Alums Join Law School Board of Visitors

Three alums joined the Lewis & Clark Law School’s Board of Visitors recently, Román D. Hernández ’00, Riley Lagesen ’03, and Christine Tracey ’01. The Board of Visitors is dedicated to promoting the mission and operations of the Law School, acting as ambassadors and advocates for the Law School, and providing support to the law school Dean and development efforts.

“We are so happy to welcome three of our very accomplished and engaged alumni to our Board of Visitors,” said Dean Jennifer Johnson. “We are looking forward to the valuable perspectives that they will be sharing with the board as we strategize for the continued success of the law school.”

Román D. Hernández ’00:

Román D. Hernández is the Managing Partner of Troutman Pepper’s Portland, Oregon office. He has a national litigation practice focusing on employment law and commercial litigation. He is the only person from Oregon to have served as National President of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA). He is a Co-founder of The HNBA Legal Education Fund, the HNBA’s charitable foundation. In 2021, he was appointed by Governor Kate Brown to serve a 4-year term on the Board of Trustees of Oregon State University, Oregon’s largest public university. In recognition of his strong record of service to his communities, Román has received accolades from varied and diverse organizations and institutions, including the “Distinguished Graduate Award” from Lewis & Clark Law School; the “Ohtli Award” from the Government of Mexico (the highest award presented to a non-Mexican citizen); and the “Edwin J. Peterson Professionalism Award” from the Oregon Bench and Bar Commission on Professionalism.

Riley Lagesen ’03

Riley Lagesen serves as lead counsel to many of the nation’s most well known restaurant brands and culinary talent as chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Global Restaurant Industry Group. Lagesen attended law school because he saw an opportunity for law firms to better serve restaurant industry clients, and has dedicated his career to supporting clients and the restaurant industry as a whole. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lagesen co-founded the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund (RERF) with his long-time client Chef Guy Fieri. This fund raised approximately $23 million and provided over 40,000 grants to impacted restaurant employees. As a result of this work, he was selected by the National Law Journal as a 2020 Crisis Leadership Trailblazer. He also founded and created Restaurant High, a not-for-profit invitation only business, leadership, and advocacy summit that attracts leading restaurant minds from around the country.

Christine Tracey ’01

Christine Tracey retired from the practice of law in January 2022. She spent most of her legal career as a member of Northwest Law firm in Portland. She chiefly represented plaintiffs in state and federal courts in Oregon and Washington, including several Oregon class action lawsuits representing consumers and employees. She served as an adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark Law teaching Remedies from 2015 through 2020, and also judged 1L appellate arguments and moot courts several times. Prior to law school, Christine worked in the aerospace industry for 22 years, both as an engineer and program manager. She has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University, and an MBA from Sacred Heart University. Christine serves on the Board of Directors for the Northwest Catholic Counseling Center; currently she is Board president.