R. William Riggs

Richard William Riggs (November 21, 1938 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 94th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1998 to 2006. Early life and education He was born on November 21, 1938, in Hinsdale, Illinois, where he lived until 1950 when his family moved to Hillsboro, Oregon. In Oregon he graduated from Hillsboro High School. Riggs earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Portland State University in 1961. He then served in the United States Navy Reserve from 1961 to 1992. Riggs retired from the Navy with the rank of captain and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1968. Career Riggs served as president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association from 1973 to 1974, and has been on the board of governors for the Western Trial Lawyers Association. He was a member of both Phi Alpha Delta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. In 1993, he helped to found the Oregon Academy of Family Law Practitioners and has worked with the organization since its inception. Judicial service William Riggs became a circuit court judge for Multnomah County, Oregon in 1978, serving until 1988. From 1988 to 1998 he was a judge for the Oregon Court of Appeals. He was appointed to the Court of Appeals on October 24 of 1988 to replace George Van Hoomissen who had been elected to the Oregon Supreme Court. Riggs was then elected to the court later in 1988 to fill a position vacated by John C. Warden and then re-elected in 1994. He resigned from the appeals court in September 1998.