Home Bios - Christina F. Gomez

Christina F. Gomez - Judge

 

Date of Judicial Appointment: December 2, 2019

Date of Swearing In: February 27, 2020

Career

Before joining the Court of Appeals in early 2020, Judge Gomez was a partner at Holland & Hart, where her practice focused primarily on appellate litigation in state and federal courts.  Over the course of her fifteen years at the firm, she chaired the appellate practice group; served as the administrative partner for the Denver office; was a founding member and later co-chair of the women’s forum; and served on the diversity committee, the associates committee, and various other committees.  She also spent hundreds of hours on a variety of pro bono matters.

Prior to her time at Holland & Hart, Judge Gomez was a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Charles A. Pannell, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Education

Judge Gomez is a 1996 graduate of Millsaps College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, was in the honors program, served as a teaching fellow, and participated as a member and officer of various leadership, academic, and service organizations.  She is a 2002 graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served on the Board of Student Advisors, was an editor and contributing author for the Harvard Journal on Legislation, and served as a volunteer and officer in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program and as a student advocate at the Hale & Dorr Legal Services Center.

Civic/Charitable Activities

Judge Gomez served on the committee that formed the Colorado Bar Association Appellate Pro Bono Program (also known as the Full Representation Program) in 2010.  She chaired the program’s screening committee and worked on a handful of cases through the program from its inception up to the time she joined the bench.  In 2019, she formed and then served on the committee that created the Colorado Bar Association Civil Appeals Clinic.  The clinic, which officially launched in 2022, provides free legal consultations to self-represented litigants involved in civil appeals in the Colorado Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

Judge Gomez has volunteered substantial time with other service organizations, including Meals on Wheels, the Capitol Hill Community Services Soup Kitchen, Boy Scouts of America, and Girl Scouts of America.  She has also organized and participated in various service projects and public interest speaking events.

Honors/Awards (partial list)

• Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation, Raising the Bar Honoree for “Women Lawyers Who Raise the Bar by Maintaining a Significant and Sustained Commitment to Pro Bono Services (2016)

• Colorado Super Lawyers, Appellate Practice (2018-2020) (rising star, 2010-2014)

• 5280 Magazine, Top Lawyers, Appellate Practice (2015-2020)

Professional Affiliations/Activities (partial list)

• Colorado Bar Association Leadership Training (COBALT) program (2020 class)

• Co-Editor, The Colorado Lawyer Appellate Practice Column (2014-present)
• Co-Chair, Colorado Bar Association Annual Appellate Practice Update CLE (2011-2020)
• Member, Colorado Bar Association (CBA), Litigation Section, Appellate Practice Subsection (2009-present)
• Member, Colorado Women’s Bar Association
• Former Commissioner, Seventeenth Judicial District Nominating Commission (2016-2019)

Publications (partial list)

• “Disposition of Appeal” and “Post-Decision Procedures and Remedies,” Colorado Appellate
  Handbook, Chapter Author, 2009-present

• “The Law of the Case Doctrine and Mandate Rule,” Nov. 20, 2019 (co-author)
• “Appellate Review of Unpreserved Issues,” Law.com, Oct. 23, 2019 (co-author)
• “Standing Requirements in Federal Court,” Law.com, Sept. 18, 2019 (co-author)
• “Staying Enforcement of a Judgment Pending Appeal,” The Colorado Lawyer, May 2019
• “Vexed and Perplexed: Reviewing Mixed Questions of Law and Fact on Appeal,” The Colorado Lawyer, March 2018
• “Ten Things Every Trial Lawyer Should Know About Appeals,” Trial Talk, April/May 2017
• “Canons of Statutory Construction,” The Colorado Lawyer, February 2017
• “Appellate Traps for the Unwary,” Trial Talk, April/May 2016
• “Relying on Internet Sources in the Appeals Courts,” The Colorado Lawyer, November 2015
• “Preserving Issues in Civil Cases,” Trial Talk, April/May 2015
• “Finality and Attorney Fee Issues,” The Colorado Lawyer, July 2014
• “Outlines for Effective Brief Writing,” Trial Talk, April/May 2014
• “Whether, What and When to Appeal,” Trial Talk, April/May 2013
• “Ten Ways to Lose an Appeal,” Trial Talk, April/May 2012
• “When to File an Appeal,” Trial Talk, April/May 2011

Presentations (partial list)

• “Top Ten Tips for Brief Writing,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Session Co-Presenter, May 2022
• “Meet the New Judges,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Co-Moderator and Session Panelist, November 2020
• “Stayin’ Alive: Civil Stays and C.A.R. 21 Proceedings,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Co-Moderator and Session Co-Moderator, November 2019

• “Effective Oral Argument,” Colorado County Attorneys Association Winter Conference, Session Co-Presenter, November 2019
• “A Chat with Justice Jean Dubofsky: The Law, Civil Rights, and Appealing for Justice,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Co-Moderator and Session Moderator, November 2017
• “Effective Appellate Writing,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Co-Moderator and Session Co-Moderator, November 2016
• “Trial Versus Appellate Advocacy,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Co-Moderator and Session Co-Moderator, November 2015
• “Access to Justice/Appellate Pro Bono Program,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Co-Moderator and Session Co-Presenter, December 2014
• “Civil Law Update,” Colorado Judicial Conference, Session Co-Presenter, September 2014
• “Effective Oral Argument,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Moderator and Session Co-Moderator, December 2013
• “Oral Argument: Mock Argument and Discussion,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Moderator and Session Co-Presenter/Co-Moderator, December 2012
• “Issue Spotting,” Colorado Parent Representation Appellate Training, Co-Presenter, May 2012
• “Stays, Bonds, and Trial Court Proceedings During the Appeal,” CBA Appellate Practice Update, Program Moderator and Session Presenter, December 2011
• “Appellate Advocacy and Issue Spotting,” CBA Appellate Practice Subcommittee Seminar on Handling Pro Bono Appeals, Presenter, June 2011
• “Finality of Judgments – When Does the Time to Appeal Start Running?,” Colorado Bar Association Appellate Practice Update, Co-Presenter, November 2010
• “Pro Bono – When, Where, and Why,” Doyle Inn of Court, Co-Presenter, September 2010

Personal

Judge Gomez enjoys camping, hiking, reading, and playing board games with her family.