Seven Questions
| Publication year | 2022 |
| Pages | 06 |
JUDGES' CORNER
BY MARIA E. BERKENKOTTER
I want to thank Judge Newmyer-Olsen for her candor, courage, and extraordinary grace. I'm seldom at a loss for words, but as I type this, these words—or more accurately, all words—feel inadequate. As you read on, you will see why.
I also want to thank Susie Klein, managing editor of Colorado Lawyer, for her willingness to run this interview on its own, instead of as part of a group of three or four interviews.
I think that sometimes the best introduction is the one that just gets out of the way. That is my intent here,, so you can get to what really matters..
Crista Newmyer-Olsen
Crista Newmyer-Olsen is a Colorado native who grew up in the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado. She comes from afamily of educators and blue-collar workers. After graduating from Alamosa High School in 1997, she attended the University of Colorado in Boulder for her undergraduate education and was a member of the President's Leadership Class. She attended law school at the University of Colorado as well, graduating 2007. Before becoming a judge, she worked in the areas of federal Indian law, civil law, and criminal prosecution. While working as a prosecutor, she was awarded the Visionary Voice Award in 2013 and the Champion of Children Award in 2015 for her work on cases involving sexual assault and crimes against children. She was sworn in as a district court judge in January 2020. In addition to her work as a judge, she helps maintain and operate a small family hobby farm, where she resides with her husband and children.
Most challenging thing about the job:
Having come from a position where I was responsible for training lawyers to be good, ethical, and highly effective litigators, I find the most challenging thing about being a judge is allowing bad lawyering. There can be a perfectly adequate lawyer in my courtroom who is underprepared, or unfamiliar with the rules of evidence, or makes an argument that is really a stretch, or is just unkind to witnesses or other parties or staff. It is difficult to remain separate and apart from situations like that where—irrespective of the case or issue before me—I really want to give the lawyer advice on how to do a better or more effective job representing his or her client. I am not talking about behaviors that are unethical here, as I believe I have a duty to speak up in those situations. I...
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