After the Marshall fire burned through Boulder County in the final days of 2021 and wound up destroying more than 1,000 homes, the sprawling 4,000-plaintiff litigation was assigned to District Court Judge Christopher Zenisek of Jefferson County.

Zenisek would go on to issue more than 100 orders, hold dozens of hearings and, ultimately, much of the case resolved in a $640 million settlement on the eve of trial.

“The case itself was unique. There’s nothing like it in Colorado state court. That said, I think he did a fantastic job of overseeing it, keeping us on schedule and having regular check-in meetings, whether we requested it or not,” said Benton J. Barton, a lawyer for defendant Qwest Corporation. “I never got a hint that he was disappointed at all or he felt the work that he did wasn’t valuable or all for naught.”

Zenisek, 53, has been a trial judge for Jefferson and Gilpin counties since 2012. He has presided over roughly 100 jury trials and his docket includes criminal, civil and family law cases.

Speaking to Colorado Politics, Zenisek said he believes his trial court experience would be valuable, even with four other former trial judges currently sitting on the Supreme Court.

“I think there are certain heartbreaking and meaningful experiences on things that impact the community, for instance, that just can’t be replicated, and give you an understanding of how a decision we make at any level can really impact real people,” he said. “It would let me understand the proceedings at a greater depth, and understand the way that people have been impacted in the other decisions before the trial court or Court of Appeals.”

Before taking the bench, Zenisek was a prosecutor in Boulder County and a civil litigator at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck P.C. After graduating from law school, he clerked for then-U.S. District Court Chief Judge Lewis T. Babcock.

For most of his time as a judge, Zenisek has served on the Supreme Court’s Civil Rules Committee. In his judicial application, he wrote that he served on a subcommittee that suggested rule changes enabling greater remote participation in eviction cases.

“I have found him to be very thoughtful and articulate in contributing to the committee’s work, bringing to our discussions a vast understanding of the civil rules and their impact on the litigants and attorneys who appear before him,” said attorney Bradley A. Levin, who also serves on the rules committee.

In addition to the Marshall fire litigation, Zenisek also recently handled the high-profile criminal case of Joseph Koenig, who was convicted of murder after throwing a rock through the windshield of Alexa Bartell’s vehicle. Zenisek said it “may be the most challenging trial over which I’ve presided.” As a writing sample, he attached his order assessing the constitutionality of law enforcement’s warrantless search for cell tower data.

In a statement, a spokesperson for First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King called Zenisek a “consummate professional and a well-respected jurist.”

In his application, Zenisek wrote that, as the son of an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, “I am motivated to promote the Rule of Law, democracy, and equality for future generations. Our judiciary must continue to protect Constitutional rights and individual freedoms from political whim and extremism. The task is imminent. Having a greater role in preserving democracy would fulfill a lifelong passion.”

“It’s a meaningful thing for me to fight to preserve democracy and to provide that to the next generations,” he told Colorado Politics. “The primary task is resolving cases based on the law and the facts. That’s simple in theory and can be complicated in practice. By focusing on that task, we further it, and that’s the primary way I’d like to continue to make sure that we are the backbone for the rule of law.”

Zenisek said he would be interested in being the Supreme Court’s liaison to the committee on civil jury instructions or the family law committee, but he would be happy to serve anywhere the court sees fit.

In 2023, Zenisek helped set up a competency court for his district to better assist defendants who could not participate in their defense due to mental health issues. In doing so, he consulted with another finalist for the vacancy, Chief Judge Susan Blanco of Larimer and Jackson counties.

“I think it’s been great at reducing the backlog somewhat in the jail. I’m proud of that work because it addressed a real problem,” he said. “And that problem in particular doesn’t help anybody if somebody’s in custody for a long time awaiting those services.”