Attorney Thaddeus Betz was born in Park Ridge, Illinois and grew up in Cook County. After graduating from high school, he moved to Madison, Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He earned degrees in History and Philosophy, and was an elected member of Phi Beta Kappa. He moved to Oregon in 2003 to attend Lewis and Clark Law School. During law school, Thad worked at Multnomah Defenders Incorporated, a public defender organization.

After graduating from law school, he began working at the Metropolitan Public Defender, where he handled proceedings ranging from misdemeanors to death penalty cases. Thad is married to an Oregon attorney and they have two young sons. When he is not defending the criminally accused, Thad is involved in supporting his sons’ academic and athletic activities. He enjoys skiing, bicycling and climbing at Smith Rock State Park.

In order to stay well connected in the legal community and up-to-date with information, Thad is active in several preeminent legal organizations. He is an active member of the Deschutes County Bar Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the Oregon State Bar Association, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (OCDLA) – the only statewide organization devoted solely to the defense of people accused of committing crimes. In addition, he has testified before the Oregon Legislature and worked with lawmakers to promote fair and responsible policy and legislative initiatives on criminal justice issues in the Oregon Legislature.