Prior to private practice Tanzer served as the 81st justice of the Oregon Supreme Court.

[2] After high school he attended the University of Oregon in Eugene where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1956.

[1] While Solicitor General he defended the state's position in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Apodaca v.

[7] On that same day, Tanzer was appointed by Governor Victor G. Atiyeh to the Oregon Supreme Court to replace Ralph M. Holman who had resigned.

[6][8] Tanzer won election to a full six-year term later in 1980, and then resigned from the court on December 31, 1982.