Will Hood has been a Denver District Court judge since 2007. He was the 2011 recipient of the Denver Bar Association’s Judicial Excellence Award and currently serves as the presiding judge for Denver’s domestic relations courts. Before moving to the bench, Judge Hood was a shareholder at Isaacson Rosenbaum P.C., where he did both civil and criminal trial work. He also worked as a prosecutor for ten years in Arapahoe County, serving as a chief trial deputy and, separately, as the chief appellate deputy. In 1990, Judge Hood graduated from the University of Virginia, School of Law where he was a member of the law review. His legal writing on trial work and criminal procedure has been published by the Colorado Lawyer and the Virginia Law Review. Judge Hood teaches trial practice at the University of Denver School of Law and is a certified instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He is a past member of the Denver Bar Association’s Board of Trustees and a current member of the Colorado Bar Association’s Board of Governors.

Judge Hood tries to cultivate an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual support. Students learn both by doing and watching their peers, without being unnecessarily competitive or combative. Students who are not necessarily interested in becoming trial lawyers are welcome. Individual growth over the semester is at least as important as comparison to other students in the class.

The semester will culminate in a mock trial in the Denver City & County building courthouse, usually before reading period begins.