PROFILES IN THE LAW Tillamook Judge Neal Lemery Gains Life Lessons from Those He Mentors ‘Nothing Is Impossible’ By Melody Finnemore Photographs courtesy of Neal Lemery alcohol-related offenses to participate. “I felt I could take the time and really have an impact on people’s lives,” he says. The motivation to help others drew Lemery to practice law and, in the course of his career, mentor several young men, write a book about it, commit countless hours to community service and create opportunities for young people in his rural hometown to earn university degrees. F rom the bench in his Tillamook County courtroom, Neal Lemery watched scores of young men stand before him on traffic, drug and alcohol, and other charges — some multiple times. He wondered how he could help these young men break the negative cycle of poverty, illiteracy, abuse and absentee fathers in their lives. “I got to talking to them about their lives, and I learned that a lot of kids don’t have an adult who can give them advice and direction and basically hold them accountable for what they are doing,” he says. Lemery, a stepfather and foster parent with his wife, Karen Keltz, a retired high school teacher, began introducing the young men to community college classes and volunteer work to try to engage them in something different in their lives. He also led and spoke during DUII victim impact panels in Astoria and Tillamook, and encouraged those involved in 32 OREGON STATE BAR BULLETIN • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 Every Chair in the Courtroom Lemery was born in Tillamook and grew up with a father who was a doctor. Lemery appreciated the way his father’s work impacted people, but knew medicine wasn’t for him. As a student and political activist during the Vietnam War, he saw a legal career as a way to help others and be an agent for change as well. He earned his law degree from Willamette University in 1979. While in law school, Lemery worked in the attorney general’s office and work allowed him to get to know many community members and to join and support several local service groups and nonprofit organizations, including the school board and the town’s theater group. He was elected to serve as Tillamook County’s district attorney in 1986 and says the shift to being a prosecutor was a big change that included several challenges, such as restructuring the office. His work as the D.A. also included establishing victims’ assistance and child support programs, prosecuting more domestic violence cases, building a major crimes team in collaboration with local police departments, and launching a campaign to improve the county’s jail. In addition, Lemery worked with mental health advocates and the local hospital to better respond to situations involving people with mental illness. Noting that serving as a D.A. is “an extremely political job,” Lemery returned to private practice after losing his re- “They teach me courage and determination. They teach me that even though you are in prison and labeled as a sex offender, or your mom is crazy and your dad beat you up all the time, you can do some amazing things with your life.” traveled throughout the state, giving him an opportunity to explore where he might want to live and what kind of law he wanted to practice. He chose to return to Tillamook and open his own practice. He had planned to focus on family law, but found himself doing a significant amount of criminal defense work. Lemery’s election bid. He also worked as a municipal judge in Cannon Beach before becoming a municipal judge for five coastal towns between Astoria and Tillamook. In 2000, he was elected justice of the peace, a job he says he enjoyed because it allowed him to be independent while listening to the needs and concerns of community