John Robinson (judge)

After receiving his law degree, Robinson moved to Seattle and practiced in the firm of Bronson, Robinson & Jones.^[3] From 1924, he practiced with Harroun, Robinson, Maloy & Shidler,^[4] whose offices were at 1800 Exchange Building. Partners included George Levant Harroun, a graduate of Northwestern University, who focused on banking law, C. E. H. Maloy, an active litigator, and Roger L. Shidler, a 1924 graduate of the University of Washington Law School.^[5]

In 1916-1917, Robinson served on the Code Commission of the Washington State Bar Association.^[6] In 1920-1921, he was a member of the Judiciary and Judicial Administration Committee of the State Bar.^[7] From 1933 to 1936, he was the Chair of the State Board of Bar Examiners.^[4] Also in 1933, Robinson briefly served as a Superior Court judge, and from 1933 to 1936 served as President of the Seattle Bar Association.

From 1937 to 1951, he served as a member of the Washington Supreme Court, and as the chief justice from 1941 to 1943.^[8]

On June 22, 1916, Robinson married Edith J. Lind (September 30, 1891 – October 2, 1978) in Tacoma, Washington. They had three sons: John Sherman Robinson, Jr., also an attorney,^[9][10] Samuel W. Robinson, and Irving L. "Robbie" Robinson, a French teacher at the Groton School and Western Reserve Academy.^[11]

In Olympia, the family lived in what is known as the McCleary/Robinson House at 101 Northwest Sherman Street. It had been built in 1916 by Charles McCleary and his wife, Vivian Gose McCleary, who was the daughter of Mack F. Gose, a Washington Supreme Court Justice from 1909 to 1915.^[12][13]

In October 1951, Judge Robinson died four months after retiring from the Court, and is buried in Lake Forest Park Cemetery, Seattle, Washington.