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Growing up with two parents who were lawyers, Amy Edwards understood from an early age that attorneys have the ability to help people. She also watched a lot of Perry Mason.

After graduating from Northwestern University, she worked on a Congressional campaign in Oregon鈥檚 Fifth District. When her candidate lost, she went to Washington, D.C., to work in politics for another three years. In 1998, she decided she could help more people as a lawyer and enrolled in the University Of Washington School Of Law, graduating in 2001.

Today, Edwards is an attorney and partner in the litigation practice group at Stoel Rives, where she focuses on trusts and estates, real property and land use, product liability, and complex commercial litigation. She recently obtained summary judgment for a client in a $4.5 million contract dispute and also served on the trial team that successfully defended a private company in which the opposing party claimed $20 million in damages.

In 2008 and 2009, Edwards was selected as an Oregon Rising Star in business litigation. In 2010, she received Stoel Rives鈥� Pro Bono Service award for her work on a pro bono defense team representing a death row inmate to ensure he was treated fairly by the criminal justice system.

Edwards is still active in politics. She was appointed by Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to a 12-person Judicial Selection Committee.聽 As part of the committee, she interviewed and recommended candidates to the senators for two open positions on Oregon鈥檚 Federal District Court. She also serves as board president of Emerge Oregon, a group that provides training and assistance to women interested in running for public office.

鈥淪tatistics show that when women run, they win in equal numbers to men; however, they are far less likely to run,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淭he program is intended to give women the tools they will need to run for office and the confidence and support to take that step.鈥�

What was the most harmful Supreme Court decision of all time?

While there are several cases that come to mind, one that seems especially poignant at this time is Korematsu v. United States 鈥� the decision holding that Japanese internment during World War II in general was constitutional. While broad scope generalizations are easy to make, the protections afforded to us by the Constitution are special and should not easily be ignored.

What was the most influential Supreme Court decision of all time?

Marbury v. Madison

What was your favorite course in law school? Your least favorite?

Favorite 鈥� Freedom of Expression; Least favorite 鈥� Secured Transactions

What is the first concert you attended?

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

If you hadn鈥檛 become an attorney, what career would you have pursued?

Political fundraiser (It was my pre-law career and I likely would have continued down that path.)

What person do you most admire?

Oregon 鈥� Justice Betty Roberts; National 鈥� Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Do you have any tattoos?

Not yet.

What is the best part of being an attorney/the worst?

Best 鈥� problem solving; Worst 鈥� time management.

The coast or the gorge?

Depends on the time of the year.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Telekinesis

What is something that most people don鈥檛 know about you?

I was a competitive rower in college.

Which song is in heavy rotation on your iPod?

Something by the Dixie Chicks.

What was the last book you read?

Games of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

If you were trapped on a desert island, you couldn鈥檛 live without your _____:

Coffee