Juan G. Villaseñor

Professional Biography 

Judge Juan G. Villaseñor was appointed as a District Judge by Governor Hickenlooper in October 2018. Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Villaseñor was an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado (2008 -- 2018). There, he investigated and prosecuted many civil claims, like trespasses on federal property, False Claims Act matters, debts owed to the government, and represented federal agencies and employees in a wide variety of defensive cases, including prisoner litigation, environmental law, employment discrimination, habeas corpus, immigration, negligence, medical malpractice, and intentional torts. He also prosecuted criminal cases and argued appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Between 2014 and 2016, Judge Villaseñor was detailed to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, where, as part of the Clemency Initiative, he made recommendations to the Pardon Attorney, the Deputy Attorney General, and the President of the United States on applications for commutation of sentence submitted by federal prisoners convicted of drug-possession or drug-distribution offenses. His work led to five sentence commutations.

Before working as a federal prosecutor, Judge Villaseñor was an Assistant Attorney General at the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office (2003 – 2008), where he represented state agencies, departments, corporations and, at times, state employees in federal and state court. He specialized in appellate practice and argued over 60 cases dealing with civil rights, dependency and neglect, child support, and workers’ compensation. At the beginning of his career, Judge Villaseñor was the Justice William J. Brennan First Amendment Fellowship Attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in New York (2002 – 2003), and a law clerk to U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes, Jr., in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (2001 – 2002). 

Judge Villaseñor earned his A.B. from St. John’s College, Annapolis (1997), his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School (2001), and an LL.M. in Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law (2023).

Appointments

Judge Villaseñor has been appointed to serve three-year terms to the Colorado Supreme Court’s Civil Rules Committee and Evidence Rules Committee (January 2019 – December 2021).

Before taking the bench, Governor John W. Hickenlooper appointed Judge Villaseñor as a public board member of the Colorado Medical Board, Department of Regulatory Agencies (August 2017 – September 2018). The Colorado Medical Board licenses and disciplines physicians, physician assistants, and anesthesiologist assistants. As a public member, Judge Villaseñor sat on the Licensing Panel, a three-member panel which reviews and adjudicates applications for licenses and matters relating to the unlicensed practice of medicine, and on Inquiry/Hearings Panel B, a six-member panel which investigates complaints of licensee misconduct and, separately, imposes discipline.

Professional Associations

• Larimer County Bar Association (Present)

• Colorado Bar Association (Present)

• Colorado Hispanic Bar Association, Board Member (2013–15); Chair, Nominations and Endorsements Committee (2013–14)

• Faculty of Federal Advocates, Board Member (2014 – 2018)

• National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys (2009 – 2015)

• Hispanic National Bar Association (2013 – Present)

• Rhone Bracket American Inn of Court (2010 – 2012)

Volunteer Activities

• Volunteer Judge, Colorado Bar Association, High School Mock Trial, Northern Colorado Regional Tournament (Present)

• Mentor, Law School...Yes We Can Mentorship Program (2014 – 2018)

• Federal Elections Monitor, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (In November 2012, I was a monitor in Denver County and in November 2016 in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania)

• Translator and attorney, Greeley Legal Night (2012 – 2018)

• Interviewer, Vanderbilt University Law School, Alumni Interview Program (2008 – Present)