Robert Koch

Bob joined Tonkon Torp in 2018 as Chair of the Appellate Practice Group. Prior to joining the firm, he served in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., where he worked on both civil and criminal matters in the U.S. Supreme Court and in federal courts of appeals across the country.
 
At the Department of Justice, Bob served for five years as a Senior Attorney in the Civil Rights Division’s Appellate Section. He briefed and argued cases in federal appellate courts and drafted memoranda for Department leadership on sensitive and high-profile legal matters. Bob wrote a first draft of the Department's amicus brief advocating for nationwide marriage equality in the U.S. Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, for which he received the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award, the Department's second-highest award for employee performance. Bob also wrote the legal analysis behind the Department's challenge to North Carolina's H.B. 2 "bathroom bill," for which he received a Special Commendation Award.
 
In addition, Bob served for five years as an Honors Attorney in the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section. There, he led case teams vindicating the rights of individuals with mental illness and developmental disabilities, for which he received Special Commendation and Distinguished Service Awards. Bob investigated state mental health systems; negotiated settlement agreements with the states of Oregon, Georgia, and Texas; oversaw implementation of the Georgia settlement by leading parties' meetings and managing relationships with state leadership; drafted case pleadings; argued motions in federal district court; and deposed, presented, and cross-examined witnesses.
 
In 2009, Bob also served on a detail to the Office of White House Counsel. In that role, he vetted candidates for Executive and Judicial Branch nominations and drafted memoranda to the President analyzing LGBT legal issues.
 
Immediately following his graduation from law school, Bob served as a law clerk for Judge Susan P. Graber of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Portland. As a clerk, he wrote bench memoranda, drafted and edited proposed opinions, and reviewed petitions for rehearing.
 
Bob graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from the University of Michigan Law School in 2006. At Michigan, he served as the Editor in Chief of the Michigan Journal of Law Reform, finished third in the Henry M. Campbell Moot Court Competition, and represented children in abuse and neglect proceedings through the Child Advocacy Law Clinic.

Oregon State Bar, Procedure & Practice Committee
Member

Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives
District of Oregon

Pioneer Courthouse Historical Society
Membership Director

Classroom Law Project, We the People
Team Coach, Franklin High School

Owen M. Panner American Inn of Court
Barrister Member

Camp Kesem, Oregon Chapter
Advisory Board Member

DOJ Pride
2017, Vice President
2015–2016, Secretary

Capital Tennis Association
2013–2014, President
2010–2012, Social Chair

American Bar Association
Federal Bar Association
LGBT Bar Association of Oregon
Multnomah Bar Association
Oregon State Bar, Appellate and Constitutional Law Sections
Oregon Women Lawyers