Garcia named president of Colorado Bar Association

DENVER – Retired public defender Charles F. Garcia will start his one-year term as president of the Colorado Bar Association July 1, representing the association’s 18,470 members.

Garcia plans to examine the challenges facing the legal profession and how the bar association can respond to them. His focus will be on issues relating to young lawyers as well as access to justice, and the way services are funded and delivered. Garcia also will continue to support the association’s initiatives in the areas of mentoring, programs for veterans and professionalism.

“The legal profession in Colorado today faces two very large challenges, the future for our young lawyers and the availability of legal services to the underserved,” Garcia said. “The CBA looks forward to the opportunity of tackling these tough questions.”

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A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Garcia worked as a certified public accountant in international tax for Arthur Andersen and Price Waterhouse for 10 years before turning to the practice of law.

While continuing to work as an accountant, he graduated from the University of Denver College of Law and subsequently joined the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender. He practiced as a criminal defense trial attorney for 25 years, retiring in 2007 as the head of the office in Denver. In 2011, he was appointed manager of safety for the city and county of Denver, where he oversaw the police, sheriff and fire departments.

Garcia sits on the Colorado Supreme Court Judicial Advisory Council, the Colorado Access to Justice Commission, the Governor’s Community Corrections Advisory Council, the Colorado Criminal and Juvenile Justice Commission, and the Chief Justice Commission on Professional Development. He is currently special counsel to the governor, where he has served under both Gov. Bill Ritter and Gov. Hickenlooper.