John Eric Elliff

John Eric Elliff was appointed to the Denver District Court in December 2010 and presides over domestic relations matters. Voters retained him in 2020 with 74.3 percent of the votes cast on the question: 230,301 yes and 79,642 no.

Before his appointment he was a partner in the Denver office of Husch Blackwell, specializing in commercial and intellectual property litigation. He mentors other judges and is a mentor for Law School Yes We Can, which supports underprivileged minority college students who want to attend law school. He serves on the Colorado Supreme Court Civil Rules Committee and participates in the Underfunded Courthouse Committee, which works to improve court facilities in rural Colorado. He earned his undergraduate degree at Washington University in St. Louis and his law degree at the University of Colorado Law School.

The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance voted 10 to 0 that he meets performance standards. Eight attorneys and 10 non-attorneys answered its surveys.

The commission "commends Judge Elliff for mentoring newer judges, his preparation and knowledge of the law" and writes that "Judge Elliff’s written decisions are well reasoned, comprehensive and clear." It writes that his notable strengths, as observed by the commission and described in survey responses, include "his professional judicial temperament, the clarity and promptness of his decisions, and his commitment to treating pro se litigants with respect."

The commission writes that it "did not identify any evaluation category in which Judge Elliff displayed a notable weakness as to the performance criteria" and that he "exceeded the Court’s productivity benchmark for civil and domestic relations cases."