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Tom Matsuda is preparing to step down from his longtime position as the head of Legal Aid Services of Oregon and return to his home state of Hawaii next month.

Matsuda, recently selected as the 91视频鈥檚 Leadership in Law winner for this year, graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law. He had already planned to focus on public interest when he entered law school, and he joined the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii in Honolulu shortly after graduating. Within four years, he had moved into the deputy director position, where he oversaw a staff of 66 legal professionals.

Matsuda and his wife, a native Oregonian, moved to Portland in 1988, and Matsuda joined Kell, Alterman & Runstein. He became a managing partner in 1997, but continued to promote access to justice as a board member for LASO and the Oregon Law Center.

In 2000, Matsuda returned to the public sector as LASO鈥檚 executive director. He supports a staff of 110 workers who provide legal services through 12 offices around the state.

One of those offices is in Albany and is headed by Mitzi Naucler, president of the Oregon State Bar. Naucler says that in her seven years of working with Matsuda, she has never doubted his commitment to providing legal services for low-income people or his dedication to his employees.

鈥淭om is the best boss I鈥檝e ever had. He has the one trait that I admire most in leaders, which is that he encourages people to speak the truth to him, even if it is critical,鈥� Naucler says. 鈥淗e truly wants to hear what everyone thinks and takes it into consideration.鈥�

David Thornburgh, executive director of the Oregon Law Center, says Matsuda鈥檚 leadership helped the legal aid sector develop better connections to private firms and the state bar.

鈥淗e helped the legal aid programs in Oregon build a structure that emphasizes cooperation and teamwork. One of Tom鈥檚 lasting contributions to legal aid is the depth of leadership that he has built to sustain this important work over the next two decades,鈥� Thornburgh says. 鈥淲e wish him and his family the best as he returns to his home state of Hawaii.鈥