He served as chief justice from 1947 to 1949 before retiring from the bench at the end of his term in 1965. George Rossman is the longest serving justice in the history of the Oregon Supreme Court. During this time Rossman served on an advisory committee for the American Law Institute to help draft A Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure. In 1960, "Advocacy and the King’s English" was published by The American Society of Legal Writers, which he edited. In 1961, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award as a faculty member at the University of Oregon.