About OCJ

Oregon Consumer Justice is a non-profit organization committed to ensuring that all people in Oregon experience a safe and fair marketplace. We advance the rights of consumers through advocacy, research, education, and engagement. We work to bring consumer justice into balance for all Oregonians.

OCJ Story

A Cy Pres award distributes unclaimed class action settlement money to a charitable organization and is how OCJ came to be.

In March 2015, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed her first bill into law. Prior to House Bill 2700, companies that lost class action lawsuits were allowed to keep unclaimed settlement money as their own. Bill 2700 changed that in mandating unclaimed funds be used to the benefit of consumers, not the corporations that harmed them.

The law was applied for the first time in 2019 in class action lawsuit Scharfstein v. BP West Coast Products LLC. Judge Jerome LaBarre directed that unclaimed funds from the class action lawsuit be used to establish a consumer advocacy non-profit organization. Three board members were named to lead its design.

Board of Directors

Named by Judge Jerome LaBarre in 2019, the OCJ Founding Board is growing to include other leaders committed to creating a more just and equitable Oregon and will reflect the diversity of people and issues it aims to help.

Henry Kantor

Chair

Founding Board Member

Meet Henry

Justin Baxter

Secretary

Founding Board Member

Meet Justin

Emily Reiman

Treasurer

Founding Board Member

Meet Emily

Sayer Jones

Finance Committee Chair

Board Member

Meet Sayer

Working towards consumer justice

Oregon Consumer Justice is looking for people committed to creating a more just and equitable Oregon. If you think you may be that person, join our team.

Work with OCJ

Henry Kantor

Chair and Founding Board Member

A trial judge in Multnomah County for over 22 years, Henry Kantor graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, earned his JD from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College, and has been a member of the Oregon State Bar since 1979. Prior to taking judicial office, his practice focused on trial and appellate law in Oregon’s state and federal courts, emphasizing complex consumer cases, commercial litigation, and class actions. Henry was appointed to the court in 1994 and was elected and re-elected by the voters to four terms of office, retiring in 2017. He then worked two years as Special Counsel to the Oregon Attorney General. Henry continues to serve the public as a senior judge.

Justin Baxter

Secretary and Founding Board Member

A trial attorney with Baxter & Baxter, LLP, Justin Baxter has shared his clients’ stories with state and federal juries in credit reporting, fair debt collection, mortgage, and privacy cases. A member of the Oregon State Bar since 1999, Justin received his JD from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College. In addition to OCJ, he sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He is the past Chair of the Oregon State Bar Consumer Law Section and the past Chair of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association’s Consumer Protection Section.

Emily Reiman

Treasurer and Founding Board Member

Emily Reiman is the CEO of two affiliated non-profits: DevNW (a CDC focused on developing affordable housing, creating financial opportunity for low-income families, and building equitable, thriving neighborhoods/communities) and Community LendingWorks (a CDFI that provides safe, affordable consumer and micro/small business loans for people typically un or underserved by the financial mainstream). The organizations serve much of Western Oregon, with offices in Springfield, Corvallis, Salem, and Oregon City. Prior to her work in community economic development, Emily spent ten years working with at-risk youth, mostly centered around the foster care system. She attended Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, but is otherwise a lifelong Oregonian.

Sayer Jones

Sayer Jones is a business consultant working with institutions structuring and measuring the impacts of their investments. Prior to his current work, he led the regional impact investing practice at Meyer Memorial Trust on the program related investment and mission related investment portfolios for 12 years, deploying over $50 million. Sayer has chaired city and state boards focused on impact investing and managing public portfolios for impact. He has led investors in workshops to align social values with financial and cultural returns, and has experience as an entrepreneur, representing asset owners, and managing fund managers and consultants. Sayer is the co-chair of the Oregon Growth board, the Treasurer of APANO Communities United Fund and is on the board of Indian Lands Capital Company.