Forms part of the United States District Court Oral History Project.
Collection is open for research.
Gift of the U.S. District Court Historical Society, January 2006 (Lib. Acc. 25883).
George Douglas Rives was born in Kentucky in 1915. He graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1935 and earned a law degree from Yale in 1938. He then practiced law in Washington, D.C., at Turney, Rives, and Turney, specializing in transportation law. In 1943, he left the firm to enlist in the U.S. Navy, and he served in the Naval Air Transport Service during World War II. While stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, he met Claire Thomas, and they married in 1945; they later had two children and adopted one child. After his discharge in 1945, he practiced law at the Brobeck Firm in San Francisco, California. In 1962, the family relocated to Portland, Oregon, for Rives to join the firm that would later become Stoel Rives. At the firm, his primary client was Pacific Power and Light. He retired in 1984. During his retirement, he did pro bono legal work for the Oregon Legal Services Corporation for about a decade. He died in 2014.
Forms part of the United States District Court Oral History Project.
Oral history interview with George D. Rives, by William R. Long, SR 11075, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with George D. Rives was conducted by William R. Long at Rives' home in Portland, Oregon, from October 7 to November 5, 2005. In this interview, Rives discusses his family background and early life in rural Kentucky, including his early education and life on a farm. He then talks about his experiences at Kentucky Wesleyan College and at Yale, including his part-time jobs; the culture shock he experienced when arriving in New Haven, Connecticut; and some of his professors. He speaks at length about practicing transportation law at Turney, Rives, and Turney in Washington, D.C., in the wake of the 1935 Motor Carrier Act. He describes his service as an officer in the Naval Air Transport Service during World War II. He then speaks at length about practicing transportation law at the Brobeck Firm in San Francisco, California, as well as representing manufacturing companies fighting utility rate increases. He then talks about working with Pacific Power and Light in the late 1950s, and how it led to his relocation to Portland, Oregon, to join the firm that would later be known as Stoel Rives. He discusses building the Stoel Rives firm and continuing to work with Pacific Power and Light. He also describes the firm's 1979 merger with the Davies Biggs law firm. He closes the interview by discussing his activities since his retirement in 1984, including a return to farm life and doing pro bono legal work.
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and the U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted: