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John Stephen Phillips

Trial Court · Denver · Denver

Meets Standards(Retain)3 cycles on record

Evaluation history

  • 2004 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Denver · Denver
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    VotersRetained· 71.9% yes
    103,787 yes · 40,606 no50% needed to retain
    Retention Year: 2004 Recommendation: Retain Reports: 2004 Retention Survey Report Need an accessible PDF Document version? Please click on the link below and email our staff Contact Us The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance, by a vote of nine to one, recommends that Judge J. Stephen Phillips BE RETAINED. Judge Phillips received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wyoming, and received his law degree from the University of Colorado. He was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 1968. Judge Phillips served as an attorney in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps for four years. He worked as a Colorado Assistant Attorney General for seven years and was chief of the criminal appeals and enforcement sections. In early 1982, Judge Phillips became an Assistant United States Attorney, where he worked for 15 months until he was appointed to the district court bench. He has been a district court judge for 21 years. Judge Phillips and his wife have three grown sons. Judge Phillips has served in every division of the Denver District Court at least twice. He was chief judge for three years. His present assignment is in the civil division, where he has served since early 2003. The Commission considered the survey questionnaires completed by attorneys and non-attorneys, and met with Judge Phillips twice, in part because he initially expressed some criticism of the retention/evaluation process. The Commission noted that Judge Phillips' ratings from attorneys dropped substantially from his last evaluation. Judge Phillips generally scored at or below the statewide averages for district court judges. There were criticisms in the surveys from lawyers about his temperament. His demeanor was rated well below average by lawyers as was his willingness to reconsider errors. Judge Phillips agreed this was an area in which he needs to improve. He theorized the criticisms may stem from the fact that he strives to meet American Bar Association guidelines to get cases tried within a year from filing, and that this relatively quick pace does not sit well with some attorneys. Non-attorneys gave Judge Phillips very high marks in all categories. Non-attorneys rated his overall demeanor significantly higher than the statewide average and gave him high marks for treating the participants in the process with dignity and respect. Eighty-two percent of attorneys recommended that Judge Phillips be retained, while 18% recommended that he not be retained. Ninety-two percent of non-attorneys recommended that Judge Phillips be retained, while 8% recommended that he not be retained.
  • 1998 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Denver · Denver
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    Retention Year: 1998 Recommendation: Retain The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge John Stephen Phillips BE RETAINED. Judge Phillips was admitted to the Colorado bar in 1968. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wyoming with a major in history, and a law degree from the University of Colorado. Judge Phillips was appointed to the bench on April 27, 1983. Prior to his appointment, he was an attorney in the Army Judge Advocate's Generals Corps. He was an assistant attorney general and served as assistant United States attorney with the primary responsibility as a trial prosecutor. In the past fifteen years, Judge Phillips has been assigned to the criminal, domestic relations and civil divisions of the court. Courtroom observation, a personal interview, and written materials submitted to the Commission indicate that Judge Phillips is conscientious, diligent, fair, and practical. In a written survey, attorneys voted 85.5% to retain, 2.9% had no opinion, and 11.6% voted to not retain.
  • 1992 retention cycle
    Trial Court · Denver · Denver
    Meets Standards(Retain)
    VotersRetained· 71.7% yes
    77,664 yes · 30,719 no50% needed to retain
    Retention Year: 1992 Recommendation: Retain J. Stephen Phillips graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1965 and received his law degree from the University of Colorado in 1968. Prior to his appointment to the court, Judge Phillips served in various legal capacities with the U.S. military from 1969 to 1974. From 1974 to 1979 he was Chief of the Attorney General’s Criminal Appeals Section. From 1979 to 1982 he was First Assistant Attorney General and from 1982 to 1983 he was an Assistant United States Attorney. On April 27, 1983, J. Stephen Phillips was appointed to the Denver District Court. Since his appointment, Judge Phillips served in the civil, criminal, and domestic relations divisions. He is currently assigned to the civil division. Based on information supplied to the commission and personal interviews, it appears Judge Phillips is a competent, conscientious judge who enjoys a better than average performance rating. The 2nd Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance recommends that Judge J. Stephen Phillips be retained.

Surveys & reports

  • 2004 cycle
    • 2004 Retention Survey Report(PDF on OJPE)
      Structured scores pending

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Sources