Colorado Court of Appeals
Honorable Stephanie Dunn
Retention Year: 2024
Recommendation: Meets Performance Standards
Reports:
2024 Retention Survey Report (PDF)
2023 Interim Survey Report (PDF)
2021 Interim Survey Report (PDF)
Need an accessible PDF Document Version?
Please click on the link below and email our staff
The State Commission on Judicial Performance finds that Judge Stephanie Dunn MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS, by a vote of 10–0 with one recusal. Colorado’s statutory judicial performance standards are integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, and service to the legal profession and the public.
Judge Dunn has been on the Colorado Court of Appeals since June 2012 and this is her 2nd time standing for retention as a Court of Appeals Judge. The Commission finds that her opinions are thoughtful and she has an excellent judicial demeanor. She is an increasingly senior judge who is successfully mentoring and training a new cohort of colleagues while successfully managing an extraordinarily busy docket. The Commission commends Judge Dunn especially for her significant engagement in the community and leadership roles on myriad committees designed to advance the profession and the operation of the courts. In sum, the Commission finds Judge Dunn is a valuable and effective member of the Court of Appeals.
To conduct its evaluation, the Commission interviewed Judge Dunn, reviewed her self-evaluation, observed oral arguments, read a selection of her legal opinions, and considered survey responses from attorneys and judges. Survey respondents agreed Judge Dunn meets judicial performance standards: 94% of attorneys and 100% of judges who responded to that question answered “yes.” She received an overall score of 3.8 on a 4.0 scale. Judge Dunn received positive comments from lawyers and judges for being fair, impartial and neutral and with regard to her exceptional analytic and writing skills. A total of 16 attorneys and 33 judges responded to the survey.
Judge Dunn was appointed as a Judge of the Court of Appeals in June, 2012. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in 1990 and earned her law degree from the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law in 1993. Before joining the bench, she was a partner at the law firm of Perkins Coie, LLC where she practiced from 2003-2012. While a partner at Perkins Coie, she was Chair of both the Denver Diversity committee and the Denver Pro Bono committee. Her work at Perkins Coie focused on business litigation and appellate practice in both state and federal courts. In addition to membership in several bar associations, she is a member of the National Association of Women Judges and The Colorado Lawyer’s Committee Hate Crimes Education Task Force. She also is a Fellow of the Colorado Bar Foundation and participates in the Our Courts program.