Michael H. Simon

Michael Howard Simon (born 1956) is a U.S. District Judge on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

Simon was born in New York City in 1956. He was the oldest of two children born to Danny Simon and Arlene Friedman. Simon's father was a television comedy writer, and his uncle Neil Simon is the acclaimed playwright. Simon earned his B.A. summa cum laude in 1978 from the University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D. cum laude in 1981 from Harvard Law School. He is married to Democratic U. S. Representative Suzanne Bonamici.

From 1981 until 1986, Simon served as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, in Washington, D.C., where he handled both civil and criminal antitrust matters. During his time with the DOJ, Simon also served in 1985 as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In 1986, Simon joined the law firm of Perkins Coie, where he specialized in business litigation in both state and federal court and acted as head of litigation for the firm's Portland office. After becoming a partner with the firm in 1990, he handled several high-profile First Amendment cases on a pro bono basis.

On July 14, 2010, President Obama nominated Simon to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon to fill the seat vacated by Judge Ancer L. Haggerty, who had taken senior status in August 2009. Simon's nomination lapsed at the end of 2010, and Obama renominated him on January 5, 2011. On February 17, 2011, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary reported Simon's nomination to the full United States Senate in a 14-4 vote. In his committee questionnaire, Simon encountered questions from Republican senators about his past work as a volunteer lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union.

On June 21, 2011, the United States Senate confirmed Simon in a 64–35 vote. He received his commission on June 22, 2011.