Churchill v. University of Colorado: The Jurist Overseeing the Case

The trial is currently scheduled to begin on March 9 in the Denver district court.

Judge Larry Naves, the Chief Judge, will preside. A native of Birmingham Alabama, Judge Naves is an experienced jurist, having served on the Denver district court bench since 1987.  Appointed as chief in 2006, he has a JD from the University of Colorado and, before joining the bench, served in both the Colorado Public Defenders and the US Public Defenders Office.

In the most recent retention analysis done of the Judge, he generally received high scores.

• Judge Naves received high ratings from attorneys and non-attorneys in virtually every category, particularly in the areas of efficiency in handling his courtroom, treatment of parties without attorneys and providing timely access to the court in emergency matters. Of attorneys responding to the questionnaire, 83% recommended that Judge Naves be retained, 11% recommended that he not be retained and 6 % had no opinion. Of the non-attorneys responding to the questionnaire, 79% recommended retention, 9% recommended non-retention and 12% had no opinion.

He has a reputation for being pleasant in the courtroom, even soft-spoken.  He is likely to treat the parties and their counsel in a non-intimidating fashion.