Justice Kelley was born and raised in West Marin County, California. He studied Sociology at Sonoma State University, where he graduated with Honors. After working as a paralegal in Sonoma County, Justice discovered his passion for criminal defense and enrolled at the University of Oregon School of Law.
Since arriving in Oregon, Justice has committed himself to criminal litigation. As a law student, he served as Lead Law Clerk with the United States Attorney’s Office in Eugene, where he worked on a wide variety of cases ranging from transnational drug operations to the issuance of federal citations on Oregon’s BLM land. In 2022, Justice pursued his passion for defense and left USAO to join the Public Defender of Marion County. At PDMC, Justice represented the rights of the accused and further honed his courtroom experience.
While at Oregon law, Justice was a competing member of the Moot Court Oral Argument team and an editor for the Oregon Law Review. He graduated in the top 10% of his class and was inducted into the prestigious Order of the Coif. Additionally, his classmates elected him to serve as the Commencement Speaker for the 2024 J.D. cohort. He graduated in May 2024 with a Criminal Practice Concentration and was admitted to the Oregon Bar shortly thereafter.
