Faculty of Federal Advocates: Home Page

Faculty of Federal Advocates
P.O. Box 12025
Denver CO 80212-0025

Administrator:
Patricia Murphy
pmurphyffa@aol.com

Welcome to the Faculty of Federal Advocates Website

On May 15th, 2008, Kevin Kuhn, President of the Faculty of Federal Advocates, sent a letter to Mr. Fred Fielding, Counsel to the President at the White House, urging "the President to move as quickly as possible to appoint new District Court Judges for the District of Colorado." A copy of the letter is available here in PDF format. A related story from the Denver Post is available at denverpost.com/ci_9289778.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado has issued a Public Notice Concerning the Reappointment of Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer. Written comments concerning Magistrate Judge Shaffer’s reappointment are due by July 7, 2008. A copy of the notice is available here in PDF format.

Overview:

The Faculty of Federal Advocates is an organization of attorneys dedicated to improving the quality of legal practice in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.
The Faculty is committed to enhancing advocacy skills, professionalism and the integrity of the federal judicial system.

To further these goals, the Faculty provides continuing legal education classes, mentoring and pro bono opportunities and other support services which foster and demonstrate commitment to the highest advocacy performance and ethical conduct by and among its members.

History:

The 1994 Civil Justice Reform Act advisory group identified the need for a federal court practice organization to address substantive and procedural issues unique to federal court.

In 1996, Chief Judge Matsch appointed a seven-member task force to design and establish the organization. The judges defined the goal of the faculty as “pursuit of the special function of advocacy in a particular forum.” Formed in 1997, the Faculty of Federal Advocates, a non-profit Colorado corporation, is open to all interested attorneys.

Work With Us:

The current focus of the Faculty's continuing legal education program is the computerized system for exhibits that the new court building has made possible. The programs include an opportunity for attorneys to learn in the courtrooms how the systems operate.

The Faculty also sponsors a series of brown bag lunches with individual district court judges, magistrate judges and bankruptcy judges. The lunches provide an informal setting for learning about each judge and his or her approach to courtroom issues.

The Faculty provides representation to pro se litigants in cases referred by the district court. By pairing senior member lawyers with lawyers less experienced in federal practice, the mentoring program is a pro bono opportunity that enhances the learning experience for a less experienced lawyer, while allowing the mentor lawyer to take on a case knowing that he or she will have some assistance.

We encourage you to learn more about the benefits of membership in the Faculty of Federal Advocates.