Gordon Gallagher

Gordon Paul Gallagher (born 1970)[1] is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. He previously served as a United States magistrate judge of the same court.

Gordon Gallagher
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Assumed office
March 24, 2023
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byWilliam J. Martínez
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
In office
October 12, 2012 – March 24, 2023
Personal details
Born
Gordon Paul Gallagher

1970 (age 52–53)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
EducationMacalester College (BA)
University of Denver (JD)

Education

Gallagher earned a Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College in 1991 and a Juris Doctor from the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver in 1996.[1][2]

Career

Gallagher spent most of his career in the Colorado Western Slope region.[3] In 1996 and 1997, Gallagher worked as an associate at Underhill and Underhill P.C.,[4][5][2] representing small businesses.[3] From 1997 to 2000, he served as a deputy district attorney in the Mesa County District Attorney's Office.[4][2] He has operated his own solo practice since 2000,[4][2] focusing on criminal defense,[3] and has worked as a federal magistrate judge of the District of Colorado since October 12, 2012,[4][2] sitting in Grand Junction, Colorado.[3] As a magistrate judge, he oversaw petty offense and misdemeanor cases on federal lands in the western part of the state.[3]

From 2002 until his appointment as a magistrate judge in 2012,[1] Gallagher was a contracted attorney with the Colorado's Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel, representing indigent defendants who could not be represented by the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender due to a conflict.[3] Gallagher has also represented the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.[2] He has been a member of the District Court's Pro Se Working Group and the Grand Valley Task Force's Criminal Justice Working Group.[2]

Gallagher in 2019

Federal judicial service

On August 2, 2022, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper recommended Gallagher, Sundeep Addy and Kato Crews for two vacancies on the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.[6] On September 2, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Gallagher to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.[4] On September 6, 2022, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Gallagher to the seat vacated by Judge William J. Martínez, who would assume senior status on February 10, 2023.[7][8] He was the first Colorado Western Slope resident to be appointed to a federal Article III judgeship since 1989.[3] Gallagher was unanimously rated "well qualified" for the judgeship by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.[9]

On December 13, 2022, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[10] On January 3, 2023, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.[11] He was renominated on January 23, 2023.[12] On February 9, 2023, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 14–7 vote.[13] On March 2, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 50–41 vote.[14] On March 22, 2023, his nomination was confirmed by a 53–43 vote.[15] He received his judicial commission on March 24, 2023.[16]

References
  1. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  2. Metzger, Hannah. "Biden nominates Gordon Gallagher as Colorado's U.S. District Court judge". Colorado Politics. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  3. Michael Karlik, Gordon Gallagher appears at judicial confirmation hearing with support from Western Slope, ColoradoPolitics.com (December 20, 2022).
  4. "President Biden Names Twenty-Sixth Round of Judicial Nominees". The White House. September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  5. "Gordon P. Gallagher". United States Courts. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  6. "Bennet, Hickenlooper Recommend Candidates for U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado".
  7. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 6, 2022.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. Bencomo, Estrella (September 2, 2022). "CO Magistrate Judge Nominated for U.S. District Court". WesternSlopeNow.com. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  9. Ratings of Article III and Article IV Judicial Nominees: 117th Congress, American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary (last updated December 12, 2022).
  10. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. December 12, 2022.
  11. "PN2501 — Gordon P. Gallagher — The Judiciary". January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  12. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 23, 2023.
  13. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 9, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  14. "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Gordon P. Gallagher to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Colorado)". United States Senate. March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  15. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Gordon P. Gallagher, of Colorado, to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Colorado)". United States Senate. March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  16. Gordon Gallagher at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
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