The Eighteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial
Performance unanimously recommends that Judge Angela R. Arkin BE
RETAINED.
Judge Arkin received her law degree from Emory University School
of Law, Atlanta, Georgia, in 1983 after earning an undergraduate
degree in 1980 from the University of Maryland.
Her professional practice prior to her judicial appointments was
in the State of Georgia until 1993, and in Colorado until August
1, 2000, when she was hired as a District Court Magistrate with
a juvenile and domestic docket. Judge Arkin is a recognized expert
in family law and has written numerous publications and lectured
in that field, both nationally and locally. Since her appointment
to the District bench on July 13, 2002, she has served as a District
Judge in both Douglas and Elbert counties. In November, 2002, Judge
Arkin began covering the docket formerly held by Judge Jack Smith,
and at this time, spends 2 weeks of the month in Elbert County handling
domestic, juvenile, probate, mental health, civil and criminal dockets.
Her Douglas County docket includes all of the family law probate
and mental health cases.
In surveys of non-attorneys, such as jurors, law enforcement officers
and court personnel recommended that she be retained in office.
This recommendation was slightly below the average survey recommendations
for all district court judges, which is likely a result of the often
contentious nature and strong feelings of litigants in family court
matters.
In the attorney surveys, Judge Arkin's retention recommendation
ranks somewhat above the average of all the District Court judges
who were included in the survey. Both attorneys and non-attorneys
ranked Judge Arkin high in communication skills and in her judicial
demeanor. In application and knowledge of the law, Judge Arkin ranked
slightly below all trial judges in both surveys, which was attributed
by Judge Arkin to her limited professional practice and judicial
experience in the general civil area, other than family law.
Judge Arkin states that one of her goals as a District judge is
to continue to improve her knowledge in the civil area, and generally
to improve her overall judicial skills. |