Alumnus Robert Doeckel Returns to Teach Lawyering

Lewis & Clark Law School welcomes alumnus Robert Doeckel as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Lawyering. He graduated magna cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2014, and later served as a law clerk for the Honorable Marco A. Hernández at the District of Oregon.

In his new role, Doeckel teaches first-year students the fundamental skills used daily in law practice: assessing a legal problem, using research strategies, applying the law with organized and cohesive analysis, and effectively communicating that legal analysis orally or in writing.

Doeckel practiced commercial litigation and appeals at Garvey Schubert Barer’s Portland office from 2016 to 2019. During law school, Doeckel externed for the Honorable Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta at the District of Oregon, and clerked for the Special Litigation Unit of the Oregon Department of Justice, where he worked on high-profile cases involving ballot initiatives, environmental policy, and more. His scholarship interests including federalism, Oregon constitutional law, and election law grew out of his appellate work, memorable law school classes, and pre-law school experience in Wisconsin politics.

“I’m thrilled to head back to the law school as a professor. It really feels full circle,” Doeckel stated. “I grew deep connections with lawyering faculty like Professor Aliza Kaplan and Professor Sandy Patrick during my time as a student, and I’m honored to be teaching alongside them and the school’s other terrific faculty. My primary goal as a teacher is to build students’ foundational legal writing and analysis skills and help them down that path.”

Outside of the classroom, Doeckel is an avid musician and amateur cook. He says that these artistic outlets have inspired his work and teaching style. “I hope to show students that legal writing and the practice of law generally can be a very rich and rewarding creative experience,” Doeckel explained. “Whatever background you bring to law school—STEM, business, liberal arts, a passion for social justice or something else—there is a part of the legal field that can speak to what moves you. Finding that role and succeeding in it will be driven in a big way by a student’s ability to effectively write and otherwise communicate.”