Erin Severe Returns to Share Her Expertise

This fall, Erin J. Severe ’09 comes back to her law roots and joins Lewis & Clark as a visiting assistant professor serving in the Lawyering program.

Most recently, she worked at the Federal Public Defender for the District of Oregon. Prior to that, she worked for over a decade as an appellate lawyer and deputy general counsel at Oregon Public Defense Commission. She has litigated hundreds of cases in the state and federal appellate courts.

In addition to her legal experience, she has a master’s degree in public administration and is pursuing a PhD in public affairs and policy, both focused on centering client perspectives in public defense policy and systems. She is a longtime member of the Oregon State Bar’s Constitutional Law Section education committee, former chair of the section’s executive committee, and served as a board member and president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. She graduated magna cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School’s cvening program in 2009, and clerked for Hon. Rick T. Haselton at the Oregon Court of Appeals.