Law Institute. In July 2009, he was named one of five finalists for two open positions on the federal district court in Oregon, but was not chosen as a nominee for the federal court. In January 2012 it was announced that his fellow justices had selected him to become the new Chief Justice of the court on May 1, 2012, to replace Paul De Muniz.
Achievements
Politics
In 1997, he became a member of the board of directors for Classroom Law Project, and from 2000 to 2001, he served as an adjunct professor of political science at Lewis & Clark College, 2000-2001. Company-author of: Antitrust Review of Proposed Administrative Actions, 61 B.U. L. Review 90 (1981).
Membership
Active mission and outreach committee United Church of Christ, Portland, 1984-1987, Metropolitan Svc. District Budget Committee, Portland, 1988-1990. Board directors Multnomah County Legal Aid Svc., Inc., 1989-1993, chair 1992-1993.
Board directors Chamber Music Northwest, since 1997. Member American Bar Association, Oregon Bar Association (chairman antitrust section 1986-1987).
Connections
Married Mary Louise McClintock, August 25, 1984. Children: Rebecca Louise, Paul McClintock.
Education
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1977
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1981
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1982
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1987