Ulanda Watkins Appointed Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge

Ulanda Watkins was among eight judges Gov. Kate Brown appointed to the Multnomah and Clackamas County Circuit Courts, as well as the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Watkins, a former defense attorney and current managing attorney at insurance firm GEICO, will serve the Clackamas County Circuit Court as the only judge of color – and only the third Black woman judge on the Oregon state bench.

She has volunteered for the Oregon State Bar through the Access to Justice and Affirmative Action committees, as a Disciplinary Board member, in the Litigation Section, and through the New Lawyer Mentoring Program. She has also served on the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee.

Watkins is a cofounder and member of the Oregon Chapter of the National Bar Association, and is a member of Oregon Minority Lawyers Association. She was a founding board member for the Avel Gordly Center for Healing.

She graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School in 1996, and was admitted to the Oregon State Bar the same year.

In 2004, Watkins was admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, and later to the Washington State Bar in 2013.