Commissioner Aurora R. Bearse

Commissioner Aurora R. Bearse was appointed as a Court Commissioner for Division Two of the Court of Appeals, effective May 1, 2012. Prior to her appointment, Commissioner Bearse served as an administrative law judge for the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings. She has also served as a staff attorney for Division Two of the Court of Appeals, as an assistant appellate federal public defender in the Fifth Circuit, as an associate attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges (New York and Houston offices), and as a judicial law clerk for Judge Robert R. Beezer (9th Circuit) and Judge William H. Walls (DNJ).

Commissioner Bearse graduated with honors from Rutgers-Newark School of Law. She was the senior articles editor of the Rutgers Law Review. She holds a bachelor's degree in Religion & History from Rutgers University. She currently is a volunteer judicial member of the WSBA's Access to Justice Board Rules Committee. Before joining Division Two, she served as president and executive board member of the Seattle Children's Autism Guild, an all-volunteer organization that raises funds for the Autism Center at Seattle Children's Hospital. She continues to volunteer with various autism-related organizations to support people with autism and their families. She is married to attorney Ian Crosby, a partner in the Seattle office of Susman Godfrey. The couple have two daughters.