20090916_Mulvahill

Mulvahill’s Application
Mulvahill

20090914_Rand
Source: Governor’s Office

Robert Rand’s Original Application For County Judgeship
Rand
Source: Governor’s Office

Editor’s note: The applications of the three finalists follows this report.

LAW WEEK COLORADO
The person who succeeds longtime Boulder District Judge Morris Sandstead Jr. will have substantial experience.
The 20th Judicial District Nominating Commission selected veteran lawyers, all men, as finalists to succeed Sandstead. They are Robert L. Matthews, a partner at Faegre & Benson; Thomas F. Mulvahill, a partner at Chambers Dansky & Mulvanhill, and retired Boulder prosecutor William F. Nagel.
It’s the second time in two weeks that a Colorado nominating commission has returned an all-male slate of finalists. Last week, the 8ts Judicial District Nominating Commission selected three male finalists for the chance to succeed Larimer County Court Judge C. Edward Stirman.
Under Colorado’s merit-selection system for picking judges, Gov. Bill Ritter will have the final say over both positions. He must make his selections within 15 days of the nominating commissions’ finalists picks.
In the race to succeed Sandstead, the finalists are:
Matthews, of Boulder, has been at Faegre since 2002. His Matthews’ practice emphasizes commercial litigation (75 percent) including legal malpractice and trade secret litigation, disputes involving non-compete covenants (15 percent), and employment litigation (15 percent). Before working at Faegre & Benson, he was with Chrisman Bynum & Johnson, P.C. (1979-2002), and Fitzgerald Brown Strom Schorr & Barmettler (1976-1979). Matthews’ practice has included personal injury litigation (plaintiff and defense), environmental litigation, domestic relations, and criminal law. He Matthews received his B.A. from University of Nebraska (1973) and his J.D. from University of Nebraska College of Law (1976).
Mulvahill, of Louisville, has been at his current firm since 2002. Mulvahill’s caseload involves criminal cases in state and federal court (60 percent), plaintiff’s personal injury and other civil litigation matters (20 percent), working as a municipal judge (20 percent). Mulvahill is also an associate municipal judge Lakewood (April 2002-April 2003 and July 2006 to the present), as well as an associate municipal judge for Brighton (December 2008 to the present). Before his current work, he was associate attorney at Carrigan Chambers Dansky & Zonies, P.C. (2002), deputy DA in the Second Judicial District (1990-2000), and chief prosecutor/deputy city attorney in the Lakewood City Attorney’s Office (1987-1990). Mulvahill’s practice has included employment law, landlord/tenant, family law, juvenile delinquency, construction, mechanics liens, preliminary injunctions, plaintiff’s medical malpractice, class actions, record sealing and expungement, sex offender deregistration, restraining orders, wrongful deaths, civil theft, and school discipline. Mulvahill received his B.S. from St. John’s University (1984) and his J.D. from University of Colorado School of Law (1987).
Before his retirement, Nagel, of Boulder, was the assistant district attorney (2001-2009), chief appellate deputy district attorney (1992-2001), appellate deputy district attorney (1991-1992), and deputy district attorney (1983), all in the 20th Judicial District; adjunct professor of law at University of Colorado School of Law (spring 1996 and summer 1998); shareholder at Dietz, Davis, and Porter, P.C. (1990-1991), associate at Dietz, Davis, and Porter, P.C. (1987-1989); acting county attorney, Office of the County Attorney of Boulder County (1985-1986), deputy county attorney, Office of the County Attorney of Boulder County (1997, 1986, 1983-1985), and assistant county attorney, Office of the County Attorney of Boulder County (1980-1983). Nagal’s practice has included general civil matters, civil legal matters, land use regulation, zoning and subdivision regulations, contracts, personnel, property assessment, finance, local elections, and public records request. Nagel received his B.A. from Swarthmore College (1972) and his J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law (1980).

