Christina Finzel Gomez

Commission: meets standards (11–0)

The State Commission on Judicial Performance finds that Judge Christina Finzel Gomez MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, by a vote of 11 - 0. The Colorado statutory judicial performance standards are integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the legal profession and the public.

Judge Gomez has been on the Colorado Court of Appeals for just over two years and this is her first retention as a Court of Appeals judge. The Commission finds that her opinions are succinct, clear, logical, thorough, and well-reasoned. As to oral arguments, the Commission finds that Judge Gomez’s demeanor is professional and respectful. The Commission commends Judge Gomez for her efforts to become more active at oral arguments, and we urge her to continue her efforts to ask more succinct questions. The Commission also commends Judge Gomez for her efforts and leadership in the area of access to justice. The Commission finds Judge Gomez is a valuable addition to the Court of Appeals.

To conduct our evaluation, the Commission interviewed Judge Gomez, reviewed her self-evaluation, observed oral arguments, read a selection of her legal opinions, and considered survey responses from attorneys and judges. One survey question asked whether Judge Gomez met judicial performance standards. While there were insufficient attorney responses with sufficient knowledge to respond to this question, of the judges who responded to that question, 90% answered yes and 8% expressed no opinion. The written comments from the judges and few attorneys who did respond to the survey were overwhelmingly positive and laudatory of Judge Gomez’s performance as an appellate judge.

Judge Gomez joined the Colorado Court of Appeals in early 2020. She earned her undergraduate degree from Millsaps College in 1996 and earned her law degree from Harvard Law School in 2002. She clerked for a federal district court judge in Atlanta, Georgia, before going into private practice at a large Colorado-based law firm in 2004. Her work as a private attorney consisted mostly of handling civil, domestic, and administrative appeals in state and federal appellate courts. She frequently speaks and writes about appellate topics, is active in the Colorado Bar Association, and has been instrumental in access to justice efforts, including helping to create the Appellate Pro Bono Program and the Civil Appeals Clinic for self-represented litigants in the Colorado Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

State evaluation page · 2022 survey report (PDF)