On May 16, 2025, Judge Angela "Angie" Arkin will be awarded the CWBA’s highest honor, the Mary Lathrop Trailblazer Award. A 1983 Emory Law School graduate, she began her career in private practice in Georgia and Colorado. She was appointed district court magistrate for Arapahoe County in August 2000 and later district court judge for the Eighteenth Judicial District in July 2002. During her time on the bench, Judge Arkin was the 2015 District Court Judge Honoree for the Colorado Judicial Excellence Award. She joined JAG in 2017.
Judge Arkin has given back to the legal community in countless ways. She established a self-represented resource center in 2016 and co-founded the Symposium on Race, “an ongoing monthly forum for the discussion of race issues,” in October 2017. From 2020 to 2024 she served as chair and co-chair of the committee to create the Licensed Legal Paraprofessional (LLP) program. She is the 2025 chair of the LLP Committee.
Judge Arkin grew up a civil rights activist in Washington, D.C. Cesar Chavez was a hero, and in 1974, she picketed her local grocery store to encourage the boycott of grapes and lettuce. She recalls when Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, and she attended President John F. Kennedy’s funeral at the age of four. She went to the first March on Washington at the age of eight. Her childhood in D.C. allowed her to “see the world come to your doorstep,” with world events “happening in your back yard.” Judge Arkin saw an opportunity to be heard and make a difference. She was an avid protestor, including participating in rallies when the Three Mile Island nuclear accident happened. She was also a lobbyist for consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader’s Public Interest Research Group.
In college, Judge Arkin realized she was interested in law and civil rights. She thought it would open doors to being a civil rights attorney. Unfortunately, when Judge Arkin graduated from Emory Law School, President Reagan was laying off civil rights lawyers, so she worked first as a private attorney in domestic relations, bankruptcy, and civil matters. She also worked as an assistant district attorney, riding circuit in a “sundown county” in the mountains of Georgia. At the time, in a sundown county, a Black person found in the county at sundown could be run out of town or incarcerated. Coming from an area of D.C. that was 97 percent black and being from a family that was involved in getting rid of redlining, it was eye-opening for Judge Arkin to go to a place that felt 30 to 40 years behind where she grew up. It was a “learning and life-changing experience.” Ultimately, she was not comfortable staying in Georgia.
Events early in her life set the path for Judge Arkin’s move from Georgia to Colorado. Her father was a successful insurance broker, and the family went to conventions all over the United States. When she was eight, Judge Arkin’s family stayed at The Broadmoor and did a loop of southwest Colorado. She decided at once that she wanted to live here. Finally, in 1993, Judge Arkin was going through a divorce and decided the time was right to move to Colorado. Judge Arkin had practiced family law in Georgia, which allowed a jury of 12, uncontested divorce in 31 days, and fault divorce. She found a very different perspective in Colorado, which she describes as, “much more enlightened.”
Most recently, Judge Arkin has been instrumental in the formation of the Licensed Legal Paraprofessional (LLP) program. This required developing rules to govern the program as well as an exam that includes 90 multiple-choice questions plus essay questions. The questions must be weighted according to how many examinees will get them right or wrong, similar to a law school curve. After five years of work on the program, the first LLP was licensed in 2024, and there are now 91 LLPs, more than in any of the six other states that have similar licensure for paraprofessionals. Each state has created its own program, but Judge Arkin describes it as similar to nurse practitioners or physician assistants. In Colorado, LLPs are not required to be supervised by an attorney; however, if an LLP is in practice with an attorney, the attorney must ensure that the LLP remains within the scope of the LLP’s practice. LLPs cannot own a majority of a firm with attorneys. Judge Arkin says that one of the current challenges is educating the public as to how LLPs can help them. She still devotes five to 10 hours of volunteer time each week to the LLP Committee. “So many aspects have been interesting. It has been time consuming, but enlightening.” Judge Arkin enthuses that “LLPs are just the coolest” and some of the most amazing people she has met because they are so excited about helping people.
Judge Arkin’s greatest career inspiration was initially her dad. He and about nine other guys, some Jewish and some Black, started a savings and loan the same year Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed. It was formed for the purpose of helping people who couldn’t get a loan to buy a house. This wasn’t his job — he was an investor and a volunteer — but something he believed in. This example taught her that the commitment to serving others is so important to who you are and who you should be. She also credits Judge Al Harrell, who mentored many new lawyers, particularly young women and people of color. He selflessly created Inns of Court and participated in programs such as Law School Yes We can. “He really is that guy. Always there for his mentees,” said Judge Arkin.
Judge Arkin is similarly passionate about mentoring and proud of what her mentees have accomplished. Her former law interns and law clerks are now lawyers, partners, and judges, and she enjoys seeing their accomplishments changing the world in their own way. She is grateful “to have had the smallest opportunity to lift someone up and start spreading their wings.” Judge Arkin advises new lawyers she mentors to volunteer. She encourages them to get involved in organizations like the CWBA and local bars. “Make things happen and network. Sit down and have coffee, breakfast, lunch. When you get to a place where you’ve had success, start mentoring. No one gets to the place we are without others. It enhances your life to help others have opportunities to move forward. It is a privilege that not everyone has. Being a lawyer is a privilege.”
Judge Arkin first became involved in the CWBA in the late 1990s or early 2000s when she moved to Colorado and was looking for options to become involved in the legal community. She didn’t know about the diverse bars that were so supportive of their members. Judge Elizabeth Weishaupl, Helen Shreves, Gina Weitzenkorn, and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Sandy Rothenberg, women she admired, were all very involved in the CWBA, which said to Judge Arkin that this was an important organization to become involved with. She admits that she had struggled with the need to become involved with an organization focused on a specific group. “I wanted to convince myself that there was no barrier, but that’s not the case. Being a woman has been a challenge in my career, but a voice told me to ignore it.” “The CWBA doesn’t push you up, but lifts you up, and you find mentees you can help and lift.” When Judge Arkin came to Colorado, she wanted to find a path without a lot of help, but she realized that everyone needs help. “The CWBA recognized barriers to entry that didn’t have to be there.”
Outside the law, Judge Arkin was a big skier when she moved to Colorado. Unfortunately, she suffered a back injury that prevents her from hitting the slopes. However, she enjoys neighborhood walks with her dog and getting together with friends. She and her husband, a jazz drummer, love live music. They travel to New York City for a week each year to enjoy the jazz. She has also traveled to France and Maui, where she started going about 20 to 23 years ago. Readers might be surprised to learn that a few years ago, Judge Arkin jumped out of an airplane after “deciding it was an experience she wanted to have.” She credits continuing to learn and grow in her 50s and 60s with keeping her interested in life.
Judge Arkin describes winning the Mary Lathrop Award as “very humbling and kind of shocking.” She was in New York City when she was called for an interview for the award, and she was surprised by the honor. Eight others were also nominated for the award, “so I kind of forgot about it.” “Some of the women who have won this have been my heroes. To be mentioned in the same list is kind of overwhelming.” Judge Arkin is inspired by many other women who have won the Mary Lathrop Award, including Helen Shreves (2016), Hon. Sandy Rothenberg (2015), Hon. Nancy Rice (2005), Hon. Karen Ashby (2021), Velveta Golightly-Howell (2020), and Hon. Elizabeth Starrs (2009). “To be mentioned in the same group with folks who have done so much for women and their communities is very humbling and wonderful. It challenges me to keep making a difference.”
Please join us at the 48th Annual CWBA Convention on May 16 to celebrate Judge Arkin!
Kate Noble is a CWBA Publications Committee member and a legal editor with Colorado Bar Association CLE, the nonprofit educational arm of the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations