9th Circuit, Courthouses, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Pictures

The Pioneer Courthouse: A Photo Essay (Part 1)

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The festivities of the O’Scannlain law clerk reunion weekend, held in honor of Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain’s 20th anniversary on the Ninth Circuit bench, began on Friday night with a reception in Judge O’Scannlain’s chambers. They’re located on the third floor of the beautiful Pioneer Courthouse (see above), in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The Pioneer Courthouse, a national historic landmark, is the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the second-oldest federal courthouse west of the Mississippi. First built in 1875, it recently reopened to the public after an extensive renovation and seismic upgrade. (Earthquakes make us glad we live on the East Coast.)
After the jump, some photographs of this magnificent building (along with visiting law clerks, who ain’t too shabby themselves). This is the first post in a multi-part series — ’cause these photos take forever to upload, and we didn’t want to keep you waiting for hours. Enjoy!


We apologize for the less-than-stellar composition and quality of these pictures. We really should stick to writing, not photography. But here they are, for what they’re worth.

The front of the building faces Pioneer Courthouse Square, aka “Portland’s living room.” If your living room were filled with heavily-tattooed vagrants and wanna-be teenage panhandlers from Beaverton, whose mothers dropped them off that morning in the Lexus on the way to Pilates.

The first floor library. This didn’t exist back when we were clerking. So we had to walk to the district court library. Barefoot. In the snow. And we liked it!
(Just kidding. We didn’t use the books back then either. Jeez, we’re not THAT old.)

From left to right: John Demers, counsel at the DOJ’s newly formed National Security Division; Cindy Zmijewski Demers, his lovely wife; and Professor William Birdthistle, a new addition to the Chicago-Kent law faculty. (We clerked together with Messrs. Demers and Birdthistle, in 1999-2000.)

The spacious conference room, on the first floor of the courthouse. You can smell the leather from those brand-new chairs when you walk in the room.

Still inside the conference room. A portrait of an old dead white guy. (We’re sure someone will fill us in as to this distinguished gentleman’s identity; check back later after we’ve updated the caption.)

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The second-floor courtroom, which really is as grand as it looks. The Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments here (although not with the frequency that it does in San Francisco and Pasadena). It’s a well-outfitted courtroom, and the acoustics are very good.

Former O’Scannlain clerks watching Judge O’Scannlain’s star turn, in a GSA-produced video about the historic Pioneer Courthouse.
From left to right (corrected; original caption was erroneous): Lee DeJulius, of Jones Day in Pittsburgh; Doug Chalmers, of McKenna, Long & Aldridge in Atlanta; Professor A.J. Bellia, of Notre Dame Law School; Dr. Douglas Chalmers (Doug’s father); John Demers, of the NSD at the DOJ; Cindy Zmijewski-Demers; Professor William Birdthistle, of Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Pioneer Courthouse [Wikipedia]
Pioneer Courthouse [GSA.gov]

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