References and Articles

Profile Articles


The Third Branch - United States Courts Newsletter

"From Skepticism to Settlement: How One Chief Judge Got A Room Full of Attorneys to Agree"

December 1999


Excerpt: "He had a view that some cases just get bigger and bigger and finally people can't extricate themselves from the problem... It was a case that needed to be resolved right then rather than over a 10-year period. In the end, a multidistrict dispute with multiple parties, involving more than 20 attorneys, at least four lawsuits, several acquisitions, and a 3-year history of fierce litigation was resolved in a settlement that took approximately four weekends and succeeded in establishing a new set of relationships for an industry. [Attorney William Wheatley]"


Los Angeles Times Magazine

"The Education of Thom Mayne" 

Jan. 24, 2007

Profiles the design process of Eugene's lauded Federal Courthouse building, and especially the relationship between architect Thom Mayne and Judge Hogan. 


Excerpt: "Hogan, whose genial demeanor belied his august title, took a deep breath. He was coming to realize that Mayne regarded this encounter not as an angry battle--the attacks weren't personal--but more like the rough play of a pickup basketball game. Finally, Hogan smiled.

"Thom," he said, "I get it. You're pushing me because you need to know: Do I have what it takes to be a friend or an adversary or whatever this relationship is going to be? But the point is, we're joined at the hip." 


The Oregonian

"Gutsy judge pulled Sunwest from dustbin"

May 16, 2010


Excerpt: "Behind the remarkable about-face is Michael Hogan, a feisty federal judge who has led the marathon restructuring of the company. The restructuring has been messy, controversial, expensive and shockingly successful.

Absent Hogan's activist intervention last March, the company would have been picked apart by lenders, which had launched mass foreclosures on the company's assisted-living centers. Investors could have lost all of the $500 million they had poured into the company. 

"You don't know if another judge could have pulled off what Hogan did using another style," said Portland attorney Steve Blackhurst. "I tend to think not. It's the most unusual case I've ever been around."" 


Spokane Spokesman-Review

"Boys' Ranch Reaches Deal" 

May 26, 2012


Excerpt:  "Nineteen lawsuits against the Morning Star Boys' Ranch have been settled, part of a larger settlement that's expected to sew shut all of the outstanding legal issues surrounding the clergy sex abuse problems of the RomanCatholic Diocesse of Spokane.


"Everything has been resolved to the satisfaction of my clients," [attorney Tim] Kosnoff said. "For that, I am grateful to (U.S. District) Judge Michael Hogan for his ability and skill at getting all the parties together.""


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Willamette Law Review

"Judicial Settlement Conferences: Empowering The Parties To Decide Through Negotiation"

Spring 1991

Excerpt: "Unlike the traditional view of the adversarial process, the negotiation process is not a battle between two sides with the goal of determining a winner and loser.  It is a "future-oriented" process, focusing on what the parties will do next rather than on preoccupation with what the parties did before and who is to blame.  Negotiation is a communication process involving two or more persons who examine potential for agreement and exchange promises.  Only the parties can create a settlement." 



"The Brief," American Bar Association

"Drawing the Line on Civil Rights Attorney Fees" 

Winter 1988

Excerpt: "Have questions of attorney fees in civil rights become the main act, rather than a legislatively directed curtain call?  The tremendous expenditure of judicial time and other resources in Rivera illustrates that Congress underestimated the cost of passing the [Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976].  I believe that litigation over attorney fees should not be permitted to overshadow the merits of a case."