Oden-Orr Law is committed to supporting diversity within the legal profession and increasing opportunities for attorneys of color to pursue the full spectrum of career paths in law.  The firm, certified with the State of Oregon Office of Minority, Women and Emerging Small Business as both Minority-Owned Business Enterprise and Emerging Small Business, intends to expand by recruiting and retaining experienced and highly-skilled attorneys, including attorneys of color, for membership and associate positions. 

Mr. Oden-Orr was the 2004 recipient of the Oregon State Bar President's Award for Affirmative Action.  He served as the inaugural Chair of the Diversity Section of the Oregon State Bar for 2002 and 2003, and served on the Executive Committee for the term 2002-2004.  In his leadership roles with the Diversity Section he organized a number of major Diversity CLEs for both the 2002 and 2004 Bar Conventions, involving such major corporate legal department participants as Nike, Inc., Kaiser Permanente and Microsoft, Inc.  Among the topics addressed were the legacy of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education  in light of the High Court’s recent decision in Grutter v. Bollinger and the business case for increasing diversity in the legal profession.

Mr. Oden-Orr also served three years with the Multnomah Bar Association, Committee to Advance Equality in the Profession and Justice System, where he facilitated the creation of the MBA’s Middle School Mentoring Program, designed to expose students of color to the legal profession.  He served for several years as the President of the Oregon Chapter of the National Bar Association, the national organization dedicated to, among other things, protecting the civil and political rights of all citizens and residents of the United States, and whose membership consists primarily of African-American attorneys and law students.