Anit Jindal
Candidate for:
Multnomah County Circuit Court - Position 2
What drives me to seek an elected position
The courtroom is where abstract principles meet real lives. I want to be a judge because I care deeply about applying the principles of law and justice to the hardest questions our community faces.
In my practice, I have handled cases of statewide and even national importance. I was part of the trial team that defended the Reduction of Gun Violence Act, Measure 114, in state and federal court. Measure 114 is an important public safety law designed to reduce mass shootings and gun violence. Through testimony and evidence, our team helped demonstrate that the law is consistent with the Second Amendment. I have also represented states and cities in environmental litigation against alleged polluters, businesses in high-stakes commercial disputes and public utilities in cases regarding power costs, to name a few.
The throughline in my work is that no two cases are the same and that each case requires combing through a detailed factual record and coming up with creative legal strategies to resolve unique challenges. I would bring this work ethic and creativity to the bench. I am running to be a judge because I want to serve our community, and because I have the experience necessary to join our state’s busiest court and handle that court’s most complex cases on day one.
The first three priorities or issues I want to tackle
First, I will get to work responding to the backlog of cases in Multnomah County. Given my experience taking on a variety of different cases, I believe that I can handle any case on the docket and work through those cases efficiently and effectively.
Second, access to justice is a priority of mine. I am Vice President of the Multnomah Bar Foundation, which provides free drop-in childcare at the downtown courthouse and a helpdesk staffed by a bilingual courthouse navigator. I am a recent past board member of the St. Andrew Legal Clinic, which provides low-cost family law services to individuals in need. In private practice, I have championed programs designed to reduce barriers to people accessing the courts. As a judge, I would similarly support programs that work to make the courts safe and open to everyone.
Finally, impartiality is the trait I consider most important in a judge. I’ve represented individuals fighting for their rights, businesses protecting what they’ve built, and governments answering to the public they serve. This breadth of experience will allow me to evaluate each case on its own merits, to understand and respect differing perspectives, and to apply the law without bias or preconceived notions about particular parties.
The experiences and insights I will bring to the office
In my practice, I do not focus on representing just one side or one type of cases: I represent plaintiffs and defendants, I represent individuals, I represent governments and I represent businesses. This month, I am representing an individual in litigation over a family trust, an aerospace company in a dispute about trade secrets and two Oregon cities suing the federal government over the way it has operated a dam. I will be ready to take on any case assigned to me, and I will give each case the attention and care that I know it deserves.
What being a Democrat in Multnomah County means to me
As a candidate for non-partisan judicial office, I cannot make pledges, promises, or commitments that are inconsistent with the impartial performance of the judicial office. Although I am a registered Democrat, I do not believe I can answer this question.