Maria E. Berkenkotter

Colorado Supreme Court

The  Honorable Maria E. Berkenkotter was sworn into the Colorado Supreme Court on January 4, 2021. Prior to her appointment, she handled complex mediations, arbitrations and judge pro tem appointments at Judicial Arbiter Group, Inc.  From August 2006 to November 2017, Justice Berkenkotter was a District Court Judge in the Twentieth Judicial District.  She was the Chief Judge of the Twentieth Judicial District for the last four years of that time. Prior to her appointment to the trial court bench, she ran the Antitrust, Consumer Protection and Tobacco Litigation Units of the Colorado Attorney General's Office. Justice Berkenkotter's practice focused on national and local antitrust enforcement litigation.  Justice Berkenkotter is a thought leader and frequent speaker on the intersection of generative artificial intelligence and legal and judicial ethics, and on the promise and peril of the use of generative AI by self-represented litigants.  She is the co-author of Artificial Intelligence and the Code of Judicial Conduct, Jud. Conduct Rptr. 28 (Spring/Summer/Fall 2025), Generative AI, the Unauthorized Practice of Law, and Self-Represented Litigants, 53 Colo. Law. 40 (Dec. 2024), and Artificial Intelligence and Professional Conduct: Considering the Ethical Implications of Using Electronic Legal Assistants, Colo. Law. at 20 (Jan./Feb. 2024).