Matthews

Mulvahill

Nagel

JD20 9-1-2009 J Sandstead Nominees FINAL

CJI_Announcement

By Don Knox, LAW WEEK COLORADO
Three finalists have been named for a Larimer County judgeship created by the retirement of C. Edward Stirman.
They are Robert A. Rand, a private practice Fort Collins attorney; Marco Joseph Scalise, a private practice Loveland attorney; and Matthew Richard Zehe, a Larimer County court magistrate who lives in Fort Collins.
Stirman is leaving his seat effective Nov. 8.
The 8th Judicial District Nominating Commission announced the finalists this afternoon. Gov. Bill Ritter has 15 days, including today, to make a final selection. The applications of all three finalists are published below.
Rand, 60, is a one-time Florida state prosecutor who moved from Tallahasee to Fort Collins in 2002. His practice handles 70 percent criminal matters and 30 percent bankruptcy matters. He was trial counsel in the child sex-abuse case of Dawn Triggs. The four other case citations on his application also were criminal matters. Rand received his juris doctor from Florida State University in 1980.
Scalise, who’s in his mid-40s and grew up in Arizona, handles 60 percent criminal cases and 40 percent family law matters. Among the experience he cited was a case where he represented a plaintiff who sought to invalidate her marriage because of a question of the alleged spouse’s wealth (the marriage was invalidated). Scalise also handled a personal-injury case on behalf of an accident victim against State Farm that ended with a verdict in favor of State Farm. Scalise received his juris doctor in 1993 from Thomas M. Cooley Law in Lansing, Mich.
Zehe, who’s 42, was for 10 years a state public defender in Fort Collins. He cited among cases he’s handled that of a former New Belgium brewery employee who allegedly threatened current employees. The case generated coverage in The Denver Post. Zehe didn’t indicate how he ruled on the company’s request for a protective order. Zehe, who attended high school and undergraduate college in Indiana and Illinois, received his juris doctor in 1995 from the University of Denver law school (now the Sturm College of Law).
The public may send comments on the candidates to judicial.appointments@state.co.us

Rand

Scalise

Zehe

Judge_JD08 8-27-2009 J Stirman Nominees

Nominating Panels

By Don Knox, LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — Chris Phillips’ professional life has been a collection of interesting jobs, from Yosemite Park ranger to budget analyst to civil litigator. Later, in a 16-year career as a Jefferson County prosecutor, she handled traffic, juvenile felony, domestic violence and, ultimately, homicide cases.
Soon she’ll be a judge in the 1st Judicial District, succeeding M.J. Menendez, who returned recently to the U.S. attorney’s office in Denver. Phillips’ swearing-in is Aug. 28.
Being a judge “was not one of those things I thought about when I started out 20 years ago. It started out and evolved over time,” said Phillips, now 50, last week.
Picked as a judge by Gov. Bill Ritter on her first try, a rarity, Phillips said she wanted a “new intellectual challenge.”
In the 1990s, she prosecuted the death-penalty case of one of Colorado’s most heinous murderers, Cody Neal. She raised her hand for Menendez’s seat just days after Michael Muniz pleaded guilty to the 1996 murder of a 46-year-old Wheat Ridge woman. Had the Muniz case, which Philips handled, gone to trial, she wouldn’t have bothered applying.
“Sometimes, it’s serendipity,” she said.
Phillips considered a judgeship in part because she didn’t want to be the elected district attorney, a post held by Scott Storey. She also cited some instability for chief deputies, who are most at risk of losing their jobs in a transition. Finally, her husband, Assistant Colorado U.S. Attorney Zak Phillips, encouraged her.
“I wanted to broaden my horizons, go back into civil law, go into domestic relations law. … I’m sort of a law geek. I enjoy the motions practice almost as much as the trials.”

