By U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman
On September 2, 2025, Chief U.S. District Judge Michael McShane administered the oath of office to U.S. Magistrate Judge Amy Potter in the Wayne L. Morse U.S. Courthouse in Eugene before a crowd of Judge Potter’s family, friends, and colleagues.
Prior to joining the bench, Judge Potter was a Principal at Angeli & Calfo LLC and an instructor at the University of Oregon School of Law. She previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon for seventeen years. Throughout her many years appearing in Oregon’s federal courts, she tried cases in each of the district’s federal courthouses. Judge Potter was awarded many honors during her AUSA tenure, including the 2018 Frank Noonan Award for Exemplary Performance.
Prior to her Oregon experience, Judge Potter worked as an associate at Latham & Watkins LLP in Washington, D.C., and clerked for the Hon. J. Harvie Wilkinson III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Judge Potter earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2001 (with Order of the Coif honors), and completed her undergraduate studies at Rice University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Managerial Studies cum laude in 1998. However, after living in Eugene for many years, her Oregon Duck fandom rivals that of recalled U.S. Magistrate Judge John Acosta.
Judge Potter is now part of a judicial line whose predecessors include Judge Michael Hogan, Eugene’s first U.S. Magistrate Judge (1973-91), who then went on to serve as a U.S. District Judge; Judge Thomas Coffin, who served in Eugene from 1992 until he changed to recall status in 2016; Judge Jolie Russo, who served from 2016 until 2018, when she transferred to the Portland Division; and Judge Mustafa Kasubhai, who served from 2018 until he was appointed to serve as a U.S. District Judge in 2024. Judge Potter is the only non-recall U.S. Magistrate Judge serving in the Eugene courthouse. She sits alongside Chief Judge McShane, Judge Kasubhai, Senior U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, and recalled Judge Acosta.
Judge Potter is the sixth woman to serve as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the District of Oregon, following Judges Janice Stewart, Patricia Sullivan, Stacie Beckerman, Russo, and Youlee You. She is the thirteenth woman to serve on the U.S. District Court since 1859 (compared to twenty-seven men), following U.S. District Judges Helen Frye, Aiken, Anna J. Brown, Karin Immergut, Adrienne Nelson, and Amy Baggio, in addition to the other U.S. Magistrate Judges. In addition, three women have served from Oregon on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals: Judges Susan Graber, Danielle Forrest, and Jennifer Sung; and four on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon: Judges Polly S. Higdon, Elizabeth L. Perris, Trish Brown, and Teresa Pearson.
Judge Potter spends her non-working hours with her two daughters and beloved pets, and has devoted countless volunteer hours as a Girl Scout troop leader and with high school mock trial. Judge Potter also provided invaluable assistance to the District of Oregon as its Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative from 2017 to 2020.
The U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society extends a warm welcome to Judge Potter.