VIEW FROM THE BENCH

Mark your calendar for April 3rd when Judges Hartman and Langer and Magistrates Johnson and Kelley will lead the panel in a question/answer panel format answering questions from the community regarding domestic relations.

This presentation is a unique opportunity for dialogue between domestic relations judges and the lawyers, parenting evaluators, mediators, parenting supervisors, therapists and other domestic relations professionals that make up BIDC. This is a crucial touch point between those working on DR cases and those adjudicating such cases.

Questions from the membership will be directed to the panel and divided amoungst the judicial officers based on their interests. This is an engaging and informative annual event.

District Court Judge Bruce Langer is a former long-time prosecutor with the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office. He received his juris doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1994. His undergraduate degree in journalism was also conferred by the University of Colorado. He was employed as a reporter for the Boulder Daily Camera before attending law school.

Judge Andrew Hartman was appointed District Judge in 2013 by Governor John Hickenlooper. Boulder County voters retained him in 2016 and 2022 with approximately 80% support. Previously, he practiced law for 20+ years, chairing the Colorado litigation practice at Cooley LLP and serving as general counsel for Keen, the popular footwear company. Judge Hartman is active in the CU community where he was the law school’s first Director of Experiential Learning, taught for 12 years, and served on the Board of the Leeds Business School’s Deming Center Venture Fund. He is dedicated to the justice system and chaired an interagency task force that safely resumed jury trials after the pandemic lockdown. Judge Hartman presided over Boulder’s first pandemic era felony jury trial, a homicide case that resulted in a conviction. Judge Hartman graduated from Georgetown University law school with honors, and the University of Michigan. Judge Hartman was admitted to the bar in 1989.

Magistrate Johnson was appointed as District Court Magistrate in July 2021. Prior to his appointment he was in private practice focusing on family law and criminal defense at the Bagley Law Firm and later, Caplan & Earnest. Before entering into private practice he was a prosecutor for over 20 years in Boulder County. During his time there, he served as the Chair of the Domestic Violence Management Board. He taught statewide and nationally in a variety of areas including domestic violence, sexual assault, trial skills, and cybercrimes. Magistrate Johnson graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law and was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 1997. Magistrate Johnson’s docket consists of domestic relations matters, including temporary orders regarding financial matters, modifications of child support and maintenance, as well as name changes of minors and adoptions.

Magistrate Kelley was appointed as a District Court Magistrate in 2023. She previously practiced as a solo practioner and owner of The Kelley Law Firm and specialized in the criminal defense of indigent adults and juveniles through the Office of Alternate Defense Counsel. Magistrate Kelley worked for the Denver trial office of the Office of the Public Defender prior to entering private practice. Magistrate Kelley received her undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College and her law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law.

Please contact Jeanie Kemp, Administrative Coordinator, at
newboulderidc@gmail.com with any questions. For all non-members and those who wish to order lunch, please order below.

Thank you