Mick Gillette served for nearly nine years on the Oregon Court of Appeals, and then served 25 years on the Oregon Supreme Court before joining Schwabe. Prior to that, he was the State of Oregon’s chief appellate lawyer. He has participated in thousands of appeals and written hundreds of legal opinions.

Mick uses his extensive litigation background to assist other Schwabe attorneys concerning virtually any client legal question that may arise. He is the “go-to” person when any of his colleagues want to know, “How would a judge be likely to react to this idea or argument” In addition, he provides focus in particular areas—administrative and government law, for example—in which he has a personal background. He has taught administrative law, including rule-making and its vulnerabilities to litigation, to judges at the National Judicial College for over 40 years. As a veteran appellate practitioner, he writes briefs and argues appeals concerning the broadest possible range of subjects. Mick has argued cases in the Oregon appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has also achieved important victories for clients in the judicial and lawyer-discipline contexts. 

Bar Admissions

• Oregon State Courts
• Federal District Court for the District of Oregon
• Federal District Court for the District of Vermont
• Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• Supreme Court of the United States
• High Court of American Samoa

Education

• Harvard Law School, Juris Doctor degree (1966)
• Whitman College, Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude (1963)

• Assisted in litigation between a church and its national organization over who owns the land on which the church is built.
• Assisted in litigation over whether a state agency can limit the uses of a publicly owned lake.
• Assisted in litigation over whether a settlement in a divorce case is binding on the parties.
• Assisted in litigation over whether a county can assert a tax lien on property owned by a port district.
• Assisted in litigation over whether an automobile crash is the responsibility of the company whose owner was the driver.
• Assisted in litigation over whether the legislature can make adjustments to the state’s public employee pension laws.
• Assisted in litigation over whether the legislature may limit the size of a verdict in a case of negligence.
• Assisted in an investigation of alleged wrongdoing by a city employee.

• Legal Challenge To Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Increase Rejected
• With the Supreme Court Poised to Address Personal Jurisdiction Again, State High Courts Reject Attempts to Evade Daimler v. Bauman
• The Playful, Plainspoken Prose Of Justice Elena Kagan
• That Signed Agreement Might Not Hold Up