General Election: November 6, 2012
An information resource for Washington voters
Thomas Bjorgen
Washington Court of Appeals
Division II, District Two, Position 2
Legal/Judicial Experience: Washington Assistant Attorney General, Counsel to Washington House of Representatives, and Thurston County Senior Deputy Prosecutor. Since 1999, Partner in law firm Bjorgen Bauer Pitman Bauer. Hearing Examiner for Olympia, DuPont and Thurston County. General Counsel for Intercity Transit.
Other Professional Experience: Chair, Environmental and Land Use Section of State Bar Association. Frequent lecturer at attorney education courses. President's Award from statewide Prosecutors' Association. Board member of professional organizations.
Education: Bachelor's degree, WSU, Phi Beta Kappa and High Honors, 1972. Law degree, UW, 1979.
Community Service: Board member, Nisqually Land Trust. Volunteer at homeless kitchen. Volunteer lawyer for legal services foundation, Audubon Society and other nonprofits.
Statement: All deserve justice. All deserve judges who decide based on the law, not politics or special interests. All deserve fairness, no matter who they are, whom they know, or how much money they have.
These vital goals demand judges with broad, diverse legal experience. As an Assistant Attorney General, I wrote briefs in cases in the United States Supreme Court and argued cases in other federal courts and the Washington Supreme Court. In another case, I successfully defended the privacy of Washington library records. I served as a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and am now a partner in a law firm. As a mediator, I help people settle disputes outside court. As Hearing Examiner, I judge land use cases for local governments. The leading national attorney rating service awarded me its highest rating.
Beyond legal experience, judges need compassion and discipline to understand how the law touches people. I worked the orchards and warehouses of Yakima and was a ranger at Mt. Rainier and a schoolteacher. I served on the boards of nonprofits, volunteered at a homeless kitchen, helped establish the Volunteer Legal Clinic, and donated many hours of free legal services. To me, this is the heart of justice.
| ORGANIZATION |
TOM BJORGEN |
PAM LOGINSKY |
| Cardozo Society | * | Well Qualified |
|
Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee |
* | Well Qualified |
|
Justice for Washington Foundation |
Well Qualified | Well Qualified |
|
Latina/o Bar Ass'n of Washington |
Well Qualified | * |
|
Q-Law: The GLBT Bar Association of Washington |
* | Qualified |
|
Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association |
Well Qualified |
Exceptionally Well Qualified |
|
Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys |
Well Qualified |
Exceptionally Well Qualified |
|
Washington Defense Trial Lawyers |
Qualified |
Exceptionally Well Qualified |
|
Washington Women Lawyers |
Exceptionally Well Qualified |
Exceptionally Well Qualified |
Important note! Each of these organizations uses its own standards and rating terms when evaluating candidates; please check their pages for further information. We do not have ratings for candidates with an asterisk (*), and the reasons vary. Some evaluations may still be in process, or we might not have received them yet; some candidates may not have been offered an opportunity to participate, or they may have declined to participate. Again, please check the organizations' pages for further details.
Newspaper endorsements (click paper for details):
| NEWSPAPER |
TOM BJORGEN |
PAM LOGINSKY |
| Kitsap Sun |
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Finance report:
See individual contributors:
Tom Bjorgen
Pam Loginsky
| October 16, 2012 | ||
| Kitsap Sun | Longtime prosecutor faces hearing examiner for appellate judge | |
| August 1, 2012 | ||
| Sequim Gazette | Appellate candidates attend Sequim debate | |
| July 25, 2012 | ||
| The Olympian | Judge Armstrong endorses Bjorgen, Weaver as potential Court of Appeals successors | |
| JTNews | Jews on the ballot: Pam Loginsky | |
| July 23, 2012 | ||
| Kitsap Sun | Kitsap appellate candidates met before in state's highest court | |
| July 11, 2012 | ||
| Kitsap Sun | Would-be judges suggest ways to speed up legal process |
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