A youth spent in parks
As a youth, Phillips lived in national parks all over the country because her father was a maintenance supervisor for the National Park Service.
She was born in the Tetons and attended small schools at the Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Mount Rainier and Sequoia Kings parks. She lobbed herself through California State University at Fresno on a volleyball scholarship.
She toyed with the idea of going to graduate school to be a school teacher, but the pay was poor. She ended up going to Yosemite National Park, where she got a job in law enforcement as a park ranger. She also worked as an emergency medical technician, and she drove an ambulance.
Her then-husband, also a ranger, eventually was transferred to Rocky Mountain National Park, but she couldn’t continue her work as a ranger because of an administrative rule against married couples working as rangers in the same park.
Instead, she worked as a budget analyst for the park until she decided to attend the University of Colorado’s School of Law.
She was hired out of law school an associate civil litigator for Weller Friedrich Ward & Andrew, a 40-person Cherry Creek product liability and insurance defense law firm that “imploded.”
Civil litigation, however, didn’t inspire her career passions, so she returned in 1993 to public service, this time at the 1st Judicial District Attorney’s office.
There, she started out doing county court matters such as traffic and misdemeanors, until joining the juvenile felony unit. She spent two or three years handling felony dockets in district court before launching into domestic violence work and, finally, homicides.
As one of seven chief deputies, she currently supervises eight attorneys in four divisions, including the division she’s taking over. She’s also has courtroom duties, and she’s responsible for going to the scenes of homicides.
“She’ll be a great judge,” said her boss, DA Scott Storey. “She’s got a very strong work ethic, a sharp legal mind and a passion for doing justice. She’s a good fit for this bench. She’s obviously been a prosecutor for many years. She has some civil experience as well.”

‘Not a fluff interview’
It was her work as a prosecutor that prompted questions from Ritter, also a longtime prosecutor.
“It wasn’t a fluff interview,” Phillips said. “He really vets his candidates. He wanted to know about my civil experience and whether I was willing to pick up the civil docket and the domestic relations docket. He wanted to know how I could be fair to both sides if I was a prosecutor.”
Phillips said that her long experience was an advantage because younger lawyers see everything so black and white. “As you get older you see the grays,” she said.
Ritter had done “a huge amount of research” on the prospective candidates, she said. The governor talked to people Phillips hadn’t listed on her application and made calls to various judges on the bench. As is usual with candidate interviews, the governor’s lawyers, Trey Rogers and Craig Welling, sat in.
The other finalists were SEC lawyer Elizabeth Krupa and Lakewood private-practice attorney Thomas Walsh.
Storey said he will not immediately fill Phillips’ position, preferring to shift resources around for the time being.
“It’s a budget issue. I’m going to take a more active role as far as a day-to-day role.” With a quick laugh, he said, “I’ll be more of a factor. I’m just going to have to work harder and put in more hours.”

LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — A Jefferson County chief deputy district attorney on Wednesday was named by Gov. Bill Ritter to fill a vacancy on the Jefferson County District Court.
Christie Bachmeyer Phillips of Evergreen won the nod over two other finalists. She succeeds M.J. Menendez, who returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver after two years on the bench.
Ritter, a former prosecutor, has appointed a number of current prosecutors to district and county benches. But more of his appointments have come from lower-level judges whom he’s promoted to higher posts.
The Democratic governor also has appointed a slightly higher percentage of women to the bench than his predecessor, Republican Gov. Bill Owens.
A telephone call to Phillips wasn’t immediately returned. DA’s spokeswoman Pam Russell said Phillips, one of seven chief deputies, was working to coordinate her move to the bench. Phillips’ appointment is effectively immediately.
Phillips works full-time as a criminal prosecutor where she has been since 1993.
Her work with the District Attorney’s office has included: misdemeanor and traffic cases, juvenile court, and domestic violence cases.
Before joining the DA’s office, Phillips was an associate civil litigator for Weller Friedrich Ward & Andrew (1989-1993).
She earned her B.A. from CSU Fresno (1980) and her J.D. from the University of Colorado (1989).