Monica Marquez, David Prince and Robert Russel are finalists for a spot on the Colorado Supreme Court.
LAW WEEK COLORADO
Colorado Deputy Attorney General Monica Marquez, El Paso County District Judge David Prince and Colorado Appeals Court Judge Robert Russel are in line to be Colorado’s 101st Supreme Court justice, succeeding Mary Mullarkey.
The Supreme Court Nominating Commission met in Denver Monday and Tuesday to interview and select the three finalists. Thirty-one people applied for the post. Mullarkey, the longest-serving chief justice, is stepping down Nov. 30.
Under Colorado’s judicial merit-selection system, Gov. Bill Ritter has 15 days from Tuesday within which to appoint one of the finalists.
Comments regarding the nominees may be sent via e-mail to the governor at judicial.appointments@state.co.us.
Brief biographies of the finalists follow.
Marquez is deputy Colorado attorney general in charge of the office’s state services section. After receiving her Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1997, she clerked for 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge David Ebel and U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor in Massachusetts. She spent several years as an associate at Holme Roberts & Owen before joining the Attorney General’s office in 2002, where she represents the offices of the governor, secretary of state, treasurer and other state officials. Marquez is a past-president of the Colorado Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Bar Association and a board member of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. She is also the daughter of former Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Jose D.L. Marquez, the first Latino to serve on that court.
Prince was appointed to the 4th Judicial District Court in April 2006. Prince was a partner at Holland & Hart’s commercial litigaton practice where he focused on fiduciary, finance, construction, business, real estate and IP litigation. Prince received his J.D. from the University of Utah Law School.
Russell, 54, was born in Santa Fe and raised in Lakewood, where he attended Alameda High School, graduating in 1974. He received his bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Northern Colorado in 1978 before attending law school at the University of Colorado. He received his Juris Doctor in 1984. Russel’s career before his appointment to the bench was spent at the Colorado Attorney General’s office, from 1987-2000, and as chief of the appellate division of the U.S. Attorney’s office, 2002-04. He taught music and English at Kent Denver School from 1978-81 and from 1984-87.
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