Curriculum Vitae

Kelly Clark is a trial and appellate lawyer representing individuals, families and businesses against large or powerful institutions, public and private. Best known in recent years for his advocacy for victims of child abuse, he has long been recognized for his courtroom skills, for his knowledge of public and constitutional law, and for his creative litigation strategies. A former two-term legislator, as of 2010 Mr. Clark has practiced before or against some 85 federal, state and local government agencies. He has brought cases in state and federal court on civil rights, voting rights, education rights—including pioneering wins for charter schools—as well as cases on religious liberty, free speech and property rights. He has been legal counsel to numerous political campaigns, including legislative, congressional and gubernatorial candidates.

Kelly has frequently handled cases of public interest– 

• In 2010, winning what was then the largest jury verdict in American history on behalf of a sexual abuse victim (combined general and punitive damages verdict of nearly $20 million), in a widely publicized trial against the Boy Scouts of America;
• In 2007-08, capping over a dozen years of work on the Catholic priest abuse scandals, representing several dozen sexual abuse survivors with claims in the Portland Archdiocese bankruptcy; 
• Since 2005, challenging the expansion of casinos in Oregon, including the Florence casino and the proposed Columbia Gorge casino, winning a key victory at the Oregon Supreme Court in 2009 in the Florence case; 
• In 2004, in the volatile “gay marriage” controversy, Kelly represented those opposed to Multnomah County’s redefinition of marriage —not because of any anti-gay animus, but because of the clearly illegal process used by the County– and earned a unanimous win before the Oregon Supreme Court.
• From 2000-2003, representing the first of Oregon’s charter schools in disputes with school boards and teachers’ unions, successfully establishing these schools’ rights under the new state laws.

Most centrally, over the last 15 years, Kelly Clark has become one of the nation’s leading advocates for victims of child abuse. First while in the Oregon Legislature, he co-authored Oregon’s child abuse statute of limitations, as well as the ban on child pornography. Since then, he has represented over 250 individuals abused as children by trusted adults, including priests, ministers, coaches, Scout leaders, teachers and police officers. Kelly’s 1999 win against the Archdiocese of Portland in the Oregon Supreme Court gained national attention for its landmark theory of liability for “institutions of trust” whose employees abuse children. A 2008 win in the Supreme Court against a police agency was equally significant for its elimination of special immunities for governmental child abusers and their employers. And, in 2010, he secured the nation’s largest child sex abuse verdict in the Boy Scouts case referenced above. Recognized by his peers as an expert in child sexual abuse, he was asked in 2010 to co-author the Oregon State Bar’s professional treatise on the subject.

Mr. Clark is active in community and charitable endeavors, is a sometime adjunct professor at George Fox University near Portland, and is also a candidate for the Master’s Degree in theology from Australia’s Melbourne College of Divinity.

Often asked to lecture and teach effective public speaking, Mr. Clark is frequently in demand as a speaker and writer on topics related to law, public policy, faith, and recovery. 

 

Educational Background

Juris Doctor, 1983
Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland. Emphasis: constitutional law
Independent Study: history of the First Amendment.

B.S. Political Science, 1980
Lewis and Clark College, Portland.

Graduate Theological Studies, 1984 – 85
Fuller Theological Seminary, Portland Extension Program.

Graduate Diploma in Theology, 2007
Trinity College Theological School (Anglican)
Melbourne College of Divinity, Australia

Candidate, Masters of Divinity, expected 2011
Trinity College Theological School
Melbourne College of Divinity, Australia.

 

Professional Career

1999 – present: Partner, O’Donnell Clark & Crew LLP, Portland.
1993 – 1998: Principal, Law Offices of Kelly Clark, Wilsonville.
1989 – 1992: Pres., Pioneer Pacific College, a private vocational school. 
1989 – 1993: State Representative, Oregon Legislature. 
1983 – 1988: Associate Attorney, Bouneff, Chally & Marshall, Portland.

 

Current Public Service

Member, National Board of Trustees, Hazelden Foundation,The nation’s oldest network of alcohol and drug treatment centers, Center City, Minnesorta, 2010 – current.

Member, Oregon State Bar Lawyer’s Assistance Program, working with lawyers impaired by substance abuse problems, 2010 – current.

Member, Counsel, Board of Directors, William Temple House, a social service agency of the Episcopal Church, 2004-current.

Adjunct Professor of Constitutional Law and Political Science, George Fox University, 2004, 2008.

