Judge J. Dean Morgan

DIVISION II, POSITION 1

October 11, 1990–October 5, 2005

Appointed by Governor Gardner; Retired

Named “Outstanding Judge of the Year” in 1998 by the Washington State Bar Association, Judge Morgan began his judicial career on the Clark County Superior Court bench in 1977. In 1990, he was appointed to the Court of Appeals, where he served as the Chief Judge of Division Two in 1994, and Presiding Chief Judge in 1995-1996.

Judge Morgan has been a leader in judicial education, earning the board of Judicial Education’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. He served on the faculty of the National Judicial College, where he taught evidence to judges from around the nation, and at the Washington State Judicial College, where he taught criminal procedure and evidence to judges from this state. He served as an adjunct professor of law, teaching evidence at Seattle University School of Law in Seattle and Lewis & Clark Law School. He was also admitted to the American Law Institute, a prestigious organization that publishes “restatements” of the law.

Prior to his judicial career, Judge Morgan was in private law practice with Garvey, Schubert & Barer in Seattle and served as the public defender for Clark County. He received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964 and his J.D. from Hastings Colle of Law in 1968. During his 37 years as attorney and judge, he served many legal, civic, and educational organizations.

Judge Morgan retired from the Court of Appeals bench in October 2005.