MEET JO
Jo Perini-Abbott is running for Judge because experience matters.
For Multnomah County’s communities and economy to be strong, the public must have trust in our courts.
That trust is built and maintained by experienced and hard-working judges who apply the law fairly. The rule of law matters. Experience matters.
Jo’s 17-year legal career ranges from complex civil litigation to federal criminal defense to training lawyers at Oregon’s top law school.
Jo took on Amazon for their unfair noncompete practices and won as a civil litigator at Angeli Law Group; she fought for local business in trade secret litigation at Perkins Coie; and she has defended the constitutional rights of individuals accused of crimes in federal and state court across her career.
She now takes students and develops them into Oregon’s next generation of trial attorneys as the Director of Lewis and Clark Law School’s Advocacy Center.
As a mom, attorney, and law professor, Jo Perini-Abbott is the only candidate running to succeed Judge Christopher J. Marshall on the Multnomah County Circuit Court, Position 5 with the breadth and depth of experience to be ready on day one of the job.
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
Jo’s 17-year legal career ranges from complex civil litigation to federal criminal defense to training lawyers at Oregon’s top law school.
EFFICIENCY
EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCE
A community thrives when criminal defendants and crime victims alike believe they will be treated fairly and have their rights protected in the courts, when businesses trust that the courts will carefully analyze and dutifully apply the law to their disputes, and when community members know there are
fair and even-handed courts to turn to
if they are injured or wronged.
Courts function best
when everyone does their homework.
FAIRNESS
Jo lives in Southeast Portland with
her husband, a public safety officer,
their two children, and their dog Lucy.
For Jo, service and community are at the heart of everything she does.
From serving clients in the court system, to serving on the Oregon Board of Bar Examiners to improve the legal profession, to teaching and coaching our next generation of lawyers, to serving as a weekly crossing guard at her kids’ school,
Jo strives in everything she does to
improve the lives of those around her.
Jo’s passion for the courts comes from her earliest days and has spanned her career.
Growing up on Long Island, NY,
the Suffolk County Courthouse was Jo’s babysitter.
When she tagged along with her Dad, a lead narcotics prosecutor and then criminal defense attorney, he would drop her off in the gallery of various courtrooms for the day (it was the 1980s and 90s).
Jo was captivated by the preparation, precision, and responsibility
of the attorneys who stood up ready to argue for their clients or a cause.
Jo saw that the courtroom was where people
brought their biggest problems and trusted the institution to hand out fair and even-handed justice.
That awe and respect for the power of the courtroom has never gone away.
Jo took what she saw in the courtroom as a child—the respect for hard-work, diligent preparation, and fairness—and has used it to fuel every aspect of her life and career.
From walking out with the starting lineup as a freshman on the Washington & Lee lacrosse team to arguing complex civil cases and defending the rights of the accused, Jo upholds the same consistent expectations:
do your homework, prepare thoroughly,
and leave your ego at the door.