Willamette University

College of Law — Faculty

Acclaimed Legal Educators

W. Warren H. Binford

W. Warren H. Binford

Associate Professor of Law; Director of the Clinical Law Program

  • J.D. Harvard University
  • Ed.M. Boston University
  • B.A. Boston University, Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with distinction

Professor Binford was appointed to the Willamette University College of Law faculty and became director of Willamette's Clinical Law Program in 2005. Since her arrival, she has expanded the law school's clinical offerings from one clinic to six, including the International Human Rights Clinic, the Child and Family Advocacy Clinic, the Trusts and Estates Clinic, the Business Law Clinic, the Law and Government Clinic and the Sustainability Law Clinic.

In addition to teaching the Child and Family Advocacy Clinic and the Business Law Clinic, Professor Binford teaches courses on international children's rights and deposition skills. She also has taught in Willamette's Study Abroad Program in Shanghai, China. Further, she reinvigorated the law school's Externship Program by expanding placements, adding an academic component, and increasing supervision and support. She remains the faculty advisor to the program. Binford also teaches negotiation and conflict management in the Certificate Program in Public Management at Willamette's Atkinson School of Management, and civil rights and the law in education at Willamette's Graduate School of Education.

Prior to joining Willamette, Professor Binford spent eight years with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where she specialized in commercial litigation and transactions. Her clients included a variety of Fortune 500 companies, as well as nationally prominent colleges and universities.

In addition to her expertise in commercial law, Professor Binford has actively worked throughout her career as a child advocate. She has served as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected children in the United States and serves on the Marion County CASA board of directors. She is also a former foster parent. Internationally, Professor Binford has worked with the International Red Cross in Switzerland, the Croatian Red Cross and the Japan Red Cross on numerous issues relating to child soldiers and other child victims of war. In addition, she toured Asia to research the role of child labor in the development of the Pacific Rim. Other topics of focus include excellence in inner-city education, child abuse and neglect, quality child care, and homeless children and youth. Professor Binford is a licensed teacher with experience teaching in the inner cities of South Central Los Angeles, Boston and London.

Professor Binford is a member of the Oregon and California state bars and is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court, Eastern and Northern Districts of California, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is also a special assistant attorney general for the state of Oregon.

In early 2006, Binford was a member of a small group of appellate court judges, law school faculty and students in Oregon who endeavored to research whether there were identifiable "best practices" among intermediate courts of appeal. For more information on the study, see the Willamette Court Study.

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