Rebecca A. Duncan (born 1971) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a justice of the

Early life and education

Duncan was born in Wisconsin in 1971, and graduated from Catholic Central High School in Burlington, Wisconsin in 1989. She attended Reed College in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

for two years, and then transferred to the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, where she completed her bachelor's degree in 1993. Duncan completed a J.D. degree at the University of Michigan Law School in 1996.

Career

Duncan moved to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in 1996, to work as a trial attorney in the

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

's office in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and Multnomah counties. From 2000 to 2010, she was lawyer with the appellate division of the Oregon Office of Public Defense Services, and regularly practiced before the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Oregon Court of Appeals, arguing 90 cases before these two courts from 2005 to 2010. In January 2010, the Governor of Oregon Ted Kulongoski appointed Duncan as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals, to succeed retiring judge Walter Edmonds. She was retained by voters in

retention elections A judicial retention election (or retention referendum) is a periodic process in some jurisdictions whereby a judge is subject to a referendum held at the same time as a general election. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes ar ...

in 2010 and 2016. In May 2017, Governor Kate Brown appointed Duncan as a justice of the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.David V. Brewer David V. Brewer (born 1951) is an American lawyer and judge, who served as a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 2013 to 2017. He retired on June 30, 2017, and was succeeded by Rebecca Duncan. Brewer was the Chief Judge of the Oregon Court ...

. She was sworn in on July 1, 2017. Her current term ends in January 2019, and she is eligible to run for re-election in November 2018. Duncan's appointment to the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Rebecca 1971 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American women judges Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court People from Keizer, Oregon University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni