Melissa Bobadilla JD ’05 received the 2025 Oregon State Bar’s President’s Membership Service Award for her significant contributions to other lawyers through her work on boards. Currently, Bobadilla serves on the boards of the Metropolitan Public Defender, Oregon Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) and the Beaverton Traffic Commission. And if that is not enough, she is also a member of the American Association for Justice, OTLA’s Budget and Legislative committees, the Washington County Circuit Court Civil Bench Bar and many more.
In addition to her volunteer work, Bobadilla runs a busy solo practice where she is fighting for the rights of people, not companies. Bobadilla represents individuals harmed in all kinds of personal injury, including but not limited to bicycle accidents, auto accidents, trucking accidents, motorcycle accidents, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice, diminished value claims, loss of use claims, and personal injury protection denial claims.
Growing up in rural Yakima Valley, Washington, Bobadilla was eager to leave her hometown for a bigger city. As a first-gen student, she earned her bachelors of arts in Political Science and Spanish from Pacific Lutheran University before going on to earn her Masters of Arts in Spanish from the University of Oregon. She saw a law degree as not only a great career, but it also could help people and it was a real opportunity to make a real change in someone else’s life. Now she has lived and worked in Oregon for more than two decades.
After graduating from law school, Bobadilla worked at various law firms, but when the tech bubble burst in 2008, she thought, how much worse could things get? She took a leap of faith and opened up her own practice and has been solo (and loving it) ever since.
When asked if she had any advice to her younger self or to a current law student, she says, “Define your own success. Sometimes we have a tunnel vision of what success looks like, but keep your eyes open and you’ll see.”