 

Past Public and Community Service

Pro Bono Legal Counsel, North Portland Nurse Practitioner Community Health Clinic, providing health care to uninsured children, 2005-2007.

2000 – 04 Member, Chairman, Oregon State Bar’s Lawyers Assistance Committee (assisting lawyers impaired by substance dependence).

2000 – 02 Steering Committee, Young Life, Portland South.

1998 – 99 Committee Member, OSB Constitutional Law Section.

1991 – 93 Member, Oregon Criminal Justice Council.

1991 – 92 Member, Board of Directors, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.

1987 – 91 Board Member and President, St. Andrew Legal Clinic.

1982 Legislative Intern, Senator Mark O. Hatfield, Washington D.C.

1976 – 81 Volunteer Leader, Young Life.

 

Publications and Presentations

Legal and Professional

“Child Sexual Abuse and Other Related Torts,” with Bill Barton, Chatper 4 in Oregon State Bar’s Publication of Torts, to be published 2011.

“Engineering the Perfect Storm: The Trial of Jack Doe 4 vs Boy Scouts of America,” Chapter 27 in Bill Barton, Recovering for Psychological Injuries (ATLA, TrialGuides, 2010).

“Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse,” Oregon State Bar, Continuing Legal Education Series, Portland, September 16, 2010.

“Child Sexual Abuse: Lessons Learned from 15 Years in the Courtroom,s” Guest Speaker, Ohio Trial Lawyers Association, Columbus, Ohio, May 14, 2009. 

“Institutional Child Abuse: Not Just A Catholic Thing,” William Mitchell Law School, St Paul, Minnesota, April 24, 2009 (published at Wm Mitchell Law Review, Volume 31, issue 1: htp://www.wmitchell.edu/lawreview/36_I.html ).

“A Chance at Justice: Strong Jury System the Best Guard against Big Government,” Brainstorm Magazine, Feb, 2009.

“Vocare: What it Means to Be Called as a Professing Lawyer,” Baccalaureate Address, Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon, May 25, 2007.

“The Silent Survivors: Struggles do not End with the Banging of a Gavel”– Editorial on the End of the Portland Archdiocese Bankruptcy, Eugene Register Guard, April 29, 2007.

"Scars Will Linger, But Truth is the Best Healing Agent," Guest Editorial on the End of the Portland Archdiocese Bankruptcy, The Oregonian, April 22, 2007.

"Observations from a Peculiar Lampost — Reflections of a Christian Trial Lawyer on Fifteen Years of Suing the Church," University of Portland, April 14, 2007, Publ. in The American Experiment–Religious Freedom, (Margaret Monahan, et al, eds, 2008).

“Of Compelling Interest — Religious Liberty Issues in the Priest Abuse Cases,” Co-authored with Kristian S. Roggendorf and Peter B. Janci, Oregon Law Review, Spring, 2007.

“Empowering Those We Represent,” The Warrior,  Journal of the Trial Lawyers College, Winter, 2007.

“Government as Brothel: What’s Your Pleasure, Honey?” One Nation United National Conference on Federal Tribal Gaming Policy, Washington, D.C., November 14, 2006.

“On Suing the Church: A Christian Trial Lawyer Reflects on a Decade of the Catholic Sex Abuse Cases,” Remarks Given at Lewis and Clark Law School, November 8, 2006.

“The DaVinci Code, Opus Dei and Self-Flagellation— Why We Have Too Much Free Speech in Oregon.” Debate at City Club of Portland, June 16, 2006.

“What My Mother Said Not to Do: Religion and Politics at the Dinner Table— How Both the Left and the Right Oversimplify Church-State Questions,” Remarks Given at Pomona College, California, Public Affairs Debate, April 14, 2006.

”Religious Liberty Issues in the Priest Abuse Cases,” Presentation to University of Oregon Law School O’Connell Symposium, Portland, March 24, 2006, published in Oregon Law Review, Spring 2007, referenced above.

"The Right to Die? Hard Questions about Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act," Oregon State Bar CLE Seminar, Portland, September 15, 2005.

”Talk About Chutzpah: A Christian Talks to Jews about the Ten Commandments—and other Recent Developments up on the Mountain,” Presentation to Solomon’s Legacy Jewish Legal Federation, June 9, 2005, Portland.

Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Proving Mental and Emotional Injuries, by John Winer, James Publishing, 2005.

"Building a Culture of Dialogue," Participation in Bar-Press-Broadcasters Council (discussion of media coverage of high-profile cases), Portland, May, 2005.

