Hon. J. Jerome Farris ‘51

Jerome Farris was a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; he was appointed to the Ninth Circuit in 1979, after having served on the Court of Appeals for the State of Washington for 10 years. He was unanimously elected the first presiding chief judge of the Washington State Court of Appeals and served as chief judge of Division I for 1977 and 1978. Judge Farris practiced law in Seattle as a partner in Farris, Bangs & Horowitz before his appointment to the state court.

Judge Farris has served on the Executive Committee and Judicial Wellness Committee for the Ninth Circuit. He completed two terms of service on the United States Supreme Court Judicial Fellows Commission and one on the United States Judicial Conference Committee on International Judicial Relations. He is a past Chair of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the Senior Lawyers Division Council of the American Bar Association, a former secretary of the Executive Committee of the ABF Board of Directors and a former chairman of the Appellate Judges’ Conference of the ABA. Judge Farris is a past president of the University of Washington Board of Regents, on which he served for 12 years; he also served on the Board of Trustees of Morehouse College and the Harvard Law School Board of Visitors.

Judge Farris earned a Bachelor of Science degree with department honors in mathematics at Morehouse College, then added a Master of Social Work degree at Atlanta University. He earned his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Washington, where he was a member of the law review, the Order of the Coif and served as president of the Law School Student Body. Judge Farris received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Morehouse College.