Chapter 3 - § 3.6 DISQUALIFYING THE JUDGE

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 3.6 Disqualifying the Judge

Although some other states allow parties to "bump" the assigned judge from the case for unspecified reasons, Colorado does not. In Colorado, a party must have a good reason to challenge the judge assigned to the case and have another judge assigned. A party may move to disqualify the judge assigned to the case in Colorado state court under very limited circumstances.⁷⁰

Canon 3(c) of the Colorado Code of Judicial Conduct requires that a judge recuse himself or herself from a case if, under an objective standard, the judge's impartiality "might reasonably be questioned." If a judge does not recuse himself or herself, a party may move for the judge to do so. Basically, a party can only move to have a judge recuse, or excuse, himself or herself from the assigned case if the judge has a conflict of interest or would appear to a reasonable person to have a conflict of interest.

A judge may have a conflict of interest in presiding over a case because he or she has had prior dealings or a relationship with one of the parties, lawyers, or a key witness in the case.⁷¹ For example, a judge that holds stock in a company would not ordinarily be able to hear a case in which that company is a party if the ownership falls within the definition of "financial interest" as set out in the Colorado Code of Judicial Conduct.⁷² Also, a judge may have a conflict of interest in hearing a case in which his or her former law firm is representing a party, unless the relationship is far enough in the past as to make the existence of a conflict remote.⁷³ A judge may have a conflict of interest if one of his or her relatives is associated with a law firm involved in the case, depending on the relationship and the position of the relative in that firm.⁷⁴ Another situation that would possibly cause a conflict of interest is if a judge has previously presided over a case in which one of the parties also participated, and there is some reason to think the judge's involvement in the previous case could prejudice the party in the new case.⁷⁵

As a practical matter, motions to recuse should be brought with caution. The judge the attorney is seeking to recuse is the judge who will decide the motion. If the judge denies the motion to recuse, the attorney will be going forward in a case presided over by a judge who may feel insulted by the attorney's claims that the judge should have recused himself or herself. If the judge in state district court denies the...