"Court’s Sound, Sane Ruling Can’t Undo County’s Damage," The Oregonian, Guest Commentary on Same Sex Marriage Case, April 15, 2005.

”Middle Earth, Middle-Oregon and Mordor: A Modern Fellowship of the Ring,” Remarks on the Passage of Constitutional Amendment 37, Oregonians in Action Annual Conference, March 12, 2005.

”Emerging Issues in Oregon Constitutional Law,” Presentation to Oregon Law Institute Seminar, Portland, December, 2004.

"Recent Developments in Constitutional Law," Oregon State Bar Annual Convention, Portland, October, 2004.

”Why the Pledge is Constitutional: A Nuanced View,” US District Court Historical Society, Summer, 2004.

"The Same-Sex Marriage Debate," Oregon State Bar Seminar, June, 2004.

”The Gay Marriage Debate,” Lewis and Clark College Chronicle, Summer, 2004.

"County Process was an Insult to the Public," Invited Guest Editorial, The Oregonian, March 4, 2004.

"Why I Said Yes: a Defense of the Defense of Marriage” Brainstorm NW Magazine, May, 2004.

"Mock Closing Arguments in Priest Sex Abuse Cases," Guest lecture at Oregon Association of Defense Counsel, Annual Convention, June, 2003.

”On Using All of the Arrows in the Quiver,” Oregon Administrative Law Newsletter, June, 2002..

“Suffer the Little Children: On the Catholic Priest Abuse Cases,” The Warrior, Journal of the Trial Lawyers College, Summer, 2002.

“The Art of Advocacy," Speech on Public Speaking, Oregon Campaign Institute, 1996 – 2010.

”Marbury v Madison, Oregon Style: A Short History of the Sudden and Untimely Death of the Initiative,” Co-Authored with Ross Day, Esquire, Brainstorm NW Magazine, June 2001.

"The Oregon APA," Chapter in Administrative Law Treatise, Oregon State Bar, 2001.

"Government’s Reaction to Measure 7 is Symbolic of Larger Problem," co-authored with Eric Winters, Esquire, The Oregonian, December 10, 2000.

"Charter Schools: Chartered and Unchartered Waters," Remarks and Article, Lorman Educational Seminar and Publication, June 2000.

"Abuse and Harassment in Schools," Presentation to CLE Seminar, Professional Development Network, May 2000.

"Immunities and Other Obstacles to Recovery Against Public Entities," Article in Constitutions and Torts, Oregon State Bar and Oregon Law Institute, 1999.

"Political Responses to Constitutional Decisions," Article in Constitutional Law II: Law and Politics of Constitutional Cases, Oregon Law Institute, 1996.

Non-Legal Presentation:

“The Gospel of Bill (W)– What the Churches Can Learn from the Twelve Step Programs,” Three-part seminar and accompanying homily, Trinity Episcopal Church, Ashland, Oregon, July, 2010.

"How to Fail. Lessons from an Expert," –Salem Downtown Rotary, Dec. 14, 2006, –Lake Oswego Leadership Forum, Fall 2005, 2006.

"Unmasking our Politics, or, Why God is not a Republican – or a Democrat." Three-part Seminar, Sunset Presbyterian Church, Portland, October-November, 2004.

"What Unites Us," Homily given at Trinity Episcopal Church, Ashland, Oregon, March, 2003.

"Faith Perspectives on Contemporary Issues," A three-part Lenten lecture/seminar given at Trinity Episcopal Church, Ashland, Oregon, March, 2003.

"War and Peace from Augustine to Bonhoeffer: Thoughts on September 11," Three-part Lecture Trinity Episcopal Church, Ashland, Oregon, October, 2001.

"Faith Perspectives on Contemporary Issues," Six-part Lenten Lectures, Episcopal Parish of St. John the Baptist, Portland, Spring, 2000.

 

Honors and Distinctions

2004 Nominee, Oregon Trial Lawyers Association’s "Arthur Bryant Public Justice Award" for work on child abuse cases.

2001 Graduate, Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, Jackson, Wyoming.

1991 Recipient, Outstanding Young Alumnus, Lewis & Clark College.

1991 Recipient, Outstanding Legislative Leadership Award, Oregon Juvenile Department Directors Association.

1989 Recipient, Certificate of Commendation, ACLU.

1983 Recipient, Environmental Law Certificate, Lewis & Clark Law School.