One of OWLS' staunchest supporters, Trudy Allen serves as a respected role model, advisor, and friend to many of Oregon's best women attorneys. A quiet but strong supporter of women in the legal field, Trudy is best known for her significant accomplishments in researching and preserving the history of women lawyers in Oregon. As a new admittee attending Queen's Bench luncheons in the early 1980s, Trudy met and preserved the stories of a generation of women lawyers who were, in many ways, pioneers of the profession. In addition to collecting their stories, she has scanned archives and memorabilia of Oregon women lawyers, written countless articles, lectured, coordinated the Queen's Bench 50-year history celebration, and spearheaded events honoring Oregon's female circuit court and appellate judges. Most recently, her efforts culminated in the completion of the Oregon State Bar's new History of Women Lawyers display at the Oregon State Bar.

In her role as in-house counsel of U.S. Bancorp Equipment Finance, Inc., Trudy is admired for her thoughtfulness, warmth, and sincere humility. As a core member of OWLS, and Chair of the Queen's Bench Historical Perspectives Committee, she has orchestrated and provided unwavering support for many successes of women lawyers, while continuously reminding women lawyers how far we have come. OWLS is honored to recognize Trudy Allen's contribution to women in the legal community – and to our profession in general – by awarding her the 2008 Justice Betty Roberts Award.

Over the course of his career, David F. Bartz, Jr. has been tireless in his passionate support of the careers of many minority attorneys and law students. For almost thirty years, Dave has volunteered time and effort responding to calls for diversity in the Oregon State Bar as a member of the Oregon State Bar Affirmative Action Committee and as a champion of Opportunities for Law in Oregon (OLIO), an annual orientation for law students in Central Oregon. Dave was also one of the driving forces behind the Elimination of Bias MCLE requirement, a key program to increase and retain diversity in Oregon's legal community. He has served on numerous committees, including the Oregon Judicial Department's Access to Justice Committee, the OSB Board of Governors' Access to Justice Committee, the Uniting to Understand Racism Foundation, and the Oregon Law Foundation Board.

One of Dave's greatest contributions has been to break down racial barriers and increase diversity in the private sector. Colleagues at Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt note that under Dave's leadership, Schwabe's commitment to diversity has produced concrete results, including creation of a diversity committee, a firm-wide diversity statement, and an "Understanding Racism" seminar for attorneys and staff. Recruitment, retention, and promotion of minority and women attorneys is currently at an all-time high at the firm, due in large part to the benchmarks put in place by Dave and his unwavering belief in the benefits of diversity. OWLS is pleased to recognize David Bartz' considerable contribution to the promotion of minorities in our profession and the community at large by awarding him the 2008 Judge Mercedes Deiz Award.



The mission of Oregon Women Lawyers is to transform the practice of law and ensure justice and equality by advancing women and minorities. More than 1200 attorneys and judges statewide are members of the professional association.