Seven Questions, 0122 COBJ, Vol. 51, No. 1 Pg. 8

AuthorBY MARIA E. BERKENKOTTER
PositionVol. 51, 1 [Page 8]

Seven Questions

No. Vol. 51, No. 1 [Page 8]

Colorado Lawyer

January, 2022

Left: Judge Jaci Brown with husband Loren.

DEPARTMENT JUDGES' CORNER

BY MARIA E. BERKENKOTTER

Judge Jaclyn Casey Brown

Jaclyn Casey Brown was appointed to the Colorado Court of Appeals in June 2019. From 2016 to 2019, she served as a district court judge in the 17th Judicial District, handling domestic relations and civil matters. Previously, Judge Brown was a litigation partner at Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP, where she practiced complex commercial litigation, appeals, real estate and construction litigation, and eminent domain. She obtained her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Order of the Coif, and her bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, summa cum laude.

What do you think will change most within the judicial branch in the next decade?

My hope is that the face of the judicial system will change the most in the next decade. And I mean that literally! I hope that more people of color, more LGBTQ+ folks, more women, and more people from different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences join us on the bench. Our work only benefits from having diverse viewpoints represented.

One of the wonderful things about being a judge is having the opportunity to meet the wide range of attorneys who practice before us. One thing that we have all lost during the pandemic (though admittedly far, far less serious than the loss of loved ones, health, and employment that many have faced) has been the opportunity to actually get to know each other. Opportunities for attorneys to get to know our judges—particularly our new judges—and vice versa, have been significantly curtailed.

While we have all made do with virtual trainings and functions, many folks have virtual-platform fatigue, and few would say you can get to know someone over a 60-minute Zoom session the way you can in person. And, even with the gradual return of some in-person events, we have still lost almost two years' worth of opportunities to connect Attorneys and judges have missed many of those quick conversations during CLE breaks and at bar functions when we discover that we share a love of mountain biking or travel, or that we too get up at 6 a.m. every Saturday in the summer because our children participate in summer swim league. This new series can't make up for 22 months of lost time, but it can give you a quick glimpse into the lives of some of the newest members of the Colorado bench. So, without further ado, here are Seven Questions with Judges Jaci Brown, Marie Moses, and